What's all this about?

Take one Mercedes G-Wagen (sorry, G-Class) and bolt in what is known as the Invicto Shelter Cell, and what have you got? Well, it's this: the Brabus Invicto, an armoured brute that can withstand AK-47 fire and even a pentaerythritol tetranitrate explosion (that's PETN, more commonly). You can't have it with a diesel engine, so forget about converting a G 350 d to Invicto spec, but you can have it with either of the petrol V8s. We don't get the G 500 here in the UK, so we're going to focus on the Invicto with the mental Mercedes-AMG G 63 as its source car.

OK, what do I get from Brabus as part of the package?

The Invicto Shelter Cell is a self-contained, self-supporting and bolted-down protective frame housed in the G-Class. It doesn't necessitate any changes to the door apertures of the vehicle, so getting in and out remains easy, and the rest of the bodywork is built to protective standards using 3D printing. Up top is a bulletproof glasshouse and, after strict German testing, the Invicto has ended up being capable of surviving a blast from a 12.5kg PETN explosive charge, as well as the AK-47's ammunition of 7.62mm x 39mm bullets. That means it conforms to VPAM BRV 2009 and VPAM ERV 2010 standards of vehicle security.

Right-o, but the G-Wagen is hardly light anyway. What does this thing weigh?

Brabus says the Shelter Cell, the other armour plating and the toughened glass add another 1,000kg to the G's frame, which means that your 585hp/850Nm 4x4 now tips the scales at 3,800kg or thereabouts. As a result, Brabus' engineers swapped out all the suspension components on both axles of the G-Class for stronger items capable of carrying the weight, while the suspension turrets and other mounting points were reinforced. The brakes are 402mm front discs with six-piston callipers matched to 380mm rear discs with four-piston callipers, while specially developed Brabus Invicto 20-inch alloys are wrapped in heavy-duty and increased-load-rated 275/50 R20 W113 tyres. These are run flats that can go up to 31 miles at speeds of 31mph, even when fully deflated or destroyed.

Sounds cool. Are there any options available, and how much does this all cost?

You can get three distinct types of Brabus Invicto, which are the Luxury, the Pure and the Mission. The former has the widebody Brabus Widestar kit fitted and an interior trimmed in Brabus fine leather, which can be trimmed how you see fit. Go further and you can add all-terrain protection to the Luxury, as well as Brabus' power kit which lifts outputs to 800hp at 6,600rpm and 1,000Nm from just 3,600rpm. The Invicto Pure goes the other way, as it looks exactly like a standard G-Class, save for its 20-inch Invicto alloys and run-flat tyres.

Perhaps the best is the Invicto Mission, said to be 'tailor-made for the requirements of armed forces, police, emergency services, special forces and security guard companies'. And not for those in the production and supply of, erm. . . controlled substances in any way, shape or form. Basically, the Mission can have items like a front-mounted winch, an LED headlamp assembly on the front of the roof rack, beacons behind the windscreen, remote-controlled rotating searchlights at the rear and an armoured escape hatch on the roof. Inside, four custom bucket seats allow emergency workers to wear protective vests (we think this means 'allows hired heavies to wear bulletproof vests', but we digress) and five-point seatbelts ensure the occupants will be kept in place no matter how severe the terrain the Invicto Mission is traversing. Other special features of the Mission include a fresh-air system with a nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) filter, a night-vision device as part of an infrared package, extensive onboard monitoring and navigation systems, and the Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE) technology in the door panels and backrests of the seats' shells which is used by the military for securely fastening the occupants' equipment packs.

The price for all of this? In Germany, Brabus wants €354,600, which is about £318,000 on a straight currency conversion. Yowsers!

Matt Robinson - 20 May 2020