CarBrandLogos archive · Brabus · 2006
Nardo's fastest saloon, built by putting the wrong engine in a four-door coupé.
Discover the storyPhoto: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Brabus Rocket, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
The Rocket succeeded the E V12 in 2006 and applied the same logic to a better base. Brabus took the Mercedes-Benz CLS — a four-door with a sleek roofline — and fitted a 6.3-litre twin-turbocharged V12 derived from the M275, with a five-speed automatic behind it and rear-wheel drive.
2006 Brabus Rocket · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0
02
The point was a number. Brabus ran the car at the Nardò high-speed bowl and claimed the title of world's fastest street-legal saloon, a record it kept chasing through successive versions. Because it was road registered, insured and trimmed like any other Mercedes, the Rocket became a fixture of European speed-record coverage and a favourite of collectors who wanted the fastest thing with a boot.
03
Later cars in the line moved to newer platforms and drivetrains, including four-wheel drive and the 4.4-litre twin-turbo M177 V8 with a nine-speed automatic, and the Rocket name has since been applied to models beyond the saloon. All of them are hand-built in small numbers at Bottrop, and all of them exist to answer a question almost nobody asks.
At a glance
Engine
6.3 litre Mercedes-Benz M275Body
4-door saloonTechnical specification
Badge at launch
This is the marque emblem that accompanied the Rocket's era. The full identity timeline is documented in the brand archive.
Explore the logo history →Lineage
Contemporaries from the 2000s
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