Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG

Like many high-end car manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz is always tweaking its models, playing with engines and styling to make the vehicles ever more exclusive. Such is the case with the G55 AMG, a "tweaked" version of the G500, the German automaker's extremely upscale sports utility vehicle, which started life in 1979 as an off-road model for military and police use.

AMG, which serves as a a sort of in-house customizer for Mercedes, made the G500 hunkier, more glamorous and more powerful as it transitioned the vehicle into the G55. First, AMG added dual side-exit exhaust pipes, performance tires and 18-inch wheels. Then it added a larger, more powerful 5.4-liter, single-overhead-cam, 24-valve V8 engine, first increasing it to 349 hp, then to a whopping 460 hp for the 2005 version.

Of course, AMG made certain the G55 had just about every luxury amenity possible, including power-adjustable heated leather seats, walnut interior trim, velour floor carpeting, a leather-wrapped parking brake lever, two-zone automatic climate control, a lighted entry system, power sunroof, cruise control, trip computer, anti-theft alarm system, Harman Kardon sound system, and everything else you'd expect from a carmaker of this caliber.

The G55, like its base model, the G500, has its fans and detractors. Clearly this is not a vehicle for everyone. Some are put off by its stark, unaerodynamic syling, others by its rather politically incorrect nature. But the G55 has its ardent fans, who rave about the vehicle's toughness, competence, quietness, and over-the-road capabilities.