I’m Anthony van Liefland from Holland.
Since my childhood, I have a big fascination for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
I’m a big collector and a specialist only in the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
I have approximately 18 vehicles in my private collection,
and nowadays, I still only trade the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
We are here in Amstelveen, Holland, where my “G World” is located.
There are about 14 here and as you can see, there are a lot of many different ones.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class was very early in my life:
When I was nine years old, I learned to drive – first on my father’s lap in the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
He was working for Mercedes-Benz Holland.
In 1979, when the Mercedes-Benz G-Class was introduced, he was responsible
for selling the Mercedes-Benz G-Class to the dealers and to promote the Mercedes-Benz G-Class in general.
We always came along and we could always enjoy driving the car as well.
We went to many offroad events.
We had lots of space to manoeuvre and to learn the capabilities of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class
and as well as the driving skills.
Learning how to drive a car, in this case the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, was special fun –
because as a young boy, what’s more beautiful than to take a car, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class,
out off-road and going through mud holes or water and just play around up hills and everything?
For me, the actual fascination of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is that it has many capabilities,
or let’s call it the diversity of the vehicle.
This is the first “G” that I bought in 1989. It’s a G 300 GD five-speed from 1985.
I’ve had a lot of experiences with this vehicle and a lot of fun.
We went to Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany...
I’ve done a lot of mileage with this car. That's where the collection started, actually.
This is another favourite of mine, it’s the Mercedes-Benz G 55 AMG compressor from 2004 with 476 horsepower.
One of the meanest “G“s that I have because the engine is really amazing.
If I have a sad day or I’m not in a good mood, I take this car, start the engine –
and the smile comes on my face immediately.
I was lucky enough to be able to buy my first Mercedes-Benz G-Class when I was almost 19 years old.
I was a student and worked in a well-known restaurant in Amsterdam as a valet parker.
I did this one evening, and I got very, very good tips.
So, I made the proposition to work six days a week at the restaurant.
And this literally paid off very well for me as a young student.
That’s how I had my starting capital to buy a Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
The feeling when I was able to buy my first Mercedes-Benz G-Class was very special
because thanks to my father, I had already made many experiences with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
So, I was feeling blessed and very happy, of course, because I used to drive it –
and now, I could buy my first one.
This is another one of my favourites, among the others.
It’s the G 280 CDI Edition Pur, it’s from 2009 with a V6 CDI diesel engine.
As you can see it's very basic. That’s what I like.
It has the same features as the first G-Wagon in 1979.
It looks similar. It has a reinforced hood. It has a special roof rack, strong mirrors.
I’ve made a lot of good experiences with this one as well.
And the most remarkable one was with a white one that I had in the Sahara, in the desert.
It’s very fascinating to see the “G” manoeuvre through the dunes, it’s really very impressive.
When I was 24, I started to buy the first “G” for trading.
I saw there was a lot of potential and a lot of demand for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
I could transmit my passion towards other people that were curious or interested about it.
So, I started the company “G Center”.
We were worldwide the only one that were specialised in the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
We were a small team, but it was really sort of a family.
Since then, the passion for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class continued.
Well, the reason I sold the “G Center” company is that we worked almost six, seven days a week.
We were very, very busy.
So, it was a big turning point, but it turned out very well because I had more time for myself.
I became more independent. I had more time to enjoy life and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
We are in the garage of my friend Raymond.
He’s also my navigator in my rally “G”.
We’re just doing some final check-ups, checking the shock absorbers
and do the oil inspection of the axles – and then we should be ready to go.
Thanks to running the “G Center” for many years, my technical skills improved very much as well.
I’ve learned this just by doing, and nowadays, I do rallies and if something breaks down,
I can fix quite a lot of things myself.
The next rally now is in Holland.
It’s going to be flat, unfortunately, but it’s going to be very wet because it’s typical in Holland.
But it’s good to see other friends and have fun playing around with our cars.
I have the tendency to find new or quicker ways to overcome obstacles and to be quicker.
It’s a challenge between the machine and myself. It’s a lot of fun.
It’s a big chemistry between the car and myself.
The car has proven several times that it’s so reliable.
After one day of rallying, we parked the car, we turned off the engine, we wiped the windows clean.
Other people need to change and repair things – we can relax.
The feeling I developed with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class is very intense because it gives a very secure feeling.
I have a very warm connection with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, and it’s like it’s part of my life,
and it will never leave my life as well.