Some do, but some get cheesed off by it. It depends where I’m driving it. It towers over everything and can easily block a country lane. People who encounter it in the countryside are either terrified or angry.”
Tom first came across the big Brabus when it was part of a private collection: “The owner was a rich man, and when he went for a drive in his Pagani Zonda, his security team followed behind him in this. When it came up for sale, I just had to buy it.”
Tom reckons that it cost around £400,000 when new in 2016, but says he paid “less than £200,000” for it in 2022: “I don’t regret buying it. Mercedes is hardly likely to make anything quite like it again.”
The purchase price was one thing, but the running costs are quite another. “There is an economy mode but regardless it gets through petrol like there’s a hole in the fuel tank,” says Tom.
Servicing is expensive too. For example, the geared hubs require regular oil changes to prevent them falling apart. At least Tom doesn’t have to travel far: his local Mercedes dealer has a Brabus department that looks after it.
In spite of its uncommunicative steering, awful ride, lane-filling dimensions and heroic thirst, Tom can’t imagine himself ever parting with it: “It should last forever, so if I can afford to, I’ll keep it.”
