Brabus has made a big name for itself transforming ordinary Mercedes and AMG vehicles into extraordinary works with high-end materials and meticulous craftsmanship. Well, the German tuning company has turned its attention to the high seas with its latest partnership. Axopar is a quickly growing boat builder from Finland that creates custom-built center console yachts ranging from 24 to 37 feet long and with various cabin options.

The result is this – the Brabus Shadow 800.

It’s an ultra-modern take on Axopar’s 37-foot Sun Top yacht with a gunmetal gray, black, and red color scheme with a carbon fiber helm, marine-grade leather seats, and twin Mercury Verado 400R outboards kicking out 400 horsepower each.

Continue reading for more on the Brabus Shadow 800.

A Sports Car For the Waves

Axopar’s 37-foot center console is an interesting boat in its own right. While most center consoles are designed for sport fishing, the Axopar is more of a dual purpose boat. Its logical floor plan has seating for nine people. The 37 comes standard with a forward cabin housed under the center console and bow seating area, while an optional rear cabin is accessed by raising the center seats of the second row. When optioned, the rear cabin is topped with a padded sun deck. For the Brabus Shadow 800, however, Axopar fitted its optional rear wet bar area.

The main seating area features a three-row first row and a four-seat second row with a table mounted in between. When it’s time to eat, the front seats swivel aft, transforming the helm into a galley. The Sun Top roof design offers shade from the sun while having a manually sliding canvas top for letting in light.

The hull design is also interesting. The bow is a “sharp entry hull” design with a double-stepped bottom. The steps make for a smoother on-plane cruising ride. The low-rise bow, however, likely limits the Axopar’s open-ocean performance in rough seas. While technically classified as an offshore vessel, the Axopar 37 is probably best suited for running between the shore and its mother ship mega yacht.

Speaking of running, the Axopar has no trouble with that thanks to twin Mercury Verado 400R outboard engines. They use a 2.6-liter inline six-cylinder with a supercharger that’s chilled by a cold-air intake system. The result is 400 horsepower between 6,400 and 7,000 rpm.

The Verados can push the Axopar 37 to a top speed over 50 knots, or right around 60 mph on flat waters. Despite the speed, the Axopar 37 makes easy work of docking. Bow thrusters combine with Mercury’s Joystick Piloting system for literal fingertip control of the boat’s fore, aft, and lateral movements.

Brabus’ Special Touches

This yacht might be an Axopar 37 Sun Top, but its Brabus whose make the biggest and most eye-catching changes. Above deck, the seating is in Brabus’ classic red leather. The soft-touch surfaces contrast the blacked-out fiberglass hull and carbon fiber helm that’s decked out in the latest GPS, depth finder, and engine management screens with watertight switchgear and a custom Brabus wheel with auxiliary switches. Brabus even throws in a branded Garmin Quatix 5 Sapphire multisport marine wristwatch as part of the package.

Below deck, the forward cabin is swathed in high-end materials, a 42-inch flat screen TV with Apple TV and a Fusion sound system. The upholstery is leather and Alcantara, while a built-in sink, head, and bunking for two make the 37 more than just an afternoon joyrider.

Naturally, Brabus puts its name all over its products. Here, the Brabus logo is found on the outside hull, the Mercury Verado engine covers, the special placards on the seatbacks, and on a serialized pack on the helm, just to name a few.

Want One? Good Luck

Quality center console boats aren’t cheap. Even a non-luxury 36-foot Yellowfin Yacht designed for sport fishing can cost upwards to $300,000. Axopar yachts are surprisingly competitive with this price, though, with the 37 starting around $113,000 U.S. dollars. Decked out, the Axopar 37 will cost around $180,000. As for the Brabus option, we’d bet it will break the $200,000 mark quite easily.

Worse yet, Brabus and Axopar are only making 20 examples. The boat even comes with a numbered serial plate to commemorate its place in the 20-member lineup. We’d also guess the wait time will be at least a year, allowing both companies to coordinate your customized options and hand-build the boat. After that, you’ll need to have the boat shipped from Finland.

If you’ve got a large enough wallet and have the right connections, such issues quickly fade away. Money and power are nice conveniences, after all.

A Bright Future

This might come across as a one-time project, but to Brabus and Axopar, this is only the beginning. According to the Brabus Shadow 800 website, the project is: ”so much more than just a mere styling exercise. This is the start of a long-term relationship between Axopar Boats and Brabus, the objective for which is to re-master and create an entirely new genre of world-class hyper-boats in different size categories.”

So, the boating industry will likely see more collaboration between Brabus and Axopar in the future. How knows, maybe even Mercedes-Benz or Mercedes-AMG will join the fun. Mercedes, after all, isn’t a stranger to making awesome boats.

Technical Specifications

References

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