Emiratis like their cars big … and bigger. Envision a highway grid jammed with the biggest SUVs made in Japan, the U.S. and Europe, and that’s pretty much what the roads here look like, in the Abu Dhabi-Dubai axis.

A regular occurrence for anyone driving something less than a land yacht (loaded with all the options), is not being able to see anything ahead of the beast cruising in front of you.

Now, a German carmaker is taking things to another level.

The Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6.

The key characters are those at the end of the name.

This thing is beyond a 4×4. It is so big it’s a 6×6.

How big is it?

The Mercedes website cuts to the chase.  “The automotive declaration of independence … Mercedes-Benz presents the most spectacular cross-country vehicle of all time.”

So, six wheels, a vehicle about 19 feet long and more than six feet wide, and I expect to see it on Sheikh Zayed Road in a month or two. Even at a cost of about $540,000.

The National’s story about the vehicle, which is being shown at the Dubai Motor Show, quotes an Emirati as saying, “I think it would look impressive on the road.”

And there you are. Impressive on the road. Where do I sign up?

Some silly expat, a Brit, is quoted as saying the vehicle is just too big. “It’s like a tank.”

However, the guys who sell these things know which buttons to push.

A guy who works for a firm in Dubai that will upscale your Merc 6×6 from a tepid 536 horsepower to 700, knows his customers.

“You have more torque, you have more fun, you have more power,” Sven Gramm told The National.

“It’s more than any SUV, it’s a real desert fun toy, which you can also use on the road. It’s a massive car, somewhere between an SUV and a truck.

“It is actually a monster truck – a monster truck for the street.”

Oh. My. Goodness. Those things are going to fly off the shelves … or creep out of the showroom, once they’ve knocked out the glass to allow the thing on to the streets.

A monster truck for the street? Not on any street I am on, I hope.

Lots of off-roading goes on in the UAE; it certainly compares with the California desert in that regard.

If anything, “dune bashing” is bigger here because the UAE has actual sand dunes. The Empty Quarter is mostly dunes. And most of the country is open to anyone willing to drive it.

When appealing to the UAE citizenry, bigger and more expensive is always the way to go. Mercedes-Benz has just thrown down the gauntlet.

Maybe the U.S. government can pick it up, and put on sale the M1 Abrams battle tank. Mercedes has taken us most of the way there.