Guides

What Is a 6x6? Six-Wheel Drive From Army Trucks to the G-Class

By DARTZ Editorial · 9 November 2026

In the notation 6x6, the first number counts the wheel positions and the second the ones that are driven, so a 6x6 has six wheels, all driven. The extra axle spreads weight and adds grip, which is why armies use 6x6 trucks. Mercedes-Benz developed a six-wheel-drive G-Class for the Australian Army from 2007, and from 2013 to 2015 sold the civilian G 63 AMG 6x6 with portal axles. DARTZ armoured one as the Drive Hard 6x6.

Four-wheel drive is for rough roads. Six-wheel drive is for places with no roads at all, and for loads a four-wheeler cannot carry.

Reading the numbers

The notation is simple. The first number counts the wheel positions, the second how many of them are driven. A 4x2 is an ordinary car with two driven wheels, a 4x4 drives all four, a 6x4 truck has six wheels with four driven, and a 6x6 drives all six.

Why six

A third axle spreads a heavy load over more tyres, so the vehicle presses less on soft ground, and driving all six wheels gives grip where four would dig in. That is why armies have relied on 6x6 trucks since the Second World War, and why heavy armoured vehicles often have three or more axles: armour needs somewhere to put its weight.

The wheel hub and knobbly tyre of a heavy off-road vehicle on desert gravel, close-up

The G-Class 6x6

Mercedes-Benz developed a six-wheel-drive version of its G-Class for the Australian Army from 2007, as a light utility vehicle with a 3.0-litre diesel. Other armies followed; the Swedish Army uses a G 300 CDI 6x6, pictured above.

In 2013 Mercedes turned it into a road car. The G 63 AMG 6x6 had a pick-up body, a lavish cabin, the twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 of the G 63, with 536 hp, and portal axles on all three axles, which almost doubled its ground clearance. It was built from 2013 to 2015 by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria, and more than 100 were made. (Mercedes-AMG G 63 6x6 on Wikipedia)

The DARTZ Drive Hard 6x6

DARTZ helped develop the MRAP stunt truck for the film A Good Day to Die Hard (2013). After the premiere, DARTZ built the Drive Hard 6x6 for a private client: an armoured, MRAP-themed G 63 AMG 6x6. Fox News and High Gear Media reported 1,019 hp, 738 lb-ft of torque, a kerb weight of about 11,000 lb, and armour they described as resisting all small-arms fire. Read the Drive Hard 6x6 and DARTZ in film.

A grey DARTZ Prombron’ and the MRAP stunt truck from A Good Day to Die Hard parked together

Six wheels at DARTZ

Six wheels return in the DARTZ range with the Royal Landaulet, which is an extended Black Stallion with an extra axle that recreates the 1912 Russo-Baltique Royal Landaulet. Read what a landaulet is.

The six-wheeled DARTZ Royal Landaulet with its soft top folded, in a pine forest

About DARTZ

DARTZ is a Riga carrosserie that builds bespoke, opulent vehicles, armoured or non-armoured, in strictly limited numbers. It calls them BONDs: Bespoke Opulent Noble Drives.

Its heritage runs back to the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (RBVZ), founded in Riga in 1869, whose automobile department built its first car in 1909. Leonard F. Yankelovich revived that heritage as DARTZ in 1988. The group, DARTZ Grupa OÜ, is registered in Tallinn, Estonia.

Its Prombron’ models, from the Iron Diamond and Black Dragon to the Black Shark, Black Alligator and Black Stallion, have been covered by Top Gear, Forbes, Robb Report and Fox News, among many others.

Questions we are asked

What does 6x6 mean?

Six wheel positions, six of them driven. The first number counts the wheel ends, the second how many are powered, so a 6x4 truck has six wheels with four driven.

Why do armies use 6x6 vehicles?

A third axle spreads a heavy load over more tyres, and driving all six gives grip on soft or broken ground. It also carries heavy bodies such as armour.

How many Mercedes G 63 AMG 6x6 were built?

Production ran from 2013 to 2015 at Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria, and exceeded 100 cars; some sources give about 150.

What is the DARTZ Drive Hard 6x6?

An armoured, MRAP-themed Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6x6 that DARTZ built for a private client after A Good Day to Die Hard. Fox News and High Gear Media reported 1,019 hp and a kerb weight of about 11,000 lb.

EXPLORE THE COLLECTION