For more than 47 years, Brabus has been a premier tuning house to make everything from Smart Fortwos to Maybach 57s meaner, faster, and blacker. But, until now, no vehicle tuned by Brabus could be described as a rolling mansion. Meet the new Brabus Big Boy 1200, a 39-foot motorhome named after a steam locomotive and with a 12.8-liter six making 530 HP. Oh, and it’s finished in paint so dark it’s fit to be Batman’s mobile command center. Sure, why not?
Every day, I scour the Internet for weird or innovative RVs that I’m excited to present to you lovely readers. The world is full of weird and wacky ways to sleep on the road, but I must admit I didn’t see this one coming. But it’s real, and if you have enough money in your bank account, you can buy a black Big Boy that somehow isn’t the largest operational steam locomotive.
Aside from looking like something a comic book villain would sleep in, this Brabus coach is supposed to be a bit of a luxury home on wheels, but adorned with the sorts of leathers, Alcantara, and carbon that you’d expect to see in a Brabus-tuned Mercedes-Benz. Hopefully, I can stop laughing so I can get through this piece!
Brabus has been one of the first names in Mercedes-Benz tuning. Sure, you could buy a Mercedes-AMG, but Brabus takes things to the next level. Remember the patently bonkers Mercedes-AMG G 63 6×6? Oh yeah, that thing was six-wheel-drive with six portal axles and a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 making 536 HP. The mad scientists at Brabus one-upped the folks at AMG by making a version pumping out a ridiculous 800 HP.
So, it might seem weird that Brabus would even bother with motorhomes, but the brand has been branching out into really weird territories. You can buy what’s more or less powered surfboards and while you’re reveling at the idea that such is a thing, I have to tell you that of course you can buy a Brabus-branded one for some reason. But if that doesn’t float your boat, you can buy a plethora of actual boats with Brabus tie-ins.
Most recently, Brabus made news for making a 986 HP Mercedes SL shooting brake. Basically, this is the brand you go to when fast just isn’t fast enough and you have a bit more taste than someone shopping at Mansory. Brabus even tunes Rolls-Royces and Porsches in case Mercedes-Benz cars aren’t your jam.
Yet, despite souping up just about any and every Mercedes product, Brabus notes that it hasn’t ever touched a motorhome before. When you put the other Brabus products in context, a motorhome doesn’t sound that crazy. Still, I’m not sure anyone had “Brabus makes a motorhome” on their 2024 Bingo sheet, either.
The Big Boy
Alright, so the non-locomotive Big Boy here started life as a Mercedes-Benz Actros semi-truck.
The Actros line has been in production since 1996 and European luxury motorhome builders sometimes build giant Class A rigs out of them. Some of these even make the Brabus Big Boy 1200 seem tame. Variomobil and Dembell Motorhomes both make Actros-based coaches that are so expensive and so huge that they have one-car garages in them.
Here’s a Dembell, just as an example:
What does Brabus offer to this market? The tuner admits the motorhome’s moniker is borrowed from the iconic Union Pacific steam locomotive of the same name. Like the locomotive, it’s also black on black on black from bow to stern.
The exterior body isn’t at all impressive. The coach stretches 39 feet long, features two slides on each side, and has an entry door with electric steps. Brabus boasts the coach’s carbon grille, carbon wind deflectors, carbon fog light covers, and carbon handles to open the truck’s hood. All of those carbon parts might be impressive if the whole rig didn’t already weigh 56,320 pounds.
Power comes from a Mercedes-Benz OM471 12.8-liter straight-six diesel rated at 530 HP and 1,917 lb-ft of torque. This sounds great until you learn that Brabus didn’t add a single pony to this engine. This is the same engine you can get in a regular Actros and it isn’t even the best engine Mercedes puts in these trucks. That goes to a 15.6-liter diesel engine making 625 HP. So, the Brabus version isn’t even the most powerful, which is sad.
Even sadder is the top speed of 55 mph, which makes this 530 HP beast slower than a Winnebago LeSharo, and those things weren’t known for doing anything with alacrity. Ah, but what about the interior?
Alright, things do get nice in here. Brabus filled the interior with Alcantara, the leather the tuner uses in its cars, and carbon trim in basically every interior space.
Entertainment comes from a 43-inch Smart TV, a Sony PlayStation 5, and a soundbar, plus Starlink for internet connectivity. Everything else is as you’d expect from a motorhome with a price tag over a million dollars. So, there’s luxury carpet, a Paola Lenti, an all-stone rainforest-style shower, a full kitchen, a luxury bathroom, and a big bed to sleep in.
If you’re not aware of what these giant motorhomes have in them compared to cheaper rigs, I’ll clue you in a little more. This thing has a central vacuum cleaner system, heated floors, a CAN-BUS electrical system, a built-in cellular antenna, and a dishwasher.
If you’re curious, and I know I am, there is a 113-gallon fresh tank, a 71-gallon gray, and a 45-gallon waste tank. The motorhome also has a 103-gallon fuel tank and a 3.5-tonne towing capacity. In terms of technology, there’s an intelligent braking system, a rear axle steer system, and a 360-degree camera system, among smaller other features.
Sort Of Disappointing?
Honestly, I’m not seeing much of a wow factor here. Yeah, the Brabus logos all over the place inside and out are great, but otherwise, this doesn’t really seem very “Brabus” to me. Where’s the stupid amounts of power? Where are the theatrics? This just seems like an everyday luxury European Class A RV, but blacked out and with Brabus stamped everywhere.
Maybe my inner Fancy Mercedes is beginning to shine, but I expected something bombastic to come with the name Big Boy. I don’t know, maybe a garage big enough to store your Brabus-tuned car or something silly like a handling package. Come on, Brabus!
I suppose in the end it doesn’t really matter. The Brabus Big Boy 1200 isn’t really meant for people like me. It’s the kind of coach for someone who has to have everything decked out in Brabus branding. The tuner hasn’t released a price yet, but estimates place the dollar amount at around $1.5 million. Brabus also isn’t talking about production numbers either, but I suspect it’ll build one for every person who lines up.
Still, I can’t stop laughing at this thing. The company that made a near-1,000 HP Mercedes-Benz version of a clown shoe is making an RV and that’s just making me smile. I hope more brands do this. Hey, BMW, how about an MRV?
(Images: Manufacturers)
