Dubai Police pursue high-speed desert evildoers with Brabus G63 AMG Widestar

By Stephen Edelstein Published November 5, 2013

The Dubai Police has the coolest fleet of police cars in the world, but when you’ve already got a Lamborghini Aventador and a Bugatti Veyron in your garage, where do you go from there?

Set to be unveiled at the Dubai Motor Show, the latest vehicle to wear the force’s green-and-white livery is a tuned Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG.

Actually, it’s technically not a Mercedes anymore. It’s a Brabus B63S 700 Widestar.

Brabus is one of a handful of European tuning companies that modifies vehicles so thoroughly that the end result can be considered a separate model from its original. That’s the case with this G-Wagen.

The stock G63 AMG flaunts a 5.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 under its block-y hood. The mad scientists at Mercedes’ AMG performance division let it leave the factory with 536 horsepower. Brabus pushes its version of the V8 powerplant to 700 hp.

The result is a luxury SUV based on a military vehicle that can now do 0-62 mph in 4.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 149 mph. That’s something no evildoer wants to see in their rearview mirror.

It may sound incredibly frivolous, but Brabus and the Dubai Police are actually using the modified G63 for a public-relations campaign.

The “Tune It! Safe!” campaign was started in Germany to encourage drivers to modify their cars in a safe and legal way. It’s being launched in the United Arab Emirates as well. What better way to promote safe vehicle modification than with a ridiculous modified vehicle? I can’t think of one.

Actually, we’re a little surprised by the restraint shown by the Dubai Police. Instead of the relatively serene Widestar, they could have opted for the Brabus B63S 700 6×6, which is based on the G63 AMG 6×6.

The four-wheeled B63S 700 Widestar will join a very impressive fleet of police cars, including the aforementioned Lambo and Veyron, as well as a Ferrari FF and Aston Martin One-77.

Like the Widestar, these super police cars are mostly used for publicity purposes rather than crime fighting. They’re put on display in tourist-centric areas to promote Dubai. Though should a high-speed chase break out, the Dubai PD is well ready.

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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