Jonathan Gitlin

DETROIT—New cars today are as much wheeled, wearable computers as they are modes of transport. But if you wanted to pick a new vehicle that was as far away from the brave new connected mobility future we keep hearing so much about, you couldn’t do much better than the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Better known to its fans—which are legion—as the Geländewagen, the boxy four-wheel drive vehicle has been in production since 1979, changing very little in the intervening time. Despite this, it continues to find buyers, a fact more remarkable when you consider that this automotive antique comes with a price tag to match. (The outgoing model starts at $123,600!)

Most other OEMs would eventually consign such an old model to the archives, but not Mercedes-Benz. It has reworked the SUV to give the G-Class an all-new interior, some 21st-century technology, and sorely needed handling improvements while retaining that angular 1970s look.