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

The Story

TopGear reports that “Just a wicked car in every sense”: an Italian roadtrip in the Brabus Bodo — here’s the gist of what’s worth knowing.

Brabus has got its hands on the Aston Martin Vanquish. And the result is pure evil. Published: 23 Sep 2026 External link to Top Gear Magazine Subscription – 3 months for £6Well, it’s taken me decades of driving very fast cars in Italy, but today I’ve found the only policeman in the entire nation without an ounce of love or appreciation for cars in his veins. Perhaps the only citizen of this amazing and beautiful country who couldn’t care less about anything with four wheels and a (V12) engine.

My crime?. Parking outside a café for 10 minutes and then driving very slowly along the shores of Lake Como in an area teeming with pedestrians. Our crime fighting hero is raging: standing tall right in my face with flushed cheeks and raised voice, asking questions but refusing to let me answer and generally – and I say this in the nicest possible way – behaving like a bully. Then I drop the bombshell that my licence is actually in my bag, which is in another car. Dear Lord. It’s an uncomfortable scenario but even in the heat of the moment I’m kind of enjoying the whole surreal situation. Here I am in one of Europe’s most glamorous, beautiful and very public locations, stood beside a car so sinister that it feels beamed in from an alternate dystopian universe and being read the riot act.

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.

Skip 9 photos in the image carousel and continue readingTurn on Javascript to see all the available pictures.1 / 9. 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.

Why It Matters

The Bodo is based around the chassis architecture and powertrain of the superb Aston Martin Vanquish.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

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. Watch this space over the coming weeks. Electric momentum is uneven across the industry, and moves like this reshape how buyers compare EV lineups. Range, charging speed, and price still dominate EV shopping — every new entry forces competitors to either match or reposition. Watch for EPA range certifications and DC fast-charge benchmarks once independent tests land. Pricing tiers, software updates, and any regional trim adjustments will tell us how serious the launch intent is.