In 2023 most under the age of 25 would associate this name to a cool looking EV hatch. For those above the age of 30, Brabus meant something else. Some of the maddest cars ever made were from Brabus.
If you felt your AMG was a little ‘tame’, Brabus was the answer. It’s the performance brand that took fast Mercedes Benz’s and turned all the dials to 11. They reworked the engine, gearbox, suspesion, and sometimes even change the chassis to shoehorn some of the maddest engines in Mercedes Here’s a compilation of some of the maddest Brabus cars ever made.
Brabus CV8 6.1
Back then the biggest cc C class AMG Car was a 3.6 liter V6. So shoehorning an engine with almost twice the capacity into a C class body was unheard off.
Yours truly was fortunate enough to witness this beast in real life. The way it rocketed uphill along Jalan Maarof in 2005 was cartoonish, with a thundering rumble.
To accommodate the V8 engine, the entire subframe had to be modified and there was barely enough space in the engine bay.
Brabus EV12
Just when you thought the Brabus could not get any crazier, they drop in a V12 engine into an E Class. V12’s were reserved for only the S Class and more, but the Folks in Brabus shoehorned a biturbo V12 engine from AMG into the E Class.
While we were trying to wrap our heads around the E55 AMG’s 470 plus bhp, the 730bhp / 1100Nm output of the Brabus was mythical back in the late 2000’s.
Which resulted in a top speed of that’s limited to 350kph.
Brabus Smart Roadster prototype V6
Aside from big cc turbocharged engine’s, the folks at Brabus took two smart 3 cylinder engines and made them into a V6. And for good measure, they attached twin turbos to it.
Said vehicle were never put on sale nor homologated for road use, but it was a proof of concept of how far Brabus will push their engineering creativity in bringing big performance to cars they touch.
Brabus 6x6
From the smallest Daimler AG car we now go to the biggest car to get the Brabus treatmet. Seriously you better stretch yourself before trying to get into the driver seat of this car.
A 6×6 road car is already a bonkers proposition, powering it with a biturbo AMG engine with 536bhp is already mad. But what Brabus did with it was crazy. They reworked everything in the car and by the time it was done you had a custom exhaust, gold covered engine parts, 700bhp, custom leather interior and even shot glasses with the Brabus logo on it.
Plus all 15 units of these cars are available in Malaysia, one which was heroically used as a flood rescue vehicle during the 2021 nationwide floodings.
Brabus Rocket
Brabus became synonymous for making Mercedes Benz’s the fastest 4 door vehicles on the planet for quite some time. And the cherry on the icing was the Brabus Rocket.
Like its name it featured a 730bhp engine reworked by Brabus of course, placed in a heavily reworked first gen Mercedes Benz CLS body.
It would set the record for the fastest production 4 door sedan on the Nardo Technical Centre at 365kph.
Brabus Biturbo Roadster
One of the most memorable features for yours truly on the once religiously followed Top Gear program (if you’re under the age of 20, ask anyone about the age of 30 what top gear was all about), was the Brabus S Roadster. Lead presenter Jeremy Clarkson had just justified how crazy it is to have 1000Nm on a production Mercedes Benz AMG Coupe a couple of episodes ago. But here comes along Brabus reworking that very engine to produce alot more horsepower and torque, and dropping everything into the body of a convertible. Your local tyre shop would be very happy if you purchased one of these.
Brabus was a brand associated with extreme builds and makeovers, pushing the envelope of engineering, morphing ‘polite’ Mercedes Benz’s into monstrous bullets on 4 wheels,
So when a Smart sports the Brabus badge, we sit up and pay attention. Because we are pretty sure there’s something serious under the hood.
