THE SECRETS OF MY EXCESS
Before we get into the story of this unique, unashamedly over-the-top 1980s supercar, let’s get a few of the clichés out of the way. Greed was good, lunch was for wimps and we shouldn’t forget to mention Crockett and Tubbs. As unfashionable as it quickly became, the ‘1980s excess’ culture provided the fuel for some very interesting couture choices – and the cars that best represented it were to many the ultimate expression of wealth and individuality. Bodykits, wide-arch conversions and big spoilers were often fitted to the most elegant and expensive cars merely to stand out from the crowd. Even so, it’s hard to imagine that anybody could look at a Ferrari Testarossa, and think ‘That could do with being spiced up a bit…’
Yet that’s exactly what USA-based entrepreneur Bruce Selig thought when he commissioned Gemballa to create a one-off based on the flat-12 Ferrari. Realising that this would be a showpiece for his company’s talents, Uwe Gemballa was more than happy to go wild with his first Ferrari. This was a company synonymous with modifying Porsches after all, so here was an opportunity to show the world that Gemballa could do anything.
As it was based in Leonberg, near Stuttgart, it’s hardly a surprise that Gemballa gravitated towards Porsche. Starting back in 1979, he made a name for
