Gemballa: Super Tuner for the Porsche Stars

I’m continually amazed at what people will spend on a car like a brand new Porsche, only to dump sometimes 2x or 3x more into customizing the car. I haven’t ever really gotten into the gross excess that a lot of tuners tend to bolt on to cars to justify the outrageous prices they charge. However, over the years, I have found a few tuners that have grown on a me a bit.

In honor of some of these long-standing Porsche artists (pronounced arrrteeests), I thought I’d do a little 7 Days of Porsche Tuners series. Nothing super formal other than some great pics, some outrageous cars, and more money represented than many of us will see in our lifetimes.

We’re kicking things off with one of my favorite (although a bit controversially within my own mind) tuners of all time: Gemballa

Located just 20 km from the Porsche factory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Uwe Gemballa started making dreams come true about 27 years ago. From the company’s web site:

Forty handpicked specialists apply themselves with the utmost dedication to increasing the performance of what is already a highly potent sports car. But they also place enormous emphasis on the smallest details. In a small, almost clinically pure atmosphere, handmade sports cars of the absolute highest calibre are produced in small series. Running gear, engine, aerodynamics and cockpit are formed to create a single entity, which makes driving a Gemballa an utterly groundbreaking automotive experience.

I remember Gemballa Porsches being some of the most outrageous designs both inside and out when I was a kid. To this day, the Avalanche and Mirage remain two of the wildest customized Porsches you can buy. One of the things I’ve noticed consistently about Gemballa over the years is their attention to the interior details of the car. They have done some of the craziest interior treatments I’ve ever seen on a Porsche.

Gemballa offers a number of different accessories, customized body kits and performance enhancing modifications for a broad range of Porsche cars. They also have 3 Gemballa supercars, the Avalanche, Mirage GT and GT Aero 3 which are based on the 911, Carrera GT and Cayenne. These supercars are what Gemballa is most known for.

Prices for Gemballa enhancements range from the thousands for “minor” improvements to the hundreds of thousands for a supercar like the Avalanche GTR 650.

Check out the Gemballa Web Site at: Gemballa.com. Also, you have to check out the engine sounds from the avalanche. You can find it on the site or click this link to play it directly: Avalanche Sounds

[Source: Gemballa.com]