It is official! Gemballa has closed its doors. The German tuner – based in Leonberg – has ended its operation after 30 years of tuning cars. Gemballa was one of the biggest specialists in the tuning scene. A law firm hired by his wife filed the bankruptcy. The liquidator finished the case at the end of April.
The company stopped operations after Uwe Gemballa got lost in the middle of February this year. The last contact with the 54-year-old Gemballa was on February 9th. During a telephone call with his son he asked his family to transfer a large amount of money, which he needed as a result of an accident. The German police is still investigating the story.
Gemballa was known for its special projects like the MIG-U1, Mirage GT, Tornado 750 GTS, Avalanche GTR 800 EVO-R and Avalanche 600 GT2 EVO. The company had fourty employees and several dealers around the world in Europe, Middle East, Russia and the United States.
This final story leaves us with the heritage of an unique tuner, one who has been among the biggest in the world, but also with a lot of open questions still to be answered.
[Via Autobild.de]
now this is bullshit
That’s the worst news ever…
I’m truly sad and disappointed.
Gemballa was one my favorite car tuning ever.
They’ve created masterpieces, their cars where above everything, they were perfect.
I hope someone will invest money and save this legendary tuning.
gemballa had many truly ridiculous projects that they offered to customers, but nonetheless their loss is hard to bear.
i guess this is what happens when a rich person who owns his own business gets kidnapped and the family really wants him back and hands large sums of money over with no return. i really hope Uwe is still alive somewhere and this can all be solved and put back to normal.
Gemballa was one of if not THE best car tuning companies and I think that the Mirage is one of the best examples of a perfectly tuned car.
Some of the above comments are laughable, especially from “Clay”.
Do you honestly believe that Uwe was kidnapped? He needed money to live in exile, away from the German authorities…I’m about 99% sure of!
Pistonhead:
Laughable? You’re the idiot! Uwe went to South Africa and disappeared. You suggest that he wants to escape the German authorities yet they report he has been charged with nothing.
South Africa has no extradition treaty with Germany. If Uwe went there to escape something, he wouldn’t have to hide.
Uwe absolutely loved his family and to think he went 8,000 miles away to avoid some financial problems is simply ridiculous.
I suggest you post some proof or shut up.