One of the industry’s great automotive tuners has left this world. And we join the entire Brabus family in mourning the loss of its founder Bodo Buschmann.
The scion of a family of car dealers, Buschmann founded Brabus in 1977 while he was still in college. Over 40 years later, the company he founded is still known as the premier tuner of Mercedes (and other) vehicles.
A hands-on chief executive till the end, Herr Buschmann also co-founded and presided over VDAT e.V., an industry group of automotive tuners. But he’ll be best remembered for the cars he tuned and restored.
Over the past four decades, Prof. h.c. Bodo Buschmann customized countless Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach, and Smart automobiles. And through the Startech brand, he oversaw similar conversions on innumerable Aston Martins, Bentleys, Jaguars, Land Rovers, and Maseratis.
“Bodo Buschmann managed to turn his hobby into his occupation when he was just 22 years old,” noted Brabus in a statement released over the weekend. “This passion stayed with him until his last breath. He set standards for the entire industry all his life and always stayed true to his motto: ‘Never work for money – work for passion!’”
Buschmann passed away this past Thursday, April 26, 2018, after what was described only as “a short illness.” He was only 62 years old. In the wake of his passing, Bodo’s son Constantin Buschmann takes over as CEO with immediate effect, having served until now as its head of marketing and sales. Ulrich-Joachim Gauffrés will continue serving as the company’s CTO, and Stefan Hosters as CFO.
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