Brabus builds a 1000 hp carbon fibre super GT based on the Aston Martin Vanquish
Brabus revealed the Bodo, a grand tourer based on the Aston Martin Vanquish, with an entirely new carbon fibre body, a 1000 hp V12 engine and production limited to just 77 cars. Prices start at €1.3 million.
Brabus built its reputation largely on extreme versions of Mercedes Benz models, but the Bodo points to a broader ambition. This is not simply tuning with louder exhausts and darker wheels. It moves the company towards coachbuilding, the old art of giving an existing platform a new body, a new character and, ideally, a reason to exist.
The car takes its name from Brabus founder Bodo Buschmann, while the 77 car production run nods to 1977, the year the company was founded.
Aston Martin roots, Brabus identity
Technically, the project does not begin with a blank sheet of paper. The Brabus Bodo uses the Aston Martin Vanquish platform, the core cabin architecture and Aston Martin’s 5.2 litre twin turbo V12 engine.
Yet Brabus changed the car’s visual and mechanical identity so extensively that calling it a body kit would undersell the work. The company replaced the Vanquish body with new carbon fibre panels, giving the Bodo a substantially different exterior shape rather than a selection of aerodynamic add ons.
Inside, the cabin remains recognisably close to the Vanquish in layout, but Brabus covered it in its own materials and detailing. Reports point to extensive leather trim, carbon fibre elements and touches carrying Bodo Buschmann’s signature. The message is fairly clear. Brabus is not selling speed alone, but rarity, theatre and the feeling of a commissioned object.
1000 hp and rear wheel drive
The engine still comes from Aston Martin’s 5.2 litre twin turbo V12, but Brabus raises output to 1000 hp and torque to 1200 Nm. Power goes to the rear wheels through an eight speed automatic gearbox.
The numbers are suitably serious. Brabus claims 0 to 100 km/h in 3.0 seconds, 200 km/h in 8.5 seconds and a top speed of 360 km/h. That pushes the Bodo closer to the hyper GT category than the familiar world of the luxury coupé.
It is also a deliberately bold technical choice. Sending 1000 hp to the rear wheels gives the Bodo a certain old school bravado, even if the electronics will have plenty of work to do.
The chassis has more than power to manage
Brabus fits the Bodo with 21 inch Monoblock Z GT Shadow Edition forged wheels and Continental SportContact 7 tyres. The chassis offers five driving modes, while the ride height can be adjusted by 25 millimetres.
Carbon ceramic brakes also feature, although at this level they feel less like a prestige option and more like basic prudence. The car weighs around 1910 kilograms, so stopping power matters as much as acceleration.
Only 10 to 15 cars will be built each year, meaning the full 77 car run could stretch across several years. Scarcity, then, becomes part of the business model.
For the buyer, the Brabus Bodo is no longer just a question of horsepower, torque or how quickly it reaches 100 km/h. It offers entry into a new version of Brabus, one that wants to be seen as more than a tuner. That may be the most interesting performance figure of all.
