Mark Megahan
The Brabus 900 Crawler comes complete with helmets. You’ll need them. It has so much turbo charged off road power that it easily crawls itself airborne. This is the kind of vehicle which would feel right at home signing up for the Pikes’ Peak Hill Climb. When it got there, jaws would be dropping as spectators were convinced, as MotorTrend puts it, “they had seen a real-life unicorn — which it pretty much is, glorious glittery aura included.”
Off road luxury chaos
The German high-end automotive manufacturer Brabus, decided to celebrate its 45th anniversary with something “off road” which can achieve lift off, too. The guys at MotorTrend describe it as a “crazy doorless, windowless ‘crawler.’” They point out how “weird” it is.
“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?” That, they say, is “understandable.”
The Germans did all the work in house to make it completely custom. The specs say it’s “four feet shorter than a new Ford Raptor, and about a foot taller.” It’s also, they note, “dripping in carbon fiber.” Off road guys like that.
“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.”
Once your buckled in tight you’ll appreciate the “sculpting” of the integrated interior. Also, all the underbody panels are constructed from aluminum “and a robust carbon/Kevlar composite material.”
Hard core off road enthusiasts stiffen up in excitement to learn about the “crazy custom CAD-designed tubular frame and chassis.” It actually dares to accommdate “Brabus front and rear portal axles.” That gives it a radical 21 inches of ground clearance. Of course, something like that simply must have it’s own custom suspension.
Damping adjustable struts
One of the big features for off road adventure are the billet control arms in the front. “Damping comes courtesy of tailor-made height and damping adjustable Brabus aluminum struts.”
The wheels are eight-lug 20×9.5 forged one-piece Brabus monoblock HD Platinum Edition. They come standard with 40×13.50R20 Maxxis Razr MT tires. You get a spare, too.
There’s not a single piece of glass to ruin your day, “allowing for a true open-air, open-element experience.” You’ll really appreciate that when the horses go out for an off road run.
“A Lowrance HDS 12 GPS navigation system helps keep the fun on-track.” It will show that cliff you’re about to launch off of, if you aren’t careful.
The thing that makes everyone’s jaw hit the floor with a thump is the Brabus 900 Rocket twin-turbo 4.5-liter V-8. It can punch up 900 hp and 992 lb-ft of torque. Perfect for a day at the dunes. All that power is backed up by “a nine-speed automatic transmission that can be manually shifted through steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.” Why waste time? It’s always off road anyway.
“It has permanent all-wheel drive with electronically controlled locking differentials.” You can practically hit freeway speed coming out the driveway. MotorTrend clocked it 0-62 mph in a quick 3.4 seconds. It’s top speed is limited to a mere 100 mph and it’s definitely not street legal.
