Behold the new Brabus XLP 800 Adventure

Why make do with a portal-axled G-Class, when you could have a portal axled G-Class pick up?

Nope, your memory isn’t playing tricks on you - there really was another Brabus G-Class like this one just last week. That was, appropriately enough, the XL, complete with a carbon widebody and portal axles for unrivalled off-road ability. But they were never going to stop with a mere 800hp SUV - this is Brabus, after all. So now the XL package, complete with uprated twin-turbo V8, very serious off-road hardware and carbon absolutely everywhere, is available as a 5.3-metre long pickup, with half a metre of that in a ginormous wheelbase extension. Because of course it is.

The Brabus XLP 800 Adventure builds on the XLP pickup package that Brabus has been offering since 2020. They’ve been accredited by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority in doing so, no less, so they’re proper conversions. There’s even a heated rear window. The bed is lined with ‘the same hard-wearing soft teak material that is also used on the Brabuse Marine high-performance boats.’ You see there are Brabus G-Classes, and then there are Brabus G-Classes. The 800 Adventure is one of the latter.

As with the XL, the axles are the main talking point. The good folk of Bottrop suggest that the new pickup ‘masters even the toughest off-road excursions in superior fashion’ thanks to the suspension overhaul, complete with CNC-milled intermediate gears for each wheel. So it can ford nearly a metre, and offer up ground clearance of 47cm. Where on earth in the world that’d be required isn’t clear, but the XLP Adventure will be adequately equipped regardless, including the all-terrain tyres. Interestingly, the Brabus Ride Control coilovers were developed with KW; a host of new parts are milled from aluminium to support the new axles and dampers. And keep hold of the 22-inch forged wheels, presumably.

Given the astonishing size and the fact it’s a couple of tenths slower to 62mph (4.8 seconds) than the SUV, we’d have to assume the XLP Adventure 800 is heavier than the XL. Even with all the carbon fibre. It’s still capable of 130mph, mind - what a sight that must be - with a winch on the front that can pull four and a half tonnes. A true do-it-all machine. The mechanical spec is as per last week’s car, with the new, boostier turbos, Brabus calibration, and a side-exit exhaust system to rouse the dead.

Finally, a Brabus Benz wouldn’t be complete with an outlandish interior, and boy do we have that with the Adventure. This much Sky Blue leather doesn’t really look suitable for actual exploring, but who cares about outside when there’s a Diamond Double quilted Brabus Masterpiece cabin to enjoy? There are ‘77’ logos embossed throughout (because that’s the year Brabus was founded), and anywhere there isn’t leather you’ll find Alcantara or metal. Even after all this time, there’s little like a Brabus interior to truly take your breath away.

Quite who the XLP Adventure 800 is aimed at and what on earth it’ll ever do isn’t clear, but nobody knows Brabus customers like Brabus - there’ll be some people somewhere for whom this is the ultimate plaything. And in times like these, it’s hard not to smile at the sheer outrageousness of a portal-axled, carbon-bodied pickup with 800hp. Sometimes Brabus is just going to Brabus, and charge three-quarters of a million euros for the privilege. Long may it continue.

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garypotter

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