Gemballa

The original Porsche extremist

PorscheLeonberg, GermanyEst. 1981

Philosophy

Uwe Gemballa's philosophy was visibility. In 1981, Porsche tuning meant subtle engine work and conservative suspension upgrades. Gemballa changed the terms: the cars he built were unmistakable from a hundred metres, draped in fibreglass flares, gold-trimmed interior, and wide-body proportions that made a standard 911 look underweight. He understood before almost anyone else that a tuner's identity was carried as much by the visual statement as by the performance numbers.

The company Uwe founded survived his death in 2010 and continues under new ownership with a sharper engineering focus. The current Avalanche programme takes the 992-generation 911 Turbo S to 820 hp through a bespoke twin-turbo conversion — retaining the Gemballa visual language while meeting modern emissions and safety standards. The name carries both a legacy and an obligation: every Gemballa must be immediately recognisable as such.

Founder

Uwe Gemballa

Headquarters

Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Base Marques

Porsche 911 (all generations, 930–992) · Porsche Cayenne · Porsche Panamera

Signature Tech

Gemballa-proprietary carbon and fibreglass wide-body kits, twin-turbo and bi-turbo engine conversions for air-cooled and water-cooled 911s, Gemballa-tuned Porsche PDK calibration, bespoke interior leather and alcantara programmes, and the Mirage GT carbon monocoque supercar platform.

Status in Market

The most culturally influential Porsche tuner of the 1980s and 1990s. Gemballa 930 Turbos are legitimate collector vehicles with values exceeding original Porsche factory spec. The Mirage GT (2008–2011) was a purpose-built supercar achieving 0–60 in 3.5 seconds from a mid-engine carbon chassis.

Price Range

$30,000 – $750,000

By the Facts

01Uwe Gemballa was the first tuner to offer a complete wide-body conversion for the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) in series production — a programme that launched in 1984 and defined the aesthetic of 1980s supercar culture.
02The Gemballa Mirage GT (2009) was based on the Porsche Carrera GT carbon chassis with a twin-turbo conversion producing 670 hp — one of only a handful of tuner builds ever derived from a factory carbon monocoque.
03Gemballa 930 Turbo widebody cars in original specification have sold at auction for $400,000–$600,000 — multiples of their original Gemballa purchase price and far above standard 930 values.
04The current Avalanche GTR 820 produces 820 hp from the 992 Turbo S flat-six using a Gemballa-engineered twin-turbo conversion — 0–60 in 2.4 seconds, top speed 220 mph.
05Gemballa was the tuner of choice for multiple Middle Eastern royal families in the 1980s and 1990s — their cars were ordered through dealers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in configurations unavailable anywhere else.

Iconic Builds

Avalanche GTR 820

Porsche 911 Turbo S (992) · 2023

POWER

820 hp

0–60

2.4s

TOP SPEED

220 mph

BUILT

Limited (ongoing)

820 hp from a Gemballa twin-turbo 992 Turbo S — wide-body carbon aero, bespoke interior, and the most powerful road-legal 911 the Leonberg shop has ever produced.

Value · $380,000

Mirage GT Carbon Edition

Porsche Carrera GT (carbon chassis) · 2009

POWER

670 hp

0–60

3.5s

TOP SPEED

225 mph

BUILT

A twin-turbo Carrera GT in a bespoke Gemballa carbon body — one of the rarest and most extreme tuner builds ever constructed on a factory supercar platform.

Value · $750,000

930 Turbo Widebody

Porsche 911 Turbo (930) · 1985

POWER

330 hp

0–60

4.6s

TOP SPEED

175 mph

BUILT

~200 (est.)

The car that defined 1980s excess. Gemballa fibreglass arches, gold interior, turbo flat-six — a time capsule of the era when Stuttgart tuning meant spectacle above all else.

Value · $500,000+ (collector)

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