Famous Porsche Tuner Gemballa Goes Missing

The famous German tuner specialising in Porsche after market re builds has disappeared in South Africa.

According to German press articles, Uwe Gemballa (51 years old) was on a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa when he disappeared.

It seems that German police are working with the local authorities to try to identify his location, but there are few details at this time about the famous German tuner. According to German police, no one has had any knowledge of his wereabouts since February 8. It is not apparent as to whether he simply wanted to disappear into obscurity, or a more sinister set of circumstances has occurred.

993 RS

The lightweight variant of jelenek favorite the 993, and distinguishable by the non retractable rear wing, this stripped out version never made it across to the US.

A total of only 1150 RS models were built, most of them were raced and have been subject to accident damage making it incredibly hard to find a straight example. Due to the high demand for all light weight Porsche and the low supply, prices for 993 RS are constantly increasing.

Porsche also offered a more radical version, the Carrera RS Club Sport, which featured a welded-in roll cage and further deletion of unnecessary items like carpets, power windows, AC radio and sound proofing.

Dove house motor company currently have a fine example on at just shy of £115,00.00

Testarossa

Meaning "red head" due to the red cam covers, the 1984 Testarossa replaced the previously mentioned 512. Probably best known as Don Johnson's run about in Miami Vice, and subsequently riled for its ostentatious lines, these cars are now beginning to attract the avant-garde collector.
Recognizable by its large cold-air inlets located on the side of the car. This was necessary because of the new location of the twin radiators in the rear. By doing this, it also allowed space up front for a little luggage.
Sparks cars in West London currently have this extremely low mileage 1991 example at £75,000.00. When first launched the selling price in the UK was £62,666.00. Should they continue in the same vain as their predecessors, the now classic Daytona, and emerging classic the 512, these Testarosa's have to be considered as a worthwhile place to park some money for ten years. Surely wiser than squandering double that on the current offering and watching it sink like a stone...

James Hunt’s 911 Carrera – will the real RS please stand up?

Although there can be no question of the pedigree of the Carrera RSRs featured in our recent post, it seems like there may have been about the 911 we linked-to for sale at Nick Whale Sport Cars, a car which was said to have been driven by James Hunt.

Since posting the link, there have been several stories in the media questioning the history of the green £365,000 1974 RSR. It seems the car may have not been the daily road car used by James Hunt, as per the dealer's sales notes, the misinformation having passed down the line in good faith to the garage via its previous owner (an easy mistake considering the vehicle was owned by Hunt’s team boss Lord Hesketh).

According to the Sunday Times Newspaper and others, James Hunt’s daily-drive in the mid Seventies was, in fact, a white Carrera 2.7 RS – a vehicle that was often photographed cruising the streets of Marbella (where Hunt lived in tax-exile), before it worked its way back to England in 1980. The 1973 911 was later bought by the father of Gary Taylor (pictured) for £7,000  from a north London garage.

In his interview with the Times, Taylor explained: “Back then, it was viewed as just another Porsche 911 and a seven-year-old one at that. Dad paid £7,000 and just as he was about to drive off the forecourt, the dealer casually mentioned that it had been owned by Hesketh and James Hunt.”

Taylor, having never questioned the provenance of NSD 298L, had its heritage later marked on the car itself  - getting James Hunt’s signature on the glove box door, penned less than a decade before his untimely demise in 1993.

Daytona Darling - the 1975 911 Carrera RSR

To mark Porsche’s recent 22^nd victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Jelenek thought it might be a nice excuse to indulge in some classic Porsche racing history, and this poster of the Brumos Porsche (they always raced Number 59) taking a podium in 1975, is the sort of image that sends air-cooled Porsche people into a nostalgic daydream about the pedigree of the 911 Carrera.

In 1975 Porsche cleaned-up at the Daytona 24 hour race - a race that saw the legendary Porsche wheelman Hurley Haywood (the man who also boosted Porsche’s US commercial sales in the mid ‘90s, even appearing in 993-era promotional owners’ video), take his second-ever Daytona win. The photograph clearly depicts one-after-another Porsche Carrera RSR passing the chequered flag, the marque, in fact, taking first through to sixth place that year, leading their German promotional poster declaring: A triumph of zuverlassingkeit (reliability). About as near to the standard production car as it ever got, the tough, reliable wide-bodied 911 Carrera RSR was succeeded in this endurance race by the 935, and then the more Le Mans-looking 962. Porsche dominated the Daytona 24 until 1988, when Toyota, Nissan and the Corvettes starting getting in on the podium action. Hurley Haywood is now Brumos team manager, having driven his last Daytona race as No 59 this year, attaining only 26th position.

To acquire a 1975 3.2 RSR with race provenance, well who knows what you’d pay? However, a road-going 1974 3.0 UK right-hand-drive example, recently posted on Jelenek as having belonged to James Hunt (one of only six 3.0 RSRS made) at Nick Whale Sport Cars, is for sale at a mere £365,000. All bit rich for your taste? Well, we’d recommend buying this full-size classic poster on eBay, valued at circa $200, and simply fantasising!