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RIP: Uwe Gemballa - of Gemballa w126 design fame

23K views 26 replies 18 participants last post by  joeSEC 
#1 ·
This guy was known for his "over the top" designs on the w126 back in the 1980's, and most recently for his Porsche designs.

Uwe Gemballa, the former CEO of the Porsche tuning company that bears his name, has been found murdered near Pretoria, South Africa.

The tuning company, Gemballa Automobiletechnik, is known for creating Porsche performance conversions and customers have included Arab royalty and movie stars.

Gemballa was found shot in the head with his hands tied and his body wrapped in cellophane.

The German businessman had been missing since 8 February after travelling to the country for a business trip.

At the time, police said there was little evidence to suggest kidnapping. Local forces have not commented on any of the surrounding circumstances of Gemballa's death.

Vishnu Naidoo, a South African police spokesman said, “We have found the body of Gemballa and we're now investigating the circumstances around his death. A murder docket has been opened.”

No arrests have yet been made, but two German police officers are in South Africa to assist with the investigation.


RIP.....

http://www.gemballa.com/Company_5



Some of his designs...



 

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#6 ·
+1. Rip Uwe!
 
#12 ·
The Truth about Gemballa

They Found Gemballa: Shot In The Head | The Truth About Cars


By Bertel Schmitt on October 4, 2010

About a year ago, a mutual friend introduced me to Uwe Gemballa. He looked a bit like a pimp from central casting: bleached blond hair, a flashy watch, gold chain. He tuned Porsches. He wanted to import Gemballas to China, and could I help him? Like many China deals, that deal never got off the ground. And as I read the news today, I think to myself: I’m glad it fizzled. Dodged that bullet. Literally.

According to Gemballa’s hometown paper Stuttgarter Zeitung, Police in Atteridgeville, near Pretoria, South Africa, found a garbage bag with the badly decomposed remains of a blond man. He had his hands tied to his back, and a bullet hole in his head. A DNA check and a comparison of the teeth confirmed: Gemballa is dead.

The South African Police didn’t just stumble over that bag. They had arrested two people who decided that it’s better to cooperate.

Gemballa has not been heard from since February 8, 2010. He had flown from Dubai to Johannesburg, South Afrika. From Johannesburg, he called his wife. According to some records, he said he had an accident and needed a “larger sum of money.” According to Germany’s BILD-Zeitung, Gemballa had claimed he had been kidnapped, and Christl should transfer a million Euro immediately. Apparently, the second story came closer to the truth. But it wasn’t the whole truth.

According to the Suttgarter Zeitung, Gemballa’s tuning shop was a front for an organized crime syndicate. Gemballa worked with the Czech crime boss Radovan Krejcir, who is wanted by the Czech Police for tax evasion and attempted murder. Krejcir relocated to South Africa instead.

According to a sworn affidavit of Juan Meyer, a former business associate of Krejcir, Gemballa sent hot cars to South Africa. Instead of sending them for money, he sent them with money: The cars were stuffed with cash. Vehicular money laundering. Now I know why Gemballa wanted to know every detail of how cars are imported to China. And now I know why he was not happy to hear what I had told him: “Easy. In those small numbers, the cars are individually checked by the authorities, and approved.”

One day, a tuned Cayenne that was supposed to have a million Euro behind the door trim panel, arrived empty. Krejcir was upset. That put a dent in Gemballas’s business. He was short of money.

Another business associate, Jerome Safi, told Gemballa that he would invest into Gemballa South Africa. Gemballa flew down, was kidnapped, and after his wife Christl hadn’t sent the missing million, he was shot. He probably would have been shot with the million also.

Krejcir is still free in South Africa. An extradition request by the Czech government had been denied by a South African court. Not too long ago, a high South African police official, who supposedly is close to Krejcir, lost his job.

Back in Stuttgart, the news of Gemballas death caused consternation, “however, it didn’t come as a suprise,” writes the paper. He had been written off long ago.
Posted in Crime & Punishment, Germany, News Blog, Tuners
Tagged as Bertel Schmitt, Crime & Punishment, Gemballa, Germany, South Africa, Tuner
 
#15 ·
Anyone have the link to that Gemballa for sale a while back? I think I might buy it and rip apart the door panels... er, uh, I mean diagnose a "faulty" window switch...
 
#18 ·
Hey Henric, your sig picture looks pretty close to the Gembella rear wheel in the first post....

Must be an optical illusion..

Must be.
 
#20 ·
I think his cars were good examples of the fashion at the time (the 80's). I think the interiors of the cars with the push buttons on the steering wheel and the digital instrument cluster was really BOSS.
 
#22 ·
Compare Gemballa against Styling Garage, Koenig Sbarro Trasco etc and his were the most tasteful of the whole gaudy lot.... yet his were the most opulent tuner cars ever.

Check out his modern Porsche tuning, way better than other firms. The current styling does not look gaudy because its modern.
 
#23 ·
For much of the year I work in Ghana, but I have never, and would never dream of setting foot in South Africa - not for any amount of money in the world.

While violent crime does exist everywhere, it is only in South Africa that 90% of all adults pack concealed semi-auto handguns. Combine that with the fact that an equal percentage of the population there remains permanently drunk, and you have the OK Corral on steroids AND coke.

If this obviously talented car maker had read up a bit more on South Africa, he probably would be alive in Germany today.
 
#24 ·
You have absolutely no idea what South Africa is like. Where did you get these statistics from?!? :confused:

I think you need to educate yourself more on a topic before spouting rubbish like that on the internet. :mad:

If Gemballa had spent more time building cars and less time cavorting with criminals he would be alive today.
 
#25 ·
Hey no offense intended about your homeland, Diazepm, but it has, either rightly or not, earned a reputation as a Wild West land of instant "justice".

All things considered, anyone who drives a W126 Benz needn't be feared, even if he might be packing heat. Ha ha just kidding. :beerchugr:
 
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