2014 Mercedes-Benz G-Code Concept Needs A Bigger House

SHOULD THE A-pillar of the G-Code be black? This may seem a trivial point, but given the loose design direction of Mercedes over the past few generations, this small detail poses greater consequences. If the answer is ‘no’, then Mercedes will at least have some parameter to their anything-goes design philosophy. If the answer is ‘yes’, then the organic sprawl of themes that constitute the range will continue to spill into ambiguity, anchored only by the three-pointed star.

That polaris adorns some of the most spectacular cars in history, shining steadfast upon the grilles of successive peerless sedans in the Sixties and Seventies. Such nostalgia is unsuited to objectivity, but does at least provide an emotive counterpoint. However the cars that my junior self admired where as controversial then as the G-Code today. How could a customer born to the Gullwing have felt anything other than dismay at the launch of the 190?

Cars such as the Mercedes-Benz G-Code demonstrate the ‘dining-table’ phenomenon. In the past, opinions and tastes were handed down from parents to children as they conversed together at meal times. The dining-room, however, is the first to be sacrificed in the design of new homes. Thus families resort often to eating on laps watching television, leaving opinions to be constantly renewed by turbulent media. (Though what up-market marque caters to customers who can’t afford a house with a dining-room?)

Rational objections based on precedent or expectation are often overwhelmed by a car simply looking good. One prudishly flaps at the sight of Mercedes sending heirlooms to the pawn-shop, yet the brand emerges modern, even glamourous. One can't deny that in purely practical terms a black A-pillar lengthens an otherwise stubby volume. Perhaps one day the tide will turn and those liberal progressives will return to the world left behind. But I suspect that by that time Mercedes will have thought of another trick to lure them towards the future.