Unveiled this past weekend at the Fuori Concorso on the shores of Lake Como, the Brabus Bodo is a work of automotive art. The grand tourer is an homage to Brabus founder Bodo Buschmann, who always wanted to build a large GT car, and with a twin-turbo V12 at its heart and carbon fiber bodywork, it’s every bit as special as any car carrying its founder’s name should be.
But while the Brabus Bodo is based on the Aston Martin Vanquish, it’s been pointed out that it bears a striking resemblance to the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Concept 6 from 2016. The designer of that achingly gorgeous Maybach concept from a decade ago should have every right to be piling the hate onto Brabus, but in a post on Instagram, he’s done the opposite, lauding Brabus for building the car he never got the opportunity to.
Similarities Impossible To Ignore
Brabus Bodo revealed at the Fuori Concorso 2026 at Como Car Week.Michal Okonski/CarBuzz/Valnet
Davis Lee – known for his work on the Mercedes-Benz CLS and S-Class, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and the man behind the iconic Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 design – took to Instagram to highlight the design similarities between the concept he penned and the car Brabus has built.
While the Brabus Bodo is based on an Aston Martin, the company’s business is built on tuning Mercedes models, so it’s no surprise it has heavy hints of Mercedes. And Lee loves the result:
“Brabus came up with Bodo, and I think it looks great! I designed the Maybach 6 concept while I was at Mercedes 10 years ago and I cannot help [seeing] the similarities in the overall theme and surface language.”
– Davis Lee, Former Mercedes-Benz Designer
The post was accompanied by linework sketched on images of both cars, showcasing how similar they are, from the upswept floor line to the tapering shoulder line and even the shape of the glasshouse. And now that he’s pointed it out, we can’t unsee it. Using the slider below, you can compare the two for yourself.
Accountants Killed The Maybach’s Shot At Production
But in a wonderful twist, Lee credits Brabus as being “brave enough to build it,” something Mercedes never was, despite Lee’s best efforts. “Difference is, Brabus was brave enough to make it into production and Mercedes didn’t,” says Lee, adding that “there was [sic] internal attempts to produce it with the S-Class Coupe platform but it didn’t go through the bean counting department…”
Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6Mercedes-Benz
A model like the Maybach 6 would never have been a volume seller, but even if there had been an exorbitant price tag, we’re sure it would’ve sold more than the number of Bodo GTs Brabus is planning on building. Production is planned for 77 units in total at a rate of 10 to 15 units per year. Unsurprisingly, Brabus hasn’t given a price, and we can safely assume it’s going to be prohibitively expensive – likely in the seven-figure region.
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The Brabus Crawler is a 4WD buggy. It has a 900 hp twin-turbo V8 engine, portal axles and it is illegal to drive on the road. It is also wonderful.
An Aston Martin Vanquish isn’t cheap to start with. And then there’s the tuning work on the engine to take it to 986 horsepower. And of course, that styling wouldn’t come to fruition without some good old-fashioned coachbuilding, which in this case is almost entirely fashioned from carbon fiber.
It’s a special thing, and one Lee is right to praise. We’re of the same opinion, too, so in the words of Davis Lee, “Huge shoutout to Brabus who made this thing happen!”
