4x4 on steroids: Enter the 6x6 Mercedes G63 AMG

It might be the car around which the Popemobile is built, but it’s unlikely the Mercedes G-Glass is the car Jesus would drive. In its standard incarnation, the G55 AMG returns no more than 13mpg around town and emits CO₂ at a rate of more than 370g/km. The addition of two additional driven wheels has done little to improve its environmental credentials – the 6x6 G63 AMG weighs over 3.8 tons.

The drivers of small city cars, motorbike riders, pedestrians, cyclists and children for whom large 4x4s represent a daily hazard, the current crop of full-size SUVs like the Range Rover, Toyota Amazon and Audi Q8 may soon seem like relics of a gentler age; all three are dwarfed by the gargantuan 6x6 off-roader.

Everything about the six wheel-drive G63 AMG is big – its 159-litre fuel tank would cost £225 to fill. The G63 AMG is to be built in limited numbers, and given it’s all-terrain performance and thirsty engine, it’s expected most are destined for the wide expanses of the world’s oil-rich nations.

Just don’t be surprised if one or two end up prowling the urban jungle.

It's not altogether clear why the Pope always chooses an SUV. Spokespeople for the previous Pope, Benedict XVI, suggested the that pontiff wanted an electric Popemobile, but that no one had offered to make him one yet.