- [Nolan] Last year videos all over social media showed
what appeared to be a $450,000 Porsche Carrera GT
rampaging through New York city streets,
hitting everything in sight.
That car was not a $450,000 Porsche Carrera GT,
but rather a heavily modified $800,000 Gemballa Mirage GT
owned and allegedly being driven
by multimillionaire Ben Chen.
While the charges against him were mysteriously dropped.
The incident was incredibly fitting
for Gemballa's image of excess for the sake of excess,
flying in the face of consequence.
Unfortunately, that same attitude may have cost
the company's founder everything.
When a suspected international money laundering scheme
finally caught up with him.
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(chime music)
Porsche tuning is a multi-billion dollar industry.
From the classic cool of Stinger
to the rowdy wildness of RWB.
It seems like there's a company for every style.
If your personal styling mirrors the coke-filled opulence
of the 80's and 90's,
then the Porsche tuner for you is Gemballa.
(percussion plays)
Their story begins in 1979,
when Uwe Gemballa started producing
flashy custom interiors,
incorporating high tech audio and video systems
for wealthy Porsche and BMW owners.
You might be wondering what Uwe was doing before then.
And frankly, I'm wondering that too.
Uwe led a secretive life,
possibly because of some less than legal business dealings,
which we'll get to later.
Either way, there's very little information
about who he was or where he came from.
In a 2007 interview,
he says that he got into motorcycles while in college,
found them to be too dangerous and switched to cars.
He bought a Porsche 911,
and started a tuning company to pay for it.
And that's everything we know about Uwe Gemballa
before he established his company.
In the few interviews he granted,
he avoids discussing his personal life,
focusing instead on the cars he created.
And once you see those cars,
you can understand why maybe he just thought
his life paled by comparison.
(upbeat music)
Looking at the company's body of work,
it's hard to believe Gemballa's first model
was built to look like a race car.
That was the 1981 slant nose conversion
of the Porsche 930.
The generation of 911 produced between 1975 and 1989.
The slant nose style or Flachbau for flat nose,
mimic the successful factory racers that won Le Mans
and nearly every other European race in the late 1970s.
The race cars were dubbed 935
because they were 930 generation cars adapted
for FIA group 5 racing and Porsche engineers
aren't very imaginative when it comes to naming things.
But Porsche engineers are imaginative
when interpreting FIA regulations.
Group 5 included something called "silhouette rules",
which were intended to make the front of the race cars
resemble the road going counterparts.
Porsche engineers figured out
that since the 911's iconic round headlights
were technically part of the cars fenders,
they could modify them without violating those rules.
The aerodynamics slant nose was born
and enthusiasts took notice.
Everybody wanted a 911 that looked like
the winning race car
and several Porsche customizers offered conversions.
Porsche themselves started producing slant noses in 1982.
Eventually selling them through their sonderwunsch
or special wishes department.
That's the customization program where nearly
any customer requests can be fulfilled.
In other words, if you can afford it
and physics allow it,
Porsche will build it.
As the 1980s marched on,
hairstyles and shoulder pads got bigger
and demand for ostentatious luxury cars skyrocketed.
So Gemballa left race inspired design behind
and developed the style they're known for.
Cars like the Avalanche and its convertible twin,
the Cyrrus, typify that style
with drastically revised bodywork,
including a widened stance and massive side strakes.
These cars included flashy interiors filled
with gadgets and tech like steering wheel mounted,
remote controls for the audio system
and cameras instead of side mirrors
and a video display in the dash.
This might not seem like a big deal nowadays,
but Gemballa started incorporating those features in 1983,
but these weren't all show, no go, oh,
the Avalanche included a RUF tuned,
twin turbo motor starting at 375 horsepower,
25% more than the base 911 turbo.
But tuneable up to whatever you can afford.
All this could be yours for the low,
low price of 390,000 Deutschmarks
or about 700,000 US dollars.
That's over 10 times the cost of the 911 it was based on
and corrected for inflation,
that's $1.7 million in today's money.
Good God, if that ordinary version
was just too ordinary for you,
Gemballa could make you one
with 4 pop-up headlights,
if you really wanted to stand out.
And if that humdrum Avalanche was simply too cheap and slow,
Gemballa could happily sell you a $900,000,
500 horsepower with a chopped and lowered roof.
It was capable of 195 miles per,
and it was called the Mirage.
Yeah, Mitsubishi also made a Mirage,
but I don't think you'd ever confused these 2 cars.
Hey, if you're liking the story so far,
go ahead and hit that like button.
It actually does help us out a lot.
And that's all I'll ask.
Gemballa also turned its hand to Mercedes,
BMW and even Ferrari.
They built wide body and gowling versions
of the Mercedes SEC,
a heavily modified BMW M635csi,
which was eventually sold to Saddam Hussein's son.
We actually did a podcast on that.
And even a Ferrari Testarossa got Gemballa.
Uwe's work was so well received at the time
that Mercedes AMG and even BMW hired the company
to do development work for their own special models.
And that's a pretty big honor like tuning company
with crazy body work and all this ridiculousness
getting hired by the big boys, that's great.
But Porsche was always closest to Uwe's heart.
And in 1989,
with the release of the 964 generation of the 911,
they began work on the Mirage Evo.
Using a slant nose design, once again,
this car could hit 200 miles per.
Gemballa's focus on audio and video technology continued
with one Mirage built under contract
to showcase pioneer audio
and customer car featuring VCRs and even fax machines.
A fax machine and a car that could go 200.
(machine whirs)
That's pretty cool.
With the 993 generation that arrived in 1995,
Gemballa built the GTR 600 incorporating carbon fiber doors
and body panels and polycarbonate windows
for weight savings.
Once he got those fake windows,
that's how you know.
Then in 1999 for the new 996 generation
and Porsche Boxster,
Gemballa built biturbo versions of both cars with 2 turbos,
the 911 conversion managed 600 horsepower once again,
with the Boxster having to get by with this,
a measly 450 in a Boxster, that'd be so crazy.
That'd be, that'd be sick.
With each successive generation of Gemballa car,
came more power,
more speed and more extreme customization,
but that was starting to be a problem.
Gemballa's style was loud and over the top,
almost comical much like as customers,
Vanilla Ice, Sir Mix-a-Lot,
let's be honest, Dr. Phil.
As the 1990s we're drawing to a close
that aesthetic had fallen out of fashion
and with it, so did Gemballa sales.
Not that they didn't keep trying though.
The Porsche Cayenne and Carrera GT got Gemballa redesigns
in the 2000s as a 750 horsepower Tornado
and 208 mile per hour Mirage GT.
But these new models fail to achieve the sales success
of their earlier cars
and following the financial crisis of 2008.
The company was deeply in debt
and facing bankruptcy.
In January of 2010,
optimistic that a new decade would bring new opportunities.
Gemballa proudly unveiled a prototype for the MIG U1.
They plan to produce just 25
of these heavily modified Ferrari Enzo's,
which were designed to look like the MIG 25 fighter jet
and had a price that was only available,
quote, "by request".
But with only 400 Enzo's in existence
that conversion required a customer
to donate their own car for the process.
One journalist summed up,
what most of you are probably thinking,
speculating that there simply weren't, quote.
"25 Enzo owners that were mad enough
to ruin their pride and joy."
That prediction was correct.
And only one car, the prototype was ever built.
The MIG U1 would be the last car announced
by Uwe Gemballa
because just a few weeks later, he disappeared.
Gemballa knew his company was in trouble.
So when he was contacted
by a potential investor named Jerome Sapphire,
he eagerly flew to South Africa to meet him.
On February 8th, 2010 security cameras recorded
Gemballa being picked up from the airport.
A few days later,
his wife received a phone call
demanding a 1 million Euro ransom.
And an order to await further instructions.
Those instructions never came
and Uwe was officially declared missing soon after.
Back in Germany,
it was widely believed that Uwe fled to South Africa
and went into hiding to escape his company's creditors.
Just 2 weeks after his disappearance,
an attorney representing his wife and company,
filed for bankruptcy.
The company's assets were seized by the German government
and sold to a former Gemballa executive, Andreas Schwarz
and an outside investor named Steffen Korbach.
Within a few short months
with Uwe's whereabouts still unknown.
They were selling cars under the Gemballa name.
In October of 2010,
8 months after his disappearance,
Uwe Gemballa's body was found.
News reports claimed that he had died from a gunshot wound.
Other reports claimed he had died from suffocation.
That's just one of many details where there's conflicting
or questionable information.
4 men were subsequently arrested.
One of whom pleaded guilty and agreed
to testify against the others.
He also claimed they'd been hired to kill Gemballa
by an organized crime boss named Radovan Krejcir
who had been linked to human trafficking,
prostitution, corruption, money laundering, drug,
gold, and diamond smuggling and multiple murders.
I'm really glad I brought them up by name, love that for me.
Krejcir was questioned by police
and claimed that he'd only met Gemballa once,
15 years earlier.
Although he did own a Gemballa Porsche,
there was insufficient evidence to charge Krejcir
and he was released.
At trial, the suspect who had confessed,
recanted his entire statement,
claiming that he had been tortured
by police in the making of his confession.
The 4 killers were convicted based largely
on cell phone location data
that placed them at the burial site.
But surprisingly, a man unconnected with Gemballa's killer,
also implicated Radovan Krejcir.
And that guy was named Jerome Safi,
who claimed he had used the very clever alias,
Jerome Sapphire to lure Gemballa
to South Africa at the request of Krejcir,
who was a customer at a club managed by Safi.
The 2 men met when Safi complimented Krejcir
on his white Porsche,
a Gemballa conversion.
Safi states that Krejcir and Gemballa
had a dispute over money and he was ordered
to contact Gemballa claiming to be an investor,
wanting to open a South African dealership.
Safi made these statements to police
only after Krejcir threatened to have him killed
or so he claims.
Juan Meyer, another former associate of Krejcir,
said that Gemballa had made an agreement
to ship large amounts of Krejcir's cash
hidden inside Gemballa cars.
When a Porsche Cayenne arrived in South Africa
without its expected 1 million Euro payload
hidden inside the doors,
Krejcir ordered Gemballa's execution.
Like Safi, Meyer statement only came after Krejcir
threatened to have him killed or so he claims.
So there's no conclusive proof
that Krejcir was involved into the death
of Uwe Gemballa,
but there are still a few twists left in the story.
In 2013, an assassination attempt
was made against Krejcir.
One morning, he arrived at one of his businesses,
driving an armored Mercedes AMG CLS,
when a hail of gunfire erupted
from the back of a parked
and unoccupied Volkswagen hatchback,
which then burst into flames.
The guns were homemade and remotely controlled.
They'd been hidden behind the license plate
and their heat actually caused the fire.
The assassins behind the attack are still unknown
and Krejcir's response was simply quote,
"All my life is like James Bond stuff,
so it's usual stuff for me.
It's how I live my life."
No one knows for sure if Uwe
had turned to crime to support his failing company,
but the new Gemballa has all but erased his memory.
If you go to the company website today
and look at their history,
it lists all the car Uwe created,
but there's no mention of him.
The Gemballa brand name is now described
as demonstrating Steffen Korbach's vision
for exclusive performance cars.
And that's turned out to be a bit of a problem
for one man who was personally affected
by this tragedy, Uwe's son Marc Philipp Gemballa.
He was just 16 years old when his father was killed,
but went on to a career in the automotive industry,
working for Aston Martin, Mercedes and Porsche.
When Marc decided he wanted to follow
in his father's footsteps,
he began development on a 911 based super car
inspired by the Porsche 959 Dakar Rally Car
and working in partnership with respected brands,
such as Akrapovic, KW Suspension
and even RUF supplying the engine,
this thing looks awesome.
When Marc Gemballa announced that he'd be building the car,
Gemballa, the company, sued him.
Claiming that he was infringing on their trademark
by describing himself as quote,
"The continuator of his father's legend."
on social media.
Yeah. You heard that right.
Marc Gemballa got sued for wanting to build a car
and saying he's his father's son.
This is messed up.
His since changed his company's name
from MP Gemballa Cars to Marc Philipp Gemballa Cars
to disassociate his work from that
of his father's former company.
It's not over there's one more little twist here.
Remember the slant nose Porsche conversions
made so popular by tuners that Porsche started
to sell 'em too.
Well shortly after Marc announced his rally inspired,
modified Porsche 911,
Porsche announced that they'd be offering
rally inspired 911 packages
through their special wishes department.
So, wow.
Oh, you're probably wondering whatever happened
to Radovan Krejcir right? I know I am.
Well, he was arrested and convicted
of drug trafficking, kidnapping,
and attempted murder for events unrelated
to Gemballa's death.
He's currently serving 35 years in a South African prison.
He's been put on indefinite isolation
under maximum security.
After an $18 million escape plan came to light.
The plan had been orchestrated by his mistress
and supposedly bankrolled by his mother.
Their bribes to guards,
prison officials and police,
they'd even hired planes
and helicopters just to getaway.
This guy is not James Bond.
He's like Dr. Evil.
I hope he doesn't have internet.
All right. That's been today's episode.
Yeah, really tragic.
These Gemballa cars are super funky looking,
but I honestly fell in love with them
in the lead up to this video.
I just think there's so, so cool.
I wish the best for Marc Philipp Gemballa and his family.
And you know,
I hope that car is a success
because it looks pretty awesome.
Follow donut media on all social media.
If you like, at donut media,
follow me @nolanjsykes.
For more true crime car history,
check out our podcast, Past Gas.
We've done a series on Mickey Thompson and AMC,
AMC's president was assassinated in France by anarchists.
It's a pretty insane story.
So check out Past Gas.
Be kind, see you next time.