This thing might be a tad hard to wrap your mind around, but if you give it a chance, it’s likely the Brabus 900 Crawler will grow on you. It would be quite incredible, if you can imagine the scenario, showing up at King of the Hammers in this supercar-esque off-roader and watching literally everyone stare you down, as if they had seen a real-life unicorn—which it pretty much is, glorious glittery aura included.
Brabus Goes Off-Road: We Have Liftoff!
To celebrate its 45th anniversary, Brabus, a German high-end automotive manufacturer, came up with this crazy doorless, windowless “crawler.” That’s weird; we’re used to road cars and of course G63s out of Brabus, but not this. The Brabus 900 Crawler is wholly unique, and if you had to describe what just passed by camp, you’d probably have no idea what to say: super-fancy side-by-side, Jeep-ish buggy, dune-style G-Wagen, one-of-a-kind custom-fab off-roader? Understandable.
The work was all done in-house, making it truly custom. For reference, the 4,550-pound Brabus 900 Crawler is 182.0 inches long, 82.9 inches wide, and 92.0 inches high. That’s like four feet shorter than a new Ford Raptor, and about a foot taller.
Dripping in Carbon Fiber
It’s impossible to miss the bountiful integration of exposed carbon in this Brabus build: buggy-style body; roof paneling; roof cowl with a central air intake (providing airflow for rear seat passengers) and two integrated LED lights; rear wing; hood with air intake and air vents; engine cover; and fenders with rocker panels and running boards. There’s a ton of carbon fiber on the inside, too, sculpting and integrating interior elements seamlessly. The underbody panels are constructed from aluminum and a robust carbon/Kevlar composite material.
It Has Portals
A crazy custom CAD-designed tubular frame and chassis accommodates Brabus front and rear portal axles (for almost 21 inches of ground clearance) and custom suspension. The front has billet control arms. Damping comes courtesy of tailor-made height and damping adjustable Brabus aluminum struts.
The eight-lug 20×9.5 forged one-piece Brabus monoblock HD Platinum Edition wheels are wrapped in 40×13.50R20 Maxxis Razr MT tires. A full spare in mounted in the rear. Peaking through the eight-spoke wheels are 15.7-inch front disc brakes and 14.6-inch rear disc brakes, highlighted by red Brabus calipers. It also has ABS and an electric parking brake.
Open Cockpit, Helmets Included
The Brabus 900 Crawler has no glass isolating the slick interior from the great outdoors, allowing for a true open-air, open-element experience. The openness exposes the interior to sun, sand, mud, and water, but that’s all part of the fun, right? To account for this exposure, Brabus covered the four carbon bucket racing seats in bright red Silvertex fabric, the same weather-resistant stuff that Brabus uses in its sport boats. Brabus logos on the headrests and four-point seat restraints remind occupants of the buggy’s supercar status.
A bevy of red anodized interior parts match the rest of the red motif, as does the continued use of carbon fiber. A Lowrance HDS 12 GPS navigation system helps keep the fun on-track, and Brabus can compile map date for the particular area where the Crawler will be used. As you can see from a quick glance at the dash and center console, the Crawler is not overly complex, but it’s also no slouch when it comes to technology as evidenced by that huge digital gauge cluster. Dang, it all just looks so good. The center of dash houses an intercom button for the intercom system that can be used with the supplied Brabus carbon helmets.
Droolworthy Power
Saving the best for last, a healthy underhood rumble is created by the Brabus 900 Rocket twin-turbo 4.5-liter V-8 with a bunch of billet and forged internals and a mighty pshhhh of the turbo blow-off. It’s good for 900 hp and 992 lb-ft of torque, more than enough to throw plentiful roost in the dunes, and it’s backed by a nine-speed automatic transmission that can be manually shifted through steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. It has permanent all-wheel drive with electronically controlled locking differentials. The result is a 0-62 mph acceleration time of 3.4 seconds; top speed is limited to 100 mph. Unfortunately, it’s not street legal.
Exhaust exits on both sides of the vehicle through two matte black tailpipes in front of the rear wheels. With the touch of steering wheel button, the driver can change the exhaust from angry to quiet.
Yes, It’ll Cost You
If this Brabus is not your cup of desert but rather some strange abomination, that’s okay. Brabus is only going to make 15 of them over the next three years, so there’s no risk of them overtaking the desert. And no one is forcing you to write a $800,000 check to Brabus, but if you have the cash, that’s what it’ll cost you.
Keyword: The Brabus 900 Crawler Is a Tubular Twin-Turbo Desert Toy with Portals