Have you seen this wealthy car tuner?
Car tuning is not terribly big on our radar, but we do know of Uwe Gemballa. He’s a bonkers German who looks at a perfectly good Porsche or Ferrari, and decides that it should be bright red, with massive wheels, a few spoilers here and there and about 200 more horsepower. He’s been in business, successfully, for decades now and at the age of 54 has suddenly vanished. Strangely enough, the last time anybody heard from him, he was in Johannesburg.
Full story and more loony Gemballa creations after the jump:
So far, the German and South African police are being a bit cagey. They have confirmed that Mr Gemballa landed at OR Tambo on the 8th of February. The last time anybody heard from him was on the 9th, when he called his wife to say he had been a car accident and needed some money. The plot thickens, obviously.
This is the sort of thing we're talking about. That was a perfectly satisfactory Carrera GT.
Apparently he was meant to meet up with a dodgy Czech businessman, supposedly one Radovan Krejcir, a tax fugitive who was sentenced in absentia in a Czech court to six years behind bars for tax evasion, back in 2005. The Czech supposedly lives in Joburg, which really is living up to it’s satirical ‘Gangster’s Paradise’ name these days.
One of Gemballa’s long time pals and business associates, Michael Burroughs, has said: The idea that Uwe Gemballa is on the run from his business and family is inconceivable, he’s a passionate business man and a loving father and from my view it’s impossible for that to be true.”
Anyway, this guy’s been missing for two weeks now. That’s pretty damn strange. His family is offering a 10 000 Euro reward for any information, so keep an ear to the ground. In depth coverage here. Sunday Time’s coverage here.
Tags: africa, businessman, czech, gemballa, johannesburg, missing, porsche, south, uwe
Gav, I’m not sure what you’re implying?
I was in a ‘poor reception area’ when you called… in some warehouse near the airport.
Secondly, I hardly speak a word of German.
Thirdly, the problem clearly stems from allowing this Petr Čech into our peaceful country.
Finally, when you’re next in JHB, I must take you for a ride in my new Cayenne. It’s modified to look like a Lockheed Blackbird jet. Gorgeous.
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And suddenly you’re “interviewing” the guy from 80s electro punkers Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Under all that make-up. I dunno. Something’s going on. http://www.brendanjack.com/post/sigue-sigue-sputnik-on-the-jackast/
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Brendan Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 10:14 am
@gavin, Uwe does a remarkable British accent as singer of Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
Perhaps it’s part of this designer kidnapping fad: http://tinyurl.com/ykf7utf
Just don’t try it in SA where some civilian in a 4X4 will happily gun down your fake attackers.
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