It’s the final pick in my Ultimate Car List Top 5 mini-series. Today’s car will likely be a surprise to most. Course with the list we have so far, #5 could be just about anything. I went round and round with this one. Lots of cars made the short list for various reasons. Here are a few that I gave serious consideration to:
- 928 S4 – A Porsche super car from my teenage years. I still love these cars and regularly think about buying a nice 928S or 928 S4. I consider the 928 series to be Porsche’s grand tourer.
- 944 Turbo – Another iconic car for me. My “first time” Porsche experience was in a 944. A buddy of mine had an awesome white 944 that I absolutely loved. In that vein, I’ve always wanted a 944 Turbo. Very fast and very affordable. Red would be the only color to consider.
- 2000 or later 911 Turbo – This would be an awesome “everyday” car. Maybe even a Cabriolet. I love the 2009 root beer colored one with the burnt orange interior they have out our local Porsche dealership.
- Mid-80’s 911 Turbo Look Slantnose – Another iconic Porsche for me. Some day I WILL own a slantnose. A Turbo Look would provide the looks with plenty of power, but less complicated maintenance overall. Midnight blue, like the magazine cover I featured a few months ago, would be the ultimate color.
- 959 – I thought about throwing caution to the wind and choosing a second Porsche super car for the list. Ugly butt and all.
Enough of that though. My final pick for my Ultimate Car List Top 5 is a Gemballa Avalanche. As much as RUF has always been my favorite aftermarket Porsche tuner shop, Gemballa has always struck me as the most in-your-face. The Avalanche and Cirrus creations of the 80’s were so out there that you couldn’t help but kind of love and want one.
Why a Gemballa Avalanche? Aside from the in-your-face looks, the interiors of the Gemballa cars are always unbelievable. They represent as stark of a contrast against a stock Porsche as the outside does. The quality and attention to detail has always drawn me in. Add in the performance characteristics of the cars and I can’t help but love these creations.
The hard part now, is determining what year. My initial choice would be a 1980’s white Avalanche (pictured to the right). These had crazy styling, both in and out, and were vintage Gemballa. They’re tough to find though. If that wasn’t available, I’d go for a later model Avalanche GTR 650 Evo like the orange one pictured in the middle of this post. Again, some amazing styling and unbelievable performance.
A Gemballa Avalanche would round out the garage of 5 cars pretty nicely. You’d have a potential every day driver, with the performance and wow factor of a super car. I know this one is a love it or hate it car, but I just can’t resist parking it in my Ultimate Car garage.
Ultimate Car List Top 5:
- 356 Speedster (1950s)
- 911 Turbo/930 (1978/79)
- RUF Rt 12 (2009)
- Carrera GT (2004-2006)
- Gemballa Avalanche (1980s White or Orange GTR 650 Evo)
[Source Gemballa.com]
avalanche is great!never heard of it but it sure is something.
Ryan – 2 after-market tuners on your top 5? I think you need to make the list a top 10 so you can add those others you mentioned.
@bookie – Yeah, I know, I’m almost embarrassed, but what can I say? Those are the Porsches I’ve always dreamed about owning. The reality is if you could have 5 Porsches like those in your garage, the 5 would like rotate on a regular basis and include some of those others as well.
I like the compiled list. I loved the Gemballa Avalanche especially the purple one Pioneer used to promote their car audio products in the 80’s if you recall that one.
(am I entered to win the contest, if so good luck to me)
@Jody – Yes! I remember that one! That was a great looking car.
As for the contest, up to 3 comments per day count as entries.
excellent choice! and i love that last pic
slantnose a favorite.guy down the street had one when i was a teen.great car.
very nice chice and very nice list.
orange car – pretty nice!
slant nose – sorry, absolute train wreck! I’ve never been
a fan of the slant nose. rims suck. faux Testarossa
side slats look terrible. I can’t quite see the sideview
mirrors but they look ridiculous too. And then there’s
the terrible stubby tail. Aesthetically, this is one of the
ugliest Porsches I’ve ever seen. I bet she started
off as a nice car. Cars can go fast and handle well
and sound great, but if they’re ugly (and you’re not
racing) what’s the point? Someone really tried to
make this poor Porsche ugly. What a shame.
Sorry to vent. You’re entitled to your opinion but
not for me.
Hey Ryan, I think you forgot to include the Boxster and Cayenne on the top five list. (sarcasm) Nice list.
Surprised? YES! Liking it? YES! .This one was the 64,000 question. Which car gets Ryan`s 5th spot?.
I think the Gemballa efforts definitely are worthy to grab a spot on anyone`s top 5 list.
I remember loving them in the 80`s and then must admit to losing some interest,Never hating them, Just feeling at that time they were starting to border on over-styled for a car like the Porsche…or maybe i just thought they got a little gawdy when Vanilla Ice added some to his garage lol. Actually i think that did it! Sorry to offend fans of Vanilla Ice, Just my opinion lol
But its as time passes , Now I appreciate the 80`s Gemballas. You got that right that Gemballa is a little more wild than RUF in styling.But talking current Gemballa cars, I like the pick..I would lean towards the current Evo! But sincerely do appreciate the 80`s cars now.
I like the effort made about which car would take the last spot, All your candidates definitely worthy and to hear which cars you were considering was interesting.
I think ultimately anyone`s top 5 has to be personal. Not what general opinion deems as the top 5 greatest. Over 60 years Porsche (and tuners) have so many candidates, You ultimately have to come down to what 5 YOU personally would want to see in YOUR garage.
This was fun following these picks and the thought process/emotion to arrive at the choices!
@Brad – Thanks for the comments. I’m glad you enjoyed the little series. Kind of fun to think about what you’d put in your garage if you had the means, space, etc.
i’m speechless about the black convertible!!!!!!!!! wow that’s just amazing.
of all the Gemballas, I like the Mirahe GT best:
http://www.gemballa.com/CarModell_93
There – I finally said something nice about a Porsche Tuner.
ruthless, i’m starting to wonder if you are aware that only 3 comments a day will be used for entries. unless ryan lifted that rule and didn’t tell anybody else =)
@James – There is no limit on the number of comments a person can make in any given day. You’re correct that only 3 count as entries. You may be missing the point of the comments being part of our giveaway though. The idea is to foster longer term discussion and get people involved. That’s exactly what ruthless has been doing. Don’t discourage the discussion.
Ruthless, post as many comments as you like, even though only 3 a day count towards the contest.
I’m well aware of the rules, James, just don’t want to be one of those people who meet their daily requirement of 3 posts by typing one sentence three times…stuff like “real nice” or “excellent, ryan!”. Technically, those posts count, but I think it’s a cheezy way to go about it.
Like Ryan said, the whole purpose of this is to build up the site community.
ok makes sense. i guess i’m not aware of how the whole “blogging” world works. so i apologize to ruthless
That is a pretty sweet looking Mirage GT, ruthless… Wonder how much that is though. I am sure it would be worth lots and perform amazing.
Jeff, the Gemballa Mirage GT conversion is $324,385.00, and….wait for it…that doesn’t include the price of the car, which was $444,400.00.
Total Price: $786,385.00
Lets see what Flo the Progressive Insurance chick with the “tricked out name tag” has to say about that!
should go ahead with top 12 and make a calender.porsche perfect would be a good place to sell it.
@ lar, Thats a good idea. Porsche Perfect top 12 calendar!
Thanks ruthless, wow, I guess if you can afford that you can obviously afford to have your car tricked out however you want it. Those are some amazing rides. Just like everything, all it takes is money.
wow, im just hoping to own a house that expensive, lol.
very accurate list. I think I would put the Gemballa Avalanche in the top three though. Hopefully one day I’ll be rich enough to own it!
very expensive. I love the Avalanche!
beautiful 356 speedster