We Found the Third Military G-Wagon IFAV. Now Where’s the Last One?

Owning a G-Wagon shop is a blast, but almost nothing goes to plan. The week we shot this, the Doka lost its reverse lights, the Doomsday project’s vacuum system was torn apart, and the G230 was up on jack stands over a brake issue. So we did the sensible thing: we grabbed the keys to something too cool to leave in the corner and went for a drive. What we pulled out was the third military G-Wagon IFAV to pass through our doors, a genuine 2005 Mercedes G270 Interim Fast Attack Vehicle with a fresh coat of OD green paint and a real US VIN.

What is a military G-Wagon IFAV?

IFAV stands for Interim Fast Attack Vehicle, and it’s one of the rarest G-Wagons the US Marine Corps ever fielded. These trucks were built to be air-mobile, utilitarian, and battle-ready. The military G-Wagon IFAV saw action in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom before the fleet was officially decommissioned starting around 2010 to 2012. Most were sold off to allied nations overseas, which is exactly why so few remain here.

• Genuine USMC service vehicle with a US VIN
• Air-transportable, designed to load into the Osprey and Sea Stallion
• Built for a squad, gear, and even a tow or anti-tank missile
• Passes emissions with nothing but a catalytic converter

Only four of this military G-Wagon IFAV remain

Here’s the fun fact that keeps us up at night: only four of these G270 IFAVs are known to remain in the United States, and we’ve had three of them through the shop. This is Recon 3. Recon 1 was the tan truck you saw in an earlier video, and Recon 2 is still in-house awaiting a full restoration. There was reportedly a fifth truck that got wrecked, and the rest were shipped overseas or tucked into storage. That leaves Recon 4 out there somewhere, and we want to find it.

If anybody knows where number four is, call us. We’ll hop on a plane, come view it, and get it into good hands so it becomes a story worth telling instead of a rumor. This military G-Wagon IFAV deserves to be seen, not forgotten in a barn.

Under the hood: the G270 common-rail diesel

The IFAV came in two generations. The first was based on the G290 with a 2.9L IDI-injected OM602 five-cylinder making around 152 horsepower, paired to a four-speed automatic and good for a 96 mph top speed. This second-generation truck is built on the G270 and steps things up with a 2.7L common-rail diesel five-cylinder mated to the Mercedes 722.6 five-speed automatic, the same NAG1 gearbox that’s proven heavy-duty across the lineup.

What makes it stand out is that it drives like a normal, modern G-Wagon. No drama, no fuss. The emissions setup is clean and simple: just a catalytic converter, no EGR, no DEF tanks, no complicated aftertreatment. It’s remarkably close to a third-gen Cummins in philosophy, right down to the Bosch injectors. You get torque and pickup without a cloud of soot, and yes, it will pass emissions.

Details that prove it went to war

Spend time in the cabin and the military DNA is everywhere. The dash is wired straight from the factory for a winch you can spool in or out. There’s a battle-start ignition so the key never fully comes out, plus a removable starter piece so you can always fire it up. There’s a master cutoff switch, a 12-volt and a 24-volt electrical system, an hour meter reading just over 4,000 hours against 49,000 miles, and a console packed with the ABS, transmission, and range-control modules.

• Fold-down windshield so it fits inside an aircraft or helicopter
• Shorter B-pillar to keep overall height low for deployment
• A rear sway bar, something only the military trucks got for high-speed stability
• Blackout drive infrared lighting for running dark
• Modular rear floor with a track system, tie-downs, and the stout OG Marine Corps bumper

Fuel economy and the real-world drive

We finally answered the question everyone asks: what kind of fuel economy does it get? According to Wikipedia and military sources, this IFAV returns between 19 and 22 miles per gallon. What those figures don’t specify is the battle trim, whether that’s just a driver, navigator, and gunner, or a full squad with a tow behind it. Either way, 22 mpg from a diesel military truck is genuinely impressive.

On the road it’s quiet even with the back open, tracks straight, and pulls with real authority. This particular truck rolls on 16-inch civilian wheels wrapped in Cooper All-Terrains for now, since the factory Hutchinson bead locks are notoriously hard to find and we’re still sourcing a proper set. We even civilianize these with a hidden Baja Designs reverse light tied into the transmission shifter, so it’s road-legal without losing the look.

Talk to us about your G-Wagon

This is an OE factory truck, not a resto-mod: clean, complete, rust-free, and one of only four in the country. That combination of rarity, reliability, and genuine USMC history is exactly what we live for. If you’re a collector with a war truck, a rare G, or anything uniquely interesting, we want to hear about it so we can paint the story and get it out into the world. Joe Gocher and the Nothing But Gs crew at Alliance Motorworks in Loveland, Colorado, build and hunt down machines like this military G-Wagon IFAV every day. Reach out and start your build with us right here.