Brabus is known for tuning Benzes. Smarts, too. And
a smattering of other products from other automakers through its Startech line.
But now it’s leaving the dry tarmac altogether and taken to the waves as well.
Stemming from a partnership with Finnish boatbuilder
Axopar, the Brabus Shadow 800 is a 37-foot open speedboat that aims to put the
German tuner’s famous performance capabilities on the open water.
The vessel is built around a 20-degree deep-vee hull
with a low center of gravity, a nearly 11-foot beam, and a 2’9” draft. It’s
clad in carbon fiber and leather, with an Alcantara headliner. It boasts all
the latest navigation equipment, and even has a two-person cabin below decks.
Power is provided by a pair of supercharged Mercury
engines – made in the USA, but owing nothing to the shuttered Ford division of
the same name. The Verado 400R outboard engines each kicking out 400 horsepower
for a very Brabus-like combined output of 800 hp. That’s said to be enough to
propel the speedboat to a top speed of over 50 knots.
That’s more than 55 miles per hour, by landlubber
standards – or very fast, in other words, for a water vessel.
Only 20 initial examples of the Class B offshore
speedboat will be made, each painstakingly crafted by hand. But Brabus and
Axopar plan further collaborations in the future once those are all sold. This
isn’t the first time we’ve seen Brabus team up with a boatbuilder, either,
after opening a flagship showroom in Düsseldorf with British manufacturer
Sunseeker.
