I have not seen a diesel convertible G wagon before. Pretty rare. This was imported to Canada from Germany. Do you know whether a US buyer can register this in the USA?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mercedes-Benz-G-Class-MB-290GD-4-x-4-MERCEDES-BENZ-G-CLASS-CONVERTIBLE-DIESEL_W0QQitemZ4606558647QQcategoryZ31854QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The 290 turbodiesel is actually a 2.9 liter 10-valve direct injection diesel. A bit of an increase in displacement. FWIW, it is the same engine we all know and love, in the 300D 2.5, and the 190D 2.5. However, it is in direct injection format.

And in the case of this G, non-turbocharged. The engine itself is super-rare, in any part of the world, let alone the convertible G offered in the US.

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

Look a little familiar?

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

I'll still take one of the old g-wagons any day

Those are a little small for my taste... IMO It looks like a rebadged suzuki samari

20k does not sounds too unreasonable. I wonder if it could be imported to the US.

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1986 190D, 2.5L, 5-speed swap, 180,000 Miles (60K by me).
Jeep CJ-7 with Cummins 4BT/NV4500/AtlastII 4.3.
Grand Wagoneer 4BT project in progress!

It will be very difficult and expensive to bring this G into the US. You will need to get paperwork from both the DOT and the EPA and probably a letter from MBUSA stating that the G was sold in the US.

The engine, even though a diesel, will be difficult because it isn't in any other vehicle sold in the US. With stricter diesel emissions coming on line in a variety of states, this will probably pose a problem.

Europa in New Mexico and Kaiser Motors in California are the only ones that can do the DOT/EPA work as far as I know.

Of course you could drive it across the border and hope for the best at your local DMV. There are many illegally registered vehicles in the US that don't comply with EPA/DOT regulations.

BTW, the Samurai is a much smaller 4x4 that really is no match for a G. My 460 series 300GD is about as good as you can get for a production 4x4.

Yeah... I bought this with ABSOULTLY NO paperwork, except a bill of sale... and the p/o never registered it...

Somebodys still running around with it, hasnt turned up at the salvage or metal scrap yards yet...

Bought for $40, beat the **** out of it for 6 months, got paperwork, and sold for $150... Which is what I paied for plates

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/NathanEbert/truck03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/NathanEbert/truck01.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v644/NathanEbert/miles.jpg

~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

The 290GD is not the only vehicle to use the 2.9L I-5. SsangYong's Musso double-cab uses the turbo 2.9L also.

Musso

on the samari comment. the samari literally is probably half the weight of the g wagen. and probably 2/3 the size dimensionally. any resemblence is completely superficial. a samari is extremely light duty by comparison.

lets put it this way: a samari is to a g wagen like a john deer 18 hp riding lawnmower is to a large diesel farm john deer. they both have four wheels and they both are green!

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I wouldn't be too quick to judge a samurai until you do a google search for offroad set up ones.

They are actually a VERY decent bed for starting an offroad machine onto...the fact that there isn't a ton of stock crap to get in your way and they are realitively simple makes them very fun.

And when they get stuck...they are far less hard to pull out

I'd take one over a g-wagen...if you took the cost of a g-wagen + modifications to make it offroad capable and compared that to the cost of a samurai plus modifications cost....youd still have some serious gas money Don't get me wrong...I REALLY like the old g-wagens but the new ones are not what I would consider...hardcore

An example of the Samurai:

Both the 300GD's on ebay right now want over $10K! Think of all the extra stuff you could do to a Sami with that. You could buy a new 1.9L TDI engine for it and still afford $300 each tires!