Brabus makes a Range Rover bakkie

Published Apr 16, 2015

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By: Dave Abrahams

Bottrop, Germany - Due to debut at next week's Shanghai motor show is this gonzo bakkie from Brabus, the Startech Pickup, based on the brand-new 2015 Range Rover.

Thanks to a five-litre, supercharged Jaguar V8 that's been tweaked to deliver 387kW, it'll get from 0-100 in 5.3 seconds and on to an electronically limited 250km/h.

Just how complex the conversion is, is illustrated by the fact that the Brabus boffins had to design and fabricate no less than 100 bodywork components from steel, aluminium and carbon fibre.

They started by slicing through the roof, far enough back that they could retain the individual second-row seats - and the panoramic glass roof, then welded in new C pillars, a rear bulkhead with a heatable, tinted rear window and load-bed walls.

The resulting polyurethane-lined 'box' is about 1100mm on a side and nearly 600mm deep; the tailgate is operated either by remote transponder or at the press of a button in the cockpit.

WIDEBODY CONVERSION

Below the waistline the Startech Pickup is structurally identical to a standard Range Rover, allowing the Brabus blingmeisters to use the widebody conversion they'd designed for the long-wheelbase 2015 Rangie.

A complete new bumper stretches across the 80mm wheel-arch flares, with integrated LED daytime running lights and indicator repeaters - as well as the smallest LED projector foglights they could find - and there's a stretched rear bumper with a carbon-fibre diffuser under the tailgate.

The Pickup rolls on special 23-inch Monostar S forged rims shod with 305/30 low-profile rubber, and the pneumatic suspension can be raised or lowered by 30mm at the press of a button.

The cabin has been re-trimmed in soft, breathable black leather with red contrast stitching and carbon-fibre trim elements, under a black alcantara headliner.

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