Gemballa

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Why the Gemballa Marsien Is Billed as the Ultimate Adventure Sportscar

Marc Phillip Gemballa, son of the late Uwe Gemballa, has channelled his father’s spirit into a sports car unlike anything else on the road today. He is only 27, but his company, a tuning house called Marc Phillip Gemballa GMBH, has already given us its first creation. It is called the Gemballa Marsien, a performance machine that blends everyday utility and off-road capabilities into one package.

Via Carscoops.

The Marsien draws its inspiration from the 1980s Porsche 959 rally monsters, arguably some of the greatest race cars to have ever competed at the famous Paris-Dakar rallies. What Marc has done is to take a 992 Generation Porsche 911 Turbo S and infuse it with serious off-roading DNA, resulting in what might be described as an all-terrain supercar.

Powertrain and Transmission

At the heart of the Gemballa Marsien is the same twin-turbo flax-six that powers the 911 Turbo S. In this case, though, the powerplant has been tuned by German powerhouse RUF to produce 750-hp—about 100-hp more than the 911 Turbo S.

There is a second stage upgrade that further bumps this output to 830 horses with enhanced turbochargers, a revised ECU mapping and transmission setting. Akrapovic was contracted to develop a custom-made titanium exhaust system that not only delivers a unique note but also helps boost the engine power output.

Via Marc Philipp Gembala.

This power is fed to all four wheels via an 8-speed PDK transmission. When equipped with road tires, Marc claims his car can sprint to 62 mph (100 kph) in a scant 2.6 seconds and continue on to a 208 mph top speed. In off-road mode, the Gemballa Marsien is restricted to a still-impressive 130 mph maximum speed.

Chassis and Suspension

The Gemballa Marsien sports a bespoke suspension system that was developed in partnership with KW Automotive, a leader in aftermarket suspension system technology. It features significant changes from the stock 911 Turbo S chassis, including a brand new double-wishbone front suspension. The setup also incorporates an intelligent active damper control and adjustable ride height system, perfect for the Marsien’s dual nature.

Via Marc Philipp Gembala

At the touch of a button, a hydraulic lift system can raise the Gemballa Marsien from 4.7 inches to 9.8 inches. The increased ground clearance ensures that the off-road supercar can venture off paved surfaces and tackle more challenging surfaces with relative ease.

In addition, the suspension was remapped and now supports Gravel, Mud, Snow and Sand driving modes. The Gemballa Marsien is offered with two sets of specially designed forged aluminum wheels. There is a set shod with Michelin Ultra High Performance (UHP) tires for road use and another with All-Terrain tires for when the Marsien is driven off-road.

Exterior and Interior Design

It might be based on the 911 Turbo S, but the Gemballa Marsien boasts an ultra-modern and timeless design that immediately sets it apart. First, all of the bodywork is made from lightweight F1-grade carbon fibre that can either be painted over or presented in its raw exposed form, depending on the customer’s request.

Apart from the Marsien’s overall beefy profile, other notable elements of the exterior design include massive wheel arches and prominent vents on the hood and along the sides of the car. You also have a huge spoiler and custom tail-lights, which contribute to the Marsien’s unique appearance.

Via Marc Philipp Gembala.

In Gemballa’s own words, the interior design ‘echoes the elegance of the exterior.’ An extensive suite of customization options is available, affording the client the opportunity to create a truly personalized feel for the cabin.

You can opt for a full leather or Alcantara interior, finished with materials of the highest quality. The raised middle console is inspired by the Carrera GT and offers easy access to various infotainment features and other vehicle control functions.

The bucket seats are specially designed with carbon fibre trim to reduce weight without compromising too much in the way of comfort. There are also other notable interior details, like the carbon fibre door sills with bright yellow entry guards and GT-style door lashes.

The Gemballa Marsien Is Only the Beginning

Via Marc Philipp Gembala.

The marketing ad campaign shows the Gemballa Marsien strutting its stuff on the endless sand dunes of the Al Faya desert, located just outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The location is a sensible choice for the company. It is not out of place to expect that a good chunk of Marc’s clients will come from the oil-rich region—bored billionaires seeking the ultimate thrill in the form of a dune-bashing desert toy just like this one.

Unsurprisingly, the Gemballa Marsien does not come cheap. Interested clients can expect to part with around $600,000 for the complete build, and that does not include the price of the donor Porsche 911 Turbo S sportscar. It is clearly not for everyone, something Marc knows only too well. The production run is limited to forty units, including ten special launch edition models, and more than half of them have already been sold according to the company.

It took two years of intense research and development to come up with the Gemballa Marsien, and Marc hopes this will mark the start of an epic journey for his young company. To be clear, Marc Gemballa is in no way associated with his late father’s company, Gemballa GmbH, which still exists. He is intent on carving his own path, starting with his vision of what an off-road capable supercar should look like. Marc Phillip Gemballa is confident that there is a market out there for specially designed vehicles like the Marsien, limited series cars with a fresh new design and cutting-edge technology.

These are early days yet, and the jury is still out on whether Marc’s company will stand the test of time. That will partly depend on whether the Gemballa Marsien can deliver on its promise as the ultimate adventure sportscar.

December 1, 2021 / Comments Off

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The Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien

I can’t help myself, but when I look at these photos of the new Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien, I’m thinking about the legendary Paris Dakar rally where Porsche entered a few of their rare 959 models, complete with a raised suspension to be able to cope with the desert racing … and then I read in the official press release the Project Sandbox as this concept was initially called, took inspiration from that rally, so my feeling was correct.

© MARC PHILIPP GEMBALLA GmbH / Oskar Bakke & Victor Goico

This is Gemballa’s first production-ready car, do note Marc Philipp Gemballa is a separate company from Gemballa GmbH, this bespoke off-road capable supercar is a combination of a comfortable contemporary supercar and an off-road sand eating monster, a development with partners like Akrapovič, KW Automotive, and RUF Automobile.

We published the early renders on this car a while ago in our ‘The return of Gemballa‘ article, but today Project Sandbox is ready for production, albeit very limited and all bespoke builds, and more importantly the car is now named Marsien, at the 27, this young entrepreneur and son of late Uwe Gemballa launched his very first production-ready supercar, starting a new era in 2021, Marc Philipp quickly realized if he wanted to build a successful company for the future and not just toss the next imitator product onto the market, he needed to come up with something very special for his clients.

After two years of design and perfecting the initial renders to put into production, a new concept is now introduced, in fact, we’re looking at a completely new supercar segment, a modern supercar with the comfort we’ve come to expect in this day and age, with daily driver practicality that can go off-road, at high speed, and bringing the latest technology into the mix … something only an SUV like the Lamborghini Urus or Bentley Bentayga could offer, but every customer is tempted by an SUV, they want an off-road supercar … like this Marsien.

At this early stage, Marc Philipp Gemballa’s new company is not ready for a new car built entirely in-house, unlike Rimac who designed, developed, and is building their Nevera from scratch with every single piece being built in their own factory, Marc Philipp is taken a well-proven, respected supercar from Porsche and turns it into his Marsien, and the all-wheel-drive Porsche 992 Turbo S is just what he needed with its state-of-the-art technology on a cutting-edge platform.

Only 40 units of the Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien will be built, and while you are reading this, over 20 have already been sold, so if you want to add this ‘made in Germany’ off-road supercar to your collection you might want to act quick, the car will be available globally and has been thoroughly tested on the sand dunes of the Arabian desert as can clearly be seen in the official launch video at the end of this article.

From the press release: During the intense test phase in the beautiful Al Faya desert, the development team was amazed by the stunning red desert sand in combination with the sharp fossil rocks and mountain backdrops shaping the landscape of the desert making it very special and unlike any other. “We felt like as if we were in an entirely different universe,” says Marc Philipp Gemballa. The Al Faya desert located in the emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates has been famous ever since for its unique and extremely red desert sand and Mars-like environment visually. “Since it looked and felt like we were on Mars paired with the futuristic design and the vehicle’s off-road capabilities, we couldn’t think of a more fitting name for our first project.” The name ‘MARSIEN’ was born – derived from the French word ‘Martian’ or ‘from Mars’.

As we would expect, the body for this Marsien is made entirely from lightweight but strong carbon fiber and comes from the same German company that produces carbon fiber parts as an OEM to leading supercar manufacturers, but also to Formula One teams, for the sleek design Marc Philipp turned to Porsche aficionado Alan Derosier, known for his beautiful Porsche 908 design study while the bespoke LED taillights have been developed together with GERG Lighthouse.

The German-based technical service provider FAKT is currently working on road homologation for the Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien, together with Gemballa’s technical team they are working on getting the Marsien street-legal in Europe, including the more stringent Switzerland, but also for the Middle-East, probably one of their biggest market. The Marsien will also be imported into the United States of America … and if possible into any other market in the world later on.

The car in these photos is the first completed car from Marc Philipp Gemballa, it’s the official launch vehicle, and it’s finished in a stunning, triple-layer pearl metallic white with bespoke metallic flakes, as this is an off-road supercar, they also applied a though ceramic coat for added protection to this expensive paint job, on customer cars the color palette is vast, a state-of-the-art certified paint shop will be able to create the exact shade and finish the future owner requests, or you can opt for an exposed carbon fiber body … now that would be my choice, to be honest.

The Marsien comes with a special engine upgrade POWERED BY RUF, and while the six-cylinder boxer engine is still compliant with EOR 6 emissions, power output is raised to more than 750 hp … but it gets even better, RUF offers a Stage II power upgrade with modified VTG turbochargers and different EVU mapping that bumps power to 830 hp, in this case, you’ll also need some revised PDK transmission settings to cope with that much power.

To ensure the Marsien was as capable on the road as off the road, Marc Philipp together with KW Automotive developed a new double-wishbone front suspension with solid piston damper technology with intelligent active dampers and adjustable ride height, there is an electronically controlled hydraulic lift system that can raise the Marsien from normal road level up to a ground clearance of 250 mm!

The driver of the Marsien has several driving modes at his, or her disposal through the knob on the steering wheel, in addition to the standard Porsche modes, this Gemballa comes with bespoke off-road modes like gravel, mud, sand, and even snow … also note the entire underbody of the Marsien is protected from debris by a solid aluminum guard plate.

The MARSIEN is delivered with two different, bespoke forged aluminum wheel sets, both with track-inspired center locking bolts, the first set comes with Michelin Ultra High Performance (UHP) tires for road use, while the second set is shod with All-Terrain tires for off-road use. If you really want to go crazy on the sand, there is the option of a Reiger Suspension rally-spec off-road dampers further enhancing the suspension travel and increasing the ground clearance to a fixed off-road ride height.

The interior is another fine balance between form and function, fitted with either a leather or an Alcantara upholstery, the overall look and feel is inspired by the magnificent Porsche Carrera GT, with a ‘flying’ carbon fiber central console and custom ‘ribbons’ to pull the door shut. There are handstitched Gemballa logos on the headrests, and the logo is also embedded on the armrest.

Also note there is a special plaque fitted to the interior with the serial number of that specific car, one of only 40, with the 10 ‘Launch Edition’ models being sold out long ago, only a handful of the 40 units are still available while production of the Marsien will start in late 2021, each with a starting price of €495,000 before taxes (about US$586,000), and you’ll have to add duties, shipping, custom requests or options … and your base, that Porsche 992 Turbo S … yes, that price tag of almost $600,000 is just for the conversion alone … exclusivity doesn’t come cheap.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Base vehicle: Porsche 911 Turbo S (992 Series)
Engine: RUF upgraded twin-turbocharged flat-six engine
Power (hp): 750 up to 830 hp (Series: 650 hp)
Power (kW): 552 kW (Series: 478 kW)
Max. torque: 930 Nm torque (Series: 800 Nm torque)
Vmax: 330 km/h (with on-road tire set only)
0-100 km/h: 2.6 seconds (with on-road tIre set only)

Exhaust: Bespoke Akrapovič titanium exhaust system
Suspension: Double wishbone front suspension Multi-link rear suspension KW Automotive solid piston dampers with two electronic valves and semi-active Dynamic Damper and Chassis Control (KW DDCC) and adjustable ride height via Hydraulic Lift System (HLS)

Ground clearance: 250 mm in off-road mode / 120 mm in on-road mode
Dimensions: L 4714 / W 2030 / H 1450 (in off-road mode)

Wheels & Tyres:
On-road wheels
Bespoke 20″/21″ forged aluminum wheels with center lock
system in with Michelin Ultra High-Performance tires
Off-road wheels
Bespoke 19″/20″ MPG forged aluminum wheels with center lock
system in with All-Terrain tires (Vmax 210 km/h)

Exterior: Full carbon fiber body
Interior: Fully bespoke full leather / Alcantara interior with carbon fibeR accents

The official launch video:

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July 14, 2021 / Comments Off

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Marc Philipp Gemballa’s Off-Road Porsche 992 Turbo to Use a 750hp RUF Engine

Uwe Gemballa already partnered with Porsche specialist Alois Ruf on engine development back in the 1980s. The two families have teamed up again this time led by Uwe Gemballa’s Son Phillip Gemballa. Phillip Gemballa will launch his first project in 2021 starting a new era with his new company Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH (not associated with Gemballa GmbH) 10 years after the passing of his father.. The engine development designed by Marc Phillip Gemballa will be under the name “powered by Ruf”.

The collaboration’s first project will be an off-road supercar dubbed “project Sandbox” based on the new Porsche 911 Turbo S from the 992 series. The project is said to be inspired by the infamous Porsche 959 ‘Dakar’ car.

The engine upgrade allows the six-cylinder boxer engine to provide an output of over 750hp and 930Nm of torque and it adheres to the latest EURO 6 emissions regulations despite the increment in power.

The exclusive edition is limited to 40 units and 10 are already spoken for before the official launch leaving 30 units only. The company will be revealing more information later this year.

Specs

Base vehicle: Porsche 911 Turbo S (992 series)
Engine: 6-cylinder twin-turbocharged flat-six
Power (kW): 552 kW (Series: 478 kW)
Power (hp): 750+ hp (Series: 650 hp)
Max. torque: 930 Nm torque (Series: 800 Nm torque)

February 19, 2021 / Comments Off

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The return of Gemballa?

If names like 911 Extremo, Avalanche, Mirage GT, or MIG-U1 ring a bell, you probably know Uwe Gemballa’s creations from the past, back in the Eighties two famous families already partnered up to create some of the world’s most impressive Porsche engines, Uwe Gemballa and Alois Ruf … today these families join forces again.

Uwe’s son, Marc Philipp Gemballa (not associated with Gemballa GmbH) set up his own company to create an off-road capable sportscar based on the Porsche 992 Turbo S, and he’s going to partner up with RUF Automobile GmbH for the creation of an upgraded engine … the Porsche sourced six-cylinder boxer unit will be tuned to deliver over 750 hp and 970 Nm of torque.

This new Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH car is called the ‘Sandbox Project, powered by RUF’, and while the car hasn’t been officially launched on the market, ten units are already sold simply based on 3D-renders. This will be the first project from this young entrepreneur takes the famous Porsche 959 ‘Paris-Dakar’ racecar and reimagines it as a new off-road supercar.

“We enjoy working with my father’s trusted business partners. Many of them rank among today’s leading suppliers in the automotive industry, and in addition to their decades of experience, they know the standards we strive for and perfectly understand what matters. My father trusted the technical expertise as well as the high-quality standards and the well-proven working methods of Alois Ruf. Consequently, the choice to partner with RUF Automobile for the engine development was a natural decision for us. I am pleased that we can continue this very special friendship and partnership”, says Marc Philipp Gemballa

An official World Premiere is scheduled for Spring 2021, but only 40 units will be built of the Sandbox, powered by RUF, and the initial ten units are even more special ‘Launch Edition’ models, these are all sold out already, only the remaining 30 units are still available … no MSRP has been listed, however.

Marc, now 27, starts a new era with his company Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH, exactly ten years after his father, Uwe Gemballa passed away, being raised with supercars around him, he worked at companies like Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche … but now he intends to create the next evolution of supercars, not just a focus on extreme high hp figures, or being the fastest on the ‘Green Hell’ track … his Sandbox vision is a supercar that can be taken off-road … just like the legendary Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar cars.

After two years of development, he created a contemporary supercar with an almost timeless design, offering comfort and daily driving possibility for a road car that can be taken off-road too, to build his vision Marc gets the support of his father’s worldwide network of clients, dealers, suppliers, and partners. Alan Derosier as a designer, KW Automotive for the suspension, RUF Automobile for the engine work, Michelin to supply the tires, world-renowned Akrapovič for the exhaust, VELA Performance as an engineering partner, and KLK Motorsport as aerodynamic specialists.

February 18, 2021 / Comments Off

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Gemballa Seeks to Build Its Own Supercar

Tuner Company To Turn Out Own Supercar

Gemballa is a name that Porsche enthusiasts know well. The company is known for taking Porsche models and transforming them into even more extreme machines. Gemballa’s cars are some of the most beautiful machines around, and now the company wants to build its own supercar.

This is a major departure for the company. According to Carscoops, this will be the company’s first supercar that isn’t based on another car in its 38-year history. New investor money will be what makes this happen. Gemballa has received over $39 million from investors since 2010.

Steffen Korbach, owner and managing director of Gemballa, said that the car will have over 800 hp. “As part of this, we’d like to reference the existing Gemballa legends, and implement a range of innovative concepts. You can expect an uncompromising vehicle, radical, pure and luxurious,” said Korbach.

The company also put out a sketch of the car it hopes to build. We’ve included that above. The black car in the sketch is definitely an aggressive sports car, with what appears to be a rear mid-engine design, large fender flares, and a big rear wing. If the production car ends up looking much like the sketch and comes with more than 800 hp, we’ll be pretty pleased.

June 14, 2019 / Comments Off

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Gemballa says it’s going to make a supercar

Some of Gemballa’s creations may already take fast Porsches into supercar territory, but its latest project is different. Gemballa intends to make a supercar of its own, separate from any Porsche it’s made thus far.

We get one teaser image of what appears to be a computer rendering of a possible design. Whether or not the Gemballa supercar ends up resembling this is impossible to know, but at least it’s something to go on. Details and goals for the supercar are scarce. Gemballa owner Steffen Korbach says the company is “planning a thoroughbred super sports car with a unique, aggressive design and engine power considerably over 800 horsepower.”

A car with that much power is a lofty goal, but Gemballa has reached those figures before when tuning Porsches. A recent creation based on the 911 Turbo and Turbo S called the GTR 8XX EVO-R Biturbo makes 818 horsepower and 810 pound-feet of torque. Another bit we can take away from the rendering is that it’s probably a mid-engine design, which isn’t surprising at all.

Beyond the power number, we’re told to expect something uncompromising, radical, pure and luxurious. That’s cool and all, but every other supercar in the world gets described with those words, too. Gemballa says it’s in the funding stages, and needs further financing to keep the project moving forward. The company says its first designs will be shown to select clients soon, and that we should see a prototype in 2020. Production is planned for 2022, pending everything going as planned. And we all know that everything goes exactly to plan when a company decides to produce its first standalone car.

If we were to speculate on the powertrain, something from Porsche seems a likely outcome considering the company’s close relationship to the brand and that Gemballa is a German tuner. As of now there are no discussions of electrification, meaning we’re probably looking at a more traditional supercar.

June 13, 2019 / Comments Off

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Gemballa Announces Development for their Own Supercar

Gemballa has announced that it is looking to build its own, bespoke, supercar. The German tuning company has been quiet in recent years. It has a rich history, producing some of the most iconic tuned Porsche models. It fell into a dormant state in recent years but now seems to be pushing to revitalise its fortunes with a new supercar!

Gemballa has been listed as a registered car Manufacturer in Germany since 1985. Far from being lightly modified Porsche models, the company are able to certify their cars as Gemballa’s, in much the same way as RUF do. Since the untimely death of its eponymous founder, Uwe Gemballa, the company slowed down. It has only recently announced plans to produce new products.

Over the years, Gemballa has produced some truly memorable machines. Cars such as the Gemballa Avalanche, a highly modified version of the Porsche 911, and the Gemballa MIG-U1, a bespoke tuned version of the Ferrari Enzo.

The new car will be a completely new development with an aggressive design and a power output in the region of 800 bhp. Gemballa plans to have the car ready as early as 2020 with production to begin in 2022. The stand-alone project will supplement a new range of Porsche modifications.

The photo gives us a brief idea as to what the new car will look like. Clearly, the Gemballa supercar will be mid-engined with a focus on downforce through the aggressive rear wing. It’s not clear whether Gemballa will stick to its routes by using a Porsche 911 as the basis or whether the chassis will be entirely bespoke.

Steffen Korbach, owner and Managing Director of Gemballa GmbH, said:

“We’re planning a thoroughbred super sports car with a unique, aggressive design and engine power considerably over 800 bhp. As part of this, we’d like to reference the existing GEMBALLA legends, and implement a range of innovative concepts. You can expect an uncompromising vehicle, radical, pure and luxurious. At the same time, we would also like to establish Gemballa in future as a stand-alone small production run manufacturer, but also launch as an exclusive modification company for extreme, complete conversions of Porsche cars. The first designs will be presented to selected clients soon, and the first prototype should be on display as early as 2020. We currently plan to start production in 2022. The capital required to finance the project will be raised through private equity and venture capital companies. Concrete discussions are already underway.”

June 13, 2019 / Comments Off

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Gemballa GT Concept is an 828-hp widebody Porsche 911 for SEMA

SEMA is an interesting show, where mad scientists and engineers take cars and trucks and turn them into ungodly, brutal beasts on wheels. Vehicles like the Dodge Demon and Ford Mustang are right at home there. But sometimes we see some more elegant makeovers, like the Audi TT Clubsport, which maintains its European charm but still gets a big boost in performance. This year, Gemballa took a similar approach with its widebody GT Concept.

Based on the Porsche 911 Turbo, the GT Concept features lightweight carbon bodywork. Its fenders are 1.2 inches wider in front, and 2.0 inches wider at the rear, making room for wider, stickier wheels. It also includes styling and aerodynamic modifications, including new front and rear bumpers, side skirts, new engine cover with carbon fiber insert, and carbon fiber front spoiler lip, rear diffuser and rear wing.

Gemballa included its own touch to the GT Concept’s interior. It combines selected leather hides and Alcantara, and includes the embroidered Gemballa logo in the floor mats and headrests.

But it’s more than just looks and aero. Gemballa also added gobs of power to the already potent biturbocharged, 3.8-liter boxer engine. It has carbon intake manifolds and air intake housings, larger valves and modified cylinder heads, a sports exhaust, and remapped engine control unit, among other modifications. The result is 828 horsepower and 702 pound-feet of torque. This allows the Gemballa GT Concept to do 0-62 miles per hour in just 2.38 seconds on its way to a top speed of over 223 miles per hour (with the specific top speed to be announced later). Stopping power has been improved with carbon-ceramic brakes with six-piston calipers up front and four-piston calipers in the rear.

Related Video:

November 1, 2017 / Comments Off

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Gemballa Racing McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Nürburgring Crash Video

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