Gemballa closes doors, founder Uwe still missing

On February 9th of this year, CEO Uwe Gemballa disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving the company bankrupt. It is unclear whether Gemballa planned his disappearance or he is the victim of a kidnapping. He allegedly called his son on the evening of his disappearance stating that he had been in an accident and needed one million dollars.

According to AutoBild, the company had trouble paying its employees and Uwe set up a shadow corporation with his mother as the sole stock holder just before pulling a Houdini. The article says that he was seeking investors in his new venture in Abu Dhabi and South Africa when the tuning legend vanished off of the face of the Earth.

With the founder missing and no leads to his whereabouts, South African police are beginning to suspect the worst. Likewise, the company has gone from being one of the world’s most renowned Porsche tuners to being raided by tax men and other law-enforcement agencies. Either way, we don’t expect to be seeing new Gemballa creations anytime soon, as the shop has apparently been shuttered after nearly 30 years.

>AutoBild

Tags: Gemballa, Tuner, Uwe