Rods, reels and 19-inch wheels: A salmon fishing adventure in the Mercedes G-Class
The Mercedes G-Class features all of the luxury drivers could possibly want, but can it still handle the rough stuff? Jack Evans heads to Scotland’s Spey river to find out
The Mercedes G-Wagen has, in one shape or another, been in production for close to 40 years now. In that time, it’s changed very little, growing a little rounder and – in the case of the G63 – extremely powerful. However, ruggedness has always remained at its core, as has an ability to take on the roughest, most difficult conditions.
But where to go to? Some of the best salmon fishing in the UK is in Scotland, and the river we’d be heading to – the Spey – is the football equivalent of getting the chance to play at Wembley. Some 107 miles long, it’s home to some of the best fishing that Britain has to offer, and shares its name with a special type of casting technique developed specifically for the river itself.
In truth, it’s far better at munching through long sections of motorway than I’d expected. Though the windscreen is quite upright there isn’t a lot of wind noise, and the only real intrusion to the cabin’s quietness comes from the large tyres. There isn’t one squeak nor rattle, and the engine settles down at under 2,000 rpm at motorway speeds which means there’s no discernible racket from the engine.
The only real drawback is economy. On a few occasions I thought of stopping to check whether or not there was a hole in the tank – it’s not often you see a car’s fuel gauge drop with such speed. I did see the heady heights of 25mpg at one point – though for the vast majority of the time it was hovering at the 22mpg mark, and that was while driving with a feather instead of a right foot.
Loading kit in and out every day caused little fuss, and steeper gradients in the hills near the river were tackled without any complaints. It must have been a good luck charm – as we managed to catch two salmon over the trip, with both safely returned to the river to fight another day. Thankfully, the matte paint of our test car didn’t stop our suction-mounted rod holders from attaching to the G’s bodywork – and I think it looks particularly good with them on.
