On the banks of Lake Como at FuoriConcorso in May, German tuner Brabus unveiled an ambitious new project that comes just about as close as possible to creating an all-new car in the company’s five-decade history. Named the Bodo, after founder Bodo Buschmann, who always dreamed of such an extensive undertaking, the new model shares underpinnings of an Aston Martin Vanquish with the presence and power worthy of a founder’s name. Brabus plans to build just 77 Bodos, with a starting price of €1,000,000.
Bodo Buschmann’s son, Constantin, stepped into the CEO role for Brabus in 2018 after his father’s stroke and quickly put his mark on the company with numerous expansions, including into the world of yachts, motorcycles, and even motorhomes.
Now, at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering on Friday of Monterey Car Week, Constantin Buschmann took the stage to unveil another step in that process: a pair of Bodos in Cabriolet form. Ahead of the global debut, Buschmann invited duPont Registry to visit Brabus headquarters in Bottrop, Germany, to witness the two show cars in various stages of production. In the starkly modern facilities, Constantin recalled a childhood memory seared into his mind which sums up the entire Brabus lifestyle.
“There's one picture that I'm having set up in a frame, ” Buschmann revealed, “Because it encompasses everything that is Brabus in one single image. That is my father, driving an R129 [Mercedes] without a bonnet over the V12, either a suit and tie or a leather jacket, sunglasses on, on the Autobahn with no speed limit here in Germany.”
The Bodo coupe marked a natural starting point for this project, worthy of duPont Registry’s August 2026 cover, with serious style and presence reminiscent of boattail-era Bugattis or maybe even Bruce Wayne. That’s not to mention the rarity factor, nor the almost infinite level of personalization available on each Bodo that highlights Brabus’ Masterpiece series of most extensive builds.
But the Bodo comes a long way from lifted G-Wagens or blacked-out Benzes. Instead, each begins life as an Aston Martin Vanquish—even if Buschmann claims the design and development process began with a concept and then narrowed down on the singular Vanquish eventually to satisfy every need. Brabus then strips the Vanquish down to the chassis, swaps on the bespoke carbon-fiber body, and rebuilds Aston’s stupendous twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V12 to unleash a bump from 823 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque to 1,000 ponies and 885 lb-ft.
The first Bodo coupe finished in black over black, with plenty of exposed carbon fiber, fits perfectly into the quintessential Brabus aesthetic. But if anything, the Cabriolet winds up as more of a stone-cold stunner—again, the more complete Cabriolet during our visit to Bottrop featured a black exterior. The two share the same bold front end, with a vertical grille giving way to a long hood with recessed heat extractors.
Comparing the rear ends, however, the Cab’s design actually departs from the earlier coupe by a significant margin because the tail needed to also fit the folding convertible top, critically without eliminating trunk space. The entire rear clamshell therefore sits higher and slopes less, while with the roof laid back, the 2+2 interior now offers a bit more space for the rear seats without the low roofline.
From any perspective, the Cabriolet inhabits an entirely different persona with a seemingly more square waterline around the open cockpit that emphasizes the broad haunches and eternally long hood. The Saddle Brown interior of the Piano Black car hews nearer to Aston’s own catalog, but the other Quail car in pieces nearby featured a much more eye-catching sensibility.
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Brabus calls the white car’s almost matte, yet transitionally opalescent paint job “Silk Stone” over a creamy interior upholstery. The radical departure from all-black everything comes courtesy of Brabus creative director Mili Umicevic, also Constantin Buschmann’s fiancée and a co-star on the docu-series Brabus: One Second Wow!
Each Bodo Cabriolet on stage at The Quail pushes the limit of what Brabus can do, from a stylistic standpoint but also in the engineering department. Back in Bottrop, a quick spin in the Bodo coupe revealed deep wellsprings of torque available at any point in the rev range, a smooth yet supple ride thanks to revised suspension components including electronically adjustable KW dampers that work in concert with Aston’s onboard drive modes, plus dual-axle lift to make those long overhangs less of a concern over bumps, dips, and driveway entrances.
Naturally, the impeccable interior upholstery and trim further enhanced the sense of luxury befitting a seven-figure super-GT. “We've been doing what we do for almost five decades,” Constantin Buschmann explained. “That has built up a tremendous amount of know-how. Now, the new team that's taken over from Bodo, who the car is named after, it’s like we're picking up speed every year. Speed and momentum.”
If anything, the quick succession from FuoriConcorso to Monterey Car Week reveals the capability for Brabus to debut essentially two new models in just one summer. The Bodo Cabriolet starts at €1,077,000 and adds another 77 units to the overall Bodo production run, allowing those unlucky few who failed to secure an initial allocation another chance to join the new era now well underway at Brabus.
Images: Michael Van Runkle, Brabus, Charles Bradley
