"Just a wicked car in every sense": an Italian roadtrip in the Brabus Bodo

Photography: John Wycherley

I assume the onlooking crowd think I’m some sort of crime lord and are waiting for a gunfight to break out. On a normal day with a normal car this would just be some English guy in a hire car getting a fine for not much at all. Nothing to see here. Of course, the Brabus Bodo is not a normal car and when you have the key there’s no such thing as a normal day...

You know Brabus. Masters of taking Mercedes-Benz products to new extremes, well beyond even AMG’s wildest offerings. Formed in 1977, stuffing V8s into 190Es in the 1980s, shoehorning V12s into the E-Class platform in the ’90s, setting world records for the fastest saloon car in the world in the 2000s (as well as a fruitful new official relationship with Smart) and all the time channelling a black-on-black aesthetic that created an aura of mystery and aggression. 

For me, Brabus will always be a shadowy E-Class with little V12 badges and massive V12 performance, spearing down the autobahn at 200mph in the dead of night. The cargo? Four blokes in black suits. Maybe a fifth rolled up in a carpet in the boot.

However, in recent years and now under the control of the late founder Bodo Buschmann’s son, Constantin, Brabus has sought new areas in which to flex its engineering and artistic muscle. Its huge facility in Bottrop now works on Range Rover, Lamborghini, Porsche and Rolls-Royce products alongside the Mercedes-Benz range (which still accounts for more than 80 per cent of its business).

Brabus also has the capability to restore classic Mercedes models to better than new condition. It really is a wondrous place. Ambitious, too. Which leads us to its new ‘supercar’, the Bodo. Just 77 will be made starting at around £1 million.

The exaggerated, gloriously sculpted shape is something very special and has a pre-war Mercedes-Benz flavour. The exposed carbon fibre body honours the old Brabus palette but elevates the execution. Yet this is a real break from tradition. Brabus wanted to build a hard-edged but front-engine/rear drive Super GT with a look influenced by the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 concept car and needed a long wheelbase, hugely powerful and thoroughly well sorted donor car upon which to carry out its neo-coachbuilding ambitions. 

Look around and you won’t find many suitable candidates. Even so, the decision remains inspired. The Bodo is based around the chassis architecture and powertrain of the superb Aston Martin Vanquish. If Vanquish + Brabus doesn’t get you excited, you’re a lost cause.

In Brabusland, the Aston’s thumping 824bhp twin turbocharged 5.2-litre V12 is a great basis to build an engine with a more appropriate power output. And they go deep. In fact, the entire car is so much more than a dramatic rebody exercise. For example, the engine is stripped to component form and rebuilt with new intake, heads, forged pistons and titanium rods, bigger intercoolers, new and bigger turbochargers, plus a full length titanium exhaust. The carbon fibre intake system has gold flakes weaved into it. Which is cool. 

But not as cool as the fact the engine now produces 986bhp at 6,400rpm and 885lb ft from 2,900rpm–5,000rpm. Brabus claims 0–62mph in 3.0 seconds and a top speed of 223mph. The chassis is radically changed, too. It features new suspension arms, unique springs and dampers that are said to be a shade or two more aggressive than the Vanquish units and also take into account the weight savings found in the body, plus Brabus even goes to the trouble of developing bespoke Continental SportContact 7 Force tyres.

The whole experience that goes several steps further than the booming, ballistic Vanquish

Lower, wider and with the balance tipped more towards the ‘Super’ part of Super GT, the Bodo really does stand apart from the Vanquish in nearly every way. Until you swing open the door and slide behind the wheel. There’s a big ‘B’ on the central boss, but it’s the same steering wheel as the Vanquish. There’s quilted black Alcantara everywhere, but the same screens as a Vanquish. 

On the door panels Bodo Buschmann’s signature is stitched into place, but otherwise it’s familiar. The whole architecture is lightly disguised Vanquish. A few years ago this might have been a Bad Thing, but today it’s very Good News. The Vanquish interior is fantastic and fusing it with some Brabus detailing makes for a relentlessly black but somehow rather uplifting experience. Even better is that all the drive modes and adjustability are retained. Brabus changes so much but the breadth of ability – hopefully – is retained with GT, Sport, Sport+, Wet and the configurable Individual mode.

Immediately the Bodo feels familiar and highly polished but also unmistakably different. The steering has more weight, the ride feels firmer but with a really flat, extremely composed gait and there’s a responsiveness and alertness to the whole experience that goes several steps further than the booming, ballistic Vanquish. Easing through the traffic of Como and then snapping between villages as we head to the hills, the Bodo remains refined and luxurious, but you know with certainty there’s so much more bite to come.

On the few occasions I can fully wake the big turbos, the V12 engine feels immense and picks up the Bodo with a ferocious ease. Funnily enough though, there are times when the throttle response and initial surge of acceleration can’t match a Vanquish. Big power is good, but clearly some low-rev energy has been sacrificed with those massive blowers.

As other traffic recedes, the Bodo – hemmed in as it is on these narrow Italian passes – finds its range and puts on a fine display of wide shouldered grip, blackout performance and surprising agility. Flick the wheel into a turn and those big Contis bite without hesitation. So much so that the rear axle immediately takes a bit of attitude. This is in stark contrast to the Vanquish, which has a lovely balance but the Aston’s approach is to lock front and rear together and then allow the driver to dictate from that neutral stance with the masses of torque. 

Brabus has chosen to make the Bodo so much more alive during the turn-in phase. It creates an agility and attacking style that’s distinct from the big Aston and unlocks a turn of speed across the ground that’s seriously impressive. The way it combines a great sense of adjustability with the reassurance of tightly controlled body and wheel movements is something new and really addictive.

Question marks remain in terms of engine response, but once again I’m fully aware this is as much a symptom of the narrow, craggy environment as a ‘fault’. My guess is that Bodo owners will spend more time cruising around relatively slowly followed by the odd moment of full on performance on bigger, sweeping roads or autobahns where the slight delay caused by those massive turbos won’t be an issue. 

Honestly, it’s not a huge lag anyway, it’s just slightly exposed by how brilliantly up for it the chassis feels. Anyway, once up and running the engine is furious and hilariously super powered. The high-rev energy is jaw-dropping and just adds to this car’s natural, inherent drama and the way it exudes a sort of impregnable fortress-like capability.

It’s just a wicked car in every sense of the word. Aside from our brush with Italy’s angriest member of the Guardia di Finanza (a militarised enforcement agency), our time with the Bodo is all rather dreamy. Despite my ‘Brabus is Benz’ prejudices, this new Aston Martin-based project feels absolutely faithful to what I know and understand this company to be. More than that, it looks, feels and behaves dynamically in such a cohesive, intoxicating way.

The execution really is a testament to Brabus’ near 50 year history, its tangible expertise amassed in that time and its understanding that a true Brabus is found in all the qualities they add, not the badge on the donor vehicle. It really is an exciting new chapter for this intriguing company. In today’s insane market the Bodo even feels like a bit of a bargain.

Brabus Bodo 

Price: £1 million
Engine: 5.2-litre twin turbo V12, 986bhp, 885lb ft
Transmission: 8spd auto, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 0–62mph in 3.0secs, 223mph
Weight: 1,910kg