The Mercedes G500 Cabriolet
Photo Credit: Collecting Cars
The Mercedes G500 Cabriolet is one of the rarest and most collectible G-Wagons ever produced, combining the full luxury specification of the W463 G500 with an open-air driving experience that Mercedes would never replicate again. Built in limited numbers between 1999 and 2013, it represents the peak of what the classic G-Wagon could be — a vehicle that took the platform's military origins, its luxury reinvention, and its cultural cachet, and distilled all three into a single, unmistakable configuration.
The W463 and the Birth of the Luxury G-Wagon
To understand the G500 Cabriolet, you have to understand what the W463 generation set out to do. The original G-Wagon, the W460, had been built from 1979 as a genuine utility vehicle — spartan, purposeful, and designed for terrain rather than comfort. By the mid-1980s, Mercedes recognized that the platform had outgrown that brief. Customers wanted more, but the answer wasn't to soften the G-Wagon into something else. It was to build a second version of it.
In 1990, the W463 arrived. Where the W460 had been utilitarian, the W463 was positioned as a luxury model on par with the S-Class and the Range Rover. The new cabin featured leather upholstery, power windows, wood trim, and a dashboard architecture borrowed from the contemporary E-Class. The exterior was refined while the boxy silhouette, exposed door hinges, and trunk-mounted spare remained intact. The off-road architecture — three locking differentials, solid axles, ladder-frame chassis — stayed exactly as it was.
The W463 launched with a range of four and six-cylinder engines. The first V8 came in 1993 as the limited 500GE, just 446 examples hand-built by AMG. Five years later, in May 1998, Mercedes introduced the G500 as a full production model powered by the M113 V8. The G500 Cabriolet was a direct product of that moment — the open-top expression of the platform at its most refined.
The G500 Cabriolet: Production and Rarity
Mercedes produced the G500 Cabriolet from 1999 to 2013, exclusively on the two-door short-wheelbase body. Production numbers were small by any measure — the cabriolet represented a fraction of total G-Class output in any given year, and was never officially sold in the United States. The majority of examples went to European and select Middle Eastern markets, which is why clean, original examples are genuinely difficult to source today.
The limited production run was by design rather than circumstance. The cabriolet body required additional structural engineering to compensate for the absence of a fixed roof, and the power-operated soft top mechanism added complexity that Mercedes was not willing to scale to high volume. The result was a vehicle that felt exclusive from the moment it was introduced — and has only grown more so as production has ended and the collector market has matured.
The Charm of a Cabrio G-Wagon
The G500 Cabriolet was the ultimate expression of the modernized soft top G-Wagon — featuring leather upholstery, heated seats, premium sound systems, a V8 engine, and a power-operated cabrio top. It took everything drivers loved about the W463: contemporary design, exclusivity, and genuine capability, and paired it with the experience of open-air driving that no other vehicle in the segment offered.
Photo Credit: The Cultivated Collector
What made it genuinely special was the contrast at its core. This was a truck with three locking differentials and a ladder-frame chassis that could go anywhere, wearing a cabriolet body and a luxury interior. Nothing else on the market offered that combination. Nothing else has since.
G500 Cabriolet Specs
The G500 Cabriolet's mechanical specification tracked closely with the standard G500 across its production life, evolving through two distinct engine eras.
M113 Era (1999–2008)
From 1999 to 2008, the cabriolet was powered by the M113 V8 — a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated unit producing 292 horsepower and 336 lb-ft of torque, paired with a 5-speed automatic transmission. The three locking differentials, permanent four-wheel drive, high and low transfer case, and solid front and rear axles remained constant throughout.
M273 Era (2008–2013)
In 2008, the M113 gave way to the M273, a 5.5-liter V8 producing 388 horsepower, paired with a 7-speed automatic. The off-road architecture remained unchanged, with bi-xenon headlights and a revised interior with improved materials arriving the same year.
Aesthetically across both eras, the G500 Cabriolet rode on 17 or 18-inch alloy wheels and offered seating for five across the two-door short-wheelbase body. Interior appointments ranged from standard wood trim to optional carbon fiber in later models, with navigation systems, touchscreen displays, and Bluetooth connectivity added as the years progressed. Safety equipment was progressively enhanced, including standardized front airbags, the addition of side airbags, assisted braking, and stability control.
Photo Credit: Silver Arrow Cars
Collecting the G500 Cabriolet
The G500 Cabriolet market has appreciated consistently over the past decade. Clean, low-mileage examples in desirable colors have become increasingly difficult to find.
Collectors should look for documented service history, original soft top mechanisms in working order, and matching paint on all body panels. Later M273-powered examples offer more power and a more modern transmission, but early M113 cars are often preferred for their mechanical simplicity and period character. Either way, the cabriolet body is the rarest configuration in the W463 generation, and values reflect that. For those searching for a G500 cabriolet for sale, the supply of genuine examples is limited and lead times for quality alternatives reflect that scarcity.
Today's Bespoke Cabrio G-Wagon
Expedition Motor Company, based in Frenchtown, New Jersey, builds bespoke open-top 2-door G-Wagons commissioned to each client's specification. Founded in 2017 and focused exclusively on the cabriolet format, EMC has built and delivered over 175 trucks worldwide.
Rather than the W463 platform, EMC works with the 1990–1993 250GD Wolf — the ex-military W461 cabriolet that predates the G500 Cabriolet and represents the platform in its most original, analog form. Each truck is restored from bare metal, re-engineered with a proprietary suspension system, and rebuilt with a fully redesigned interior featuring wireless Apple CarPlay, a Harman Kardon sound system, heated seats, and air conditioning. Engine options include period-correct Mercedes-Benz turbodiesels — including the OM606 — and a 430hp LS3 V8 for clients who want that level of power.
For buyers drawn to the G500 Cabriolet but looking for something rare, more bespoke, and built to a higher individual standard, the EMC Wolf is a restomod G-Wagon in a category of its own — the highest-quality vintage open-top G-Wagon available today.
The Cabrio Driving Experience
There is something that no closed G-Wagon can replicate about the cabrio experience — the combination of that upright windshield, boxy silhouette, and open sky above. The G500 Cabriolet captured that quality better than almost anything before or since, which is why the vintage G-Wagon collector market continues to value it so highly.
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