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Mercedes-Benz, in its infinite wisdom, has never made a G-Wagen Cabriolet modified by AMG. The closest it got was the 2013 G500 Final Edition, with a 388-horsepower naturally aspirated V8. Refined Marques, a custom tuner in Germany, has decided to fill the gap in the market with an AMG-ified convertible G-Class of its own, complete with a set of adorable suicide rear doors.
Refined Marques’ Mercedes-AMG G63 Cabriolet is a one-of-20 custom creation that uses the new G63 as a base, complete with that car’s 577-hp twin-turbo V8 engine. While the general style of the soft top is the same as that two-door Final Edition truck, the company has added two smaller doors for the rear bench for easier ingress and egress.
Refined Marques CEO Ahmed Al Bakry tells Motor1 that originally, the rear doors were designed to open traditionally, like you’d see on a normal G-Class. “Then I said no, let’s make them suicide doors, because then it’ll make access easier for big passengers,” says Al Bakry.
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Al Bakry says that an American super-model — whom he refused to name — called him as soon as she learned about the G63 Cabriolet, complaining of her current G Cabrio’s rear seats, which were so difficult to get out of that she tore her dress and broke her heels. She offered to buy the first example shown in these photos, but settled for one of the 20 spots in line.
Interestingly, this G63 convertible was originally supposed to be a one-off. Al Bakry says he got the idea from his son. “I have a G Brabus that I made for him; it’s a one-of-one,” Al Bakry says. “One day we were driving in traffic and he asks me, ‘Baba, why don’t you make this with a soft top so it opens, and a small door for me so I can get in and out?’ And that intrigued me.”
While in the development process, Al Bakry told his friends and clients – mostly very wealthy collectors from the middle east — about the car. Naturally, they all wanted one of their own. So the one-off became a one-of-20.
And just because this G63 Cabriolet isn’t a factory product, don’t think it’s a hastily made hack job. It took Refined Marques 18 months of development to get this truck just right. Al Bakry says his clients wouldn’t accept anything less than factory-level quality or better. He even presented the finished product to a former head of quality control at Mercedes-Benz, who, after an hour of searching, couldn’t find a single fault.
Naturally, most of the 20 examples planned have been sold. In fact, Al Bakry tells Motor1 he’s waiting for a client to put a deposit down on the final build slot. So if you want one of these special G-Wagens, you’ll have to buy second-hand. But don’t expect it to be cheaper. Al Bakry says the owner of the China Blue example you see here has already received an offer more than double the $1.3-million starting price, which they declined. If you thought the normal G Cabrio was exclusive, just try to get your hands on one of these.
Photos: @kamauto17 on Instagram
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