Uwe Gemballa's son Marc has decided to follow in pop's footsteps and start a business hotting-up supercars. First up: an "adventure sports" take on the Porsche 911. The Martien is a 750-horsepower sand-flinger that encourages off-road shenanigans.
Marc Phillip Gemballa, the person and the company, wants to be clear that this new business entity is completely separate from Gemballa GmbH itself. Marc, now 27 years old, was just 16 when his father was murdered in South Africa in a gangland-style execution investigators suspect could have been linked to a money laundering operation. The company has been out of family hands ever since.
Still, Marc's got horsepower in the blood, and with the outrageous horsepower figures now coming out of OEM factories, he recognized that a tune-up and a body kit was no longer going to cut it in 2021. If he wanted to start a company, he'd have to offer customers something truly unique.
So an adventure-sport Porsche? Why not! The Martien begins its life as a Porsche 911 (992) Turbo S, itself a US$172k, 641-horsepower monster capable of sprinting 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 2.7 seconds. A lot is never enough in this game, though, so the donk gets sent to long-time Gemballa family associates RUF Automobile for engine upgrades that take it up to 750 horses and 930 Nm (686 lb-ft) of torque. The truly demented can order a Stage 2 kit that takes things up to 830 horses with beefier turbos, revised engine mapping and new transmission settings.
Standard supercar suspension wouldn't cut the mustard off-road, so Marc has partnered with KW Automotive, another long-term Gemballa collaborator, to develop a whole new double-wishbone system with adjustable ride height that can hoist the car up from the standard 911's 129mm ground clearance to 250mm at the touch of a button. Damping is active as well, so there's potential here for a broad mix of capabilities on and off the paved road.
The wheels are forged, lightweight and sexy. The tail-lights are custom LED units from GERG Lighthouse. The interior is covered in bespoke leather or Alcantara, with a roll cage, fire extinguisher and racing harnesses. Akrapovic contributes a titanium exhaust system, but it'll be heard rather than seen, hidden as it is under a whole new set of custom full-carbon bodywork.
So a fairly substantial set of upgrades to the original car. How much, then? The Marc Phillip Gemballa Martien starts at just £495,000 (US$585,000) – before taxes, duty, shipping and options. Oh, and it's BYO Porsche 911 Turbo S, as well. So, a lot. It doesn't matter, the initial production run of 40 cars is almost sold out anyway, says the company.
Check out a short video below.
Source: Marc Phillip Gemballa