Welcome to Sunday Matinee, where we highlight classic car reviews or other longer videos I find on YouTube. Kick back and enjoy this blast from the past.

The Mercedes Geländewagen appears to have been reborn as a rakish concept that debuted at the L.A. Auto Show this week. But unlike the O.G., the Energ-G-Force, as it will be known, relinquishes its predecessor's hearty thirst for gasoline to harness the power of the late Hindenburg.

The Mercedes G-Class has been around in the same basic form for about 78 years now. Ok, the number is actually closer to 33, but it is getting long in the tooth.

The Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen, or G-Wagen, has been sold to civilian buyers since 1979. The AMG version debuted 20 years later, pairing the rugged overland vehicle with a 5.4-liter supercharged V8. A decade later, its successor, the 6.2-liter G63, was rumored to be on the chopping block. Nope.

To prove the mettle of the Geländewagen SUV, Mercedes' Australian arm arranged a 14-day trip over the 1,242-mile Canning Stock Trail for journalists — at least, that was the plan before five of the six vehicles broke down.

Über-tuner BRABUS claims their Gelandewagen is the most powerful off-roader in the world — and they've got a tuned Mercedes V12 Biturbo with nearly a grand of torque under the hood as exhibit A.

In 1979, the first Gelandewagen, debuted. Built to take over small countries, the über-cool G-wagen is testosterone incarnate. Below we look at the 11 best special versions ever built of this brutishly beautiful Benz.