THE G-FATHER
ANOTHER special guest on this journey
was a man who could only be described as
the G-Father. Erwin Wonisch has worked
on the G-Wagen since 1975, before the fi rst
production vehicle was revealed in 1979.
In the ’70s, Erwin worked in the workshop
at Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz, Austria,
where the G-Wagen was being developed
and is still made to this day. In 1975 he
moved to the engineering team developing
the prototypes.
“I drove the fourth and fi fth prototypes,”
Erwin recalled. “And I drove the fi rst
production one.”
That fi rst G-Wagen was a soft-top 460
model and was meant to be delivered to the
Shah of Persia.“The idea [for the G-Wagen] was from
the Jeep,” Erwin explained. “The Shah of
Persia wanted a Jeep, but [as a Mercedes-
Benz customer] he wanted a Jeep from
Mercedes.”
Unfortunately for the Shah, by the time
that fi rst G rolled off the line in ’79, he had
been overthrown by Islamists and been
forced to fl ee into exile.
“The fi rst big customer for the G was the
Argentinian army,” Erwin said. The Argies
ordered 4000 of the robust vehicles.
The G-Wagen has become the vehicle
of choice for militaries around the world,
including the Australian Defence Force in
recent years. A big part of Erwin’s job as
G-Wagen driver is showing the vehicle tothe military personnel, training them and
training the local trainers. The job takes him
around the world, for cold-weather testing
in Sweden, training in South America and
the Middle East, and hot-weather testing in
North Africa.
Mercedes-Benz poached Erwin from
Steyr-Daimler-Puch eight years ago – “I
was costing Mercedes too much to hire,”
he said of the move – but his role with
G-Wagen remains very similar. He was with
us on the Canning Stock Route when the G
returned here in 2011, and there have been
further trips for training and development.
This was his fi fth visit to Australia and we
don’t think it will be Erwin’s last.
Erwin also gets to show off the vehiclesDESERT
STORM
Drivers from Europe,
Dubai, Japan and
Australia took on
the desert.688 http://www.4X4australia.com.auDRIVEN MB G300 PROFESSIONAL/SIMPSON DESERT