The tuning company responsible for many cars featured in our ‘Horrors of the Supercar Tuning World’ threads – Gemballa, has relaunched. Standard Porsches world over go into hiding…
Details of the relaunch of german tuning company Gemballa have been announced today. The original Gemballa company was closed and went into liquidation earlier this year after the mysterious disappearance of the company owner, Uwe Gemballa.
While details remain scarce, Gemballa went from earning €16.2m in 2007 to €8m in 2009. While this is understandable, given the global economic recession, it appears “dubious” transactions put added strain on the company. By January 2010, fearing collapse was imminent, Uwe decided to seek out investors in Dubai and South Africa.
On February 8th, Uwe arrived in Johannesburg for a two-day business trip. On the evening of February 9th, Uwe called his son and told him he had an accident and desperately needed one million dollars. It was the last time he was heard from.
So what happened to Uwe Gemballa? No one really knows. Speculation is rampant, citing everything from a planned disappearance to a ransom plot gone awry, but police believe Uwe fell victim to a crime.
But now the company, famous on this blog for some frankly awful creations, has resurfaced with a new CEO and investors. You can read the offical press release below our Gallery of some of Gemballa’s ‘creations’:
A Fresh Start for the GEMBALLA Brand
Andreas Schwarz is in charge of the new GEMBALLA GmbH
Leonberg, 23 August 2010. For around 30 years the brand GEMBALLA has been a global name in the performance improvement and modification of predominantly Porsche vehicles, and in the construction of own-brand vehicles based on Porsche body shells. GEMBALLA has made a name for itself as one of the most extreme Porsche tuners and has received worldwide attention with its modified Porsches such as the GEMBALLA Avalanche, which is based on the Porsche 911, or the GEMBALLA Mirage GT, based on the Porsche Carrera GT.
Since August 16, 2010, Andreas Schwarz (40) has been in charge of the emotional GEMBALLA brand. Schwarz reserved the rights of the old company that had already been broken up by liquidators and shut down, and founded a new company, GEMBALLA GmbH. The company headquarters are located at Mollenbachstraße 17 in Leonberg.
“With a totally new company and an investment of millions, we are now looking towards a secure future”, says managing director (CEO) Andreas Schwarz. The educated Swabian is a sports car expert, who has many years’ experience in upgrading and marketing luxury high-class automobiles. Together with investor Steffen Korbach, the new creator of GEMBALLA cars has made cost-efficient plans.
“As well as the rights to the name, we’ve also purchased some assets and are starting off with 22 employees”, Schwarz continues. “We plan to continue the GEMBALLA design line following the old models. We’re already working on various concepts for the Porsche Panamera and the new Porsche Cayenne among others.”
The main goal: to expand and develop the GEMBALLA brand as a manufacturer. Without facing too much time pressure. Currently, Andreas Schwarz is making plans in motor tuning and the marketing of parts such as bodykits, rims, brakes and suspension systems.
“We’ve got enormous potential in this area that can be taken advantage of – the recognition of the GEMBALLA name with its near 30-year tradition really helps”, says Andreas Schwarz.
So, while mystery still surrounds the company, those of dubious taste can be happy in the knowledge that they can still ruin perfectly good cars with the help of Gemballa.
There guys do some great after market stuff for porsche!