This is a $385,000 custom Mercedes-AMG G63 pickup

Are you an American looking to spend almost $400,000 on an SUV? You are? Great! You could have the new V12-engined Ferrari Purosangue for that sort of cash. Or – if you want something with even more presence and a little more off-road ability – you could get yourself one of these…

This is a custom Mercedes-AMG G63 from Californian builder Pit26 Motorsports, and you might have noticed that it’s rather large indeed.

The self-proclaimed G-Wagen specialists start with a new G63 (or a G550) and chop the car in half behind the rear seats. The chassis is then extended by 20 inches and a pickup bed is added. The standard rear glass goes back in behind the rear seats and more OEM parts are used for the rear of the bed. Yeah, sounds like a heck of a lot of work.

There’s plenty more ahead, though, as Pit26 then fits portal axles and massive 38-inch Toyo tyres (with a choice of 18- or 20-inch wheels) for massively improved ground clearance over the standard G.

There’s a properly fancy suspension setup too, with Bilstein race performance shocks and coils plus new upper and lower control arms. Pit26 says that its G-Wagen Crew Cab is “made for off-road adventuring, desert mobbing and dune running”.

Perhaps surprisingly the engine is left well alone (although a 577bhp 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 is probably already plenty), as is the interior to help this monster-G feel as standard as possible.

There is a brake upgrade available though, and this first edition is apparently also wearing a custom winch bumper, a custom rear bumper with that full size spare wheel, a custom exhaust and of course those giant new wheelarches.

Prices for the creation start at a not insignificant $385,000. So, this or a Purosangue folks?