Mercedes Made Extreme
Since 1990, AMG has been Mercedes-Benz’s factory skunkworks division after an agreement to build vehicles together. Some great cars have been made since then, but for some people, the models still aren’t spicy enough. That’s where the folks from Brabus come in.
Established in 1977 by founders Klaus Brackmann and Bodo Buschmann, Brabus has been making hot Benzes even hotter for nearly 50 years. And while it has been tuning cars from other brands in more recent history, it’s still best known for making some of the most extreme AMGs out there with price tags to match.
Brabus
A New Chapter
Brabus unveiled its first-ever (mostly) homegrown car this year in the form of the Bodo. It’s a clear tribute to the company’s co-founder, and it doesn’t use a Mercedes-Benz as its basic platform. Instead, its bones are from the Aston Martin Vanquish, but the Mercedes connection is still there, as its V12 still comes from the German automaker.
The Bodo is just the start of a new chapter for Brabus. In an interview with Motor1, CEO Constantin Buschmann, the son of co-founder Bodo Buschmann, said we can expect more bespoke models from the brand.
Brabus
Outside the Comfort Zone
Brabus can perhaps breathe a sigh of relief with the Bodo, given the positive reaction towards it. Perhaps inevitably, the company then followed it up with the Bodo cabriolet that made its world premiere at The Quail during Monterey Car Week. Brabus won’t be stopping there, though, as Buschmann said the automaker has to build something out of its comfort zone once in a while.
“I said to the team back then, ‘We’re going to do one uncomfortable thing a year. We’re gonna put ourselves outside of our comfort zone one time per year, minimum.’ And we’ve done that ever since… [Bodo] kind of feels like coming full circle. Because this car shows what you’ve been developing through going out of our comfort zone. Over and over and over again,” said Buschmann to Motor1.
Brabus
What to Expect
Buschmann didn’t say what the next bespoke Brabus model will be just yet. But given his directive ‘to do something uncomfortable,’ it might just be working on the next one as we speak. We won’t know if it’ll be based on an Aston or AMG, but we can expect something truly special and epic given the high bar that the Bodo had set.
Before you ask, yes, tuning the nuts off AMGs will still be the core business of Brabus, but the beginning of unique models will become a regular thing for the brand. This comes after years of customers asking when it would build and design cars from scratch, as its clients believe that Brabus can do far more than its current business portfolio. With a younger, more open-minded team behind him, Buschmann’s new branch for Brabus may well become reality.
Brabus