Brabus Bodo — 1,000HP V12 Hyper-GT Built to Honour a Legend

Bodo Buschmann founded Brabus in Bottrop, Germany in the autumn of 1977 — while still studying law and business management. For nearly four decades he built the company into one of the most recognised names in high-performance automotive tuning, turning standard Mercedes models into machines that could humble supercars on an unrestricted autobahn. He passed away on April 26, 2018, after a short illness.

What Buschmann never got to see built was the car he always wanted to create. Not a tuned version of someone else's work. Not a body kit or an exhaust upgrade or an ECU remap. A proper Brabus grand tourer — conceived from the ground up as a statement of what the brand was truly capable of when freed from the constraints of working with production car platforms. The Bodo is that car. It arrived on May 15, 2026, at the FuoriConcorso event on the shores of Lake Como — and it arrived looking exactly like you would expect a founder's legacy car to look. Excessive. Theatrical. Completely, defiantly black.

Brabus Bodo side and rear view — the full carbon-fibre body stretched over the Aston Martin Vanquish chassis. Image: @brabus — Official Brabus Instagram

The Bodo begins life as an Aston Martin Vanquish. If you look closely at the roofline — the only panel retained from the original car — you can see where the DNA comes from. But Brabus then builds an entirely new full carbon-fibre body over the Vanquish's aluminium chassis and 8-speed transaxle gearbox, and the transformation is so complete that without prior knowledge, most observers would have no idea what lies beneath.

The result is a grand tourer that measures 199.3 inches long, 79.8 inches wide and just 51.4 inches tall — longer and wider than the Vanquish itself, with a dramatically lower roofline. The front fascia draws cues from the Mercedes-Benz SL, filtered through Brabus's own visual language. The rear features seven LED segments on each side flanking illuminated Brabus lettering across the full width of the tail. Four quad exhausts exit in a double-stacked configuration that makes the Vanquish's standard pipes look modest.

Chassis 01 — the car revealed at Lake Como — appears to have rejected colour entirely. The body panels are black. The exposed carbon elements are black. The wheels are black. Even certain engine bay components are finished in black carbon fibre. There is, however, carbon fibre with real gold detailing woven into specific components — which sounds completely unnecessary, and is therefore perfectly on-brand for Brabus.

Brabus Bodo rear — seven LED segments per side, illuminated Brabus lettering and quad double-stacked exhausts. Image: @brabus — Official Brabus Instagram

The Vanquish's 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 produces 823 horsepower in standard specification. That is already an extraordinary engine. Brabus then adds new turbochargers, revised cylinder heads, upgraded fuel management systems and a new exhaust — and the output rises to a quoted 1,000 metric horsepower, which translates to 986hp SAE on the measures used in the US and UK. Torque stands at 885 lb-ft, arriving from just 2,900rpm, which means the Bodo's full force is available almost immediately off idle.

The performance figures reflect it. Zero to 62mph takes 3.0 seconds flat. Top speed reaches 224mph — a figure Brabus describes as electronically limited, which implies the actual mechanical ceiling is higher. The 8-speed automatic transaxle that comes from the Vanquish handles the power delivery with paddle-shifted control.

Base Vehicle	Aston Martin Vanquish
Body	Full bespoke carbon-fibre — all new except roofline
Engine	5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 — Brabus tuned
Output	986 hp SAE (1,000 metric hp)
Torque	885 lb-ft from 2,900 rpm
Transmission	8-speed automatic transaxle — paddle-operated
0–62 mph	3.0 seconds
Top Speed	224 mph — electronically limited
Weight	1,910 kg
Length	199.3 inches (5,062 mm)
Width	79.8 inches (2,027 mm)
Height	51.4 inches (1,305 mm)
Taillights	7 LED segments per side + illuminated Brabus lettering
Exhaust	Quad — double-stacked configuration
Carbon Detail	Real gold woven into select carbon components
Production	77 units — 10 to 15 per year
Starting Price	€1,000,000 (~$1.16 million) before taxes and options
Included with purchase	Keys + weekender bag in matching interior leather
Digital passport	Blockchain-verified authenticity in cargo compartment

Brabus Bodo alloy wheel — the signature 20-spoke design, finished in black, measuring 22 inches at the front and 23 inches at the rear. Image: @brabus — Official Brabus Instagram

Inside the Bodo, the Aston Martin connection becomes more apparent. The dashboard architecture, central touchscreen layout and major switchgear carry over directly from the Vanquish — which means Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and all the luxury technology you would expect from a £200,000 Aston Martin are present as standard. But everything around that core has been re-trimmed, re-stitched and re-detailed by Brabus.

The cabin is trimmed entirely in smooth black leather and contrasting Nubuck. The seats are ergonomically contoured for lateral support during dynamic driving, with the silhouette of the Bodo embroidered on each backrest. On the door panels, stitched in thread, is Bodo Buschmann's own signature — a detail that transforms every journey into a quiet tribute to the man who dreamed this car into existence.

A 77 badge appears under the rear window — tying the production number directly to Brabus's founding year. The blockchain-based digital product passport in the cargo compartment provides verified documentation of authenticity, ownership and full vehicle specification. Every Bodo buyer also receives their keys and a weekender bag crafted in the same leather as their specific car's interior.

Brabus Bodo front headlight detail and steering wheel — carbon fibre trim with the Brabus B logo centre badge. Image: @brabus — Official Brabus Instagram

The Brabus Bodo starts at €1,000,000 — approximately $1.16 million — before taxes, options and the inevitable personalisation that buyers at this level will commission. Production is capped at 77 units globally, built at a rate of just 10 to 15 cars per year, which means the final car will not leave the Bottrop facility until well into the next decade.

Brabus has confirmed that colour options beyond the all-black reveal car are available — buyers can specify the Bodo in virtually any colour they choose. The reveal car simply chose black, stayed black, and made the point perfectly. For a car that exists to honour someone's legacy in full, restraint would have been the wrong choice.