Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien: A Modern Take on Porsche’s 959 Icon
Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien uses the 992 Turbo S as a platform for off-road supercar supremacy.
A safari style 911 continues to be a hot trend. While Porsche doesn’t currently offer any lifted 911 models, there are several companies that do. Still, the ultimate Porsche off-road racer is the famous 959 Paris Dakar winner.
The recent announcement of the Marsien by Marc Philipp Gemballa GmBH (no association with Gemballa GmBH) looks to change all that and insert itself as king of the off-road hill. The vehicle was conceived by Marc Philipp Gemballa, son of the late Gemballa tuning firm owner Uwe Gemballa. If you mention to someone that you have a Porsche modified by Gemballa, they will imagine a car with a massive wing and huge swollen fenders. Marc Philipp’s Marsien is actually quite tame in comparison.
It looks basically like what you would expect out of Porsche themselves. Assuming of course they were building a 959 today to compete in the Paris Dakar race.
So, the car looks right, but does it have it where it counts? Is it functional? Is it fast? Well, if you wanted to build a fast, modified Porsche, using the 992 Turbo S platform would be a great place to start. That is exactly what Gemballa did here. But as quick as the stock car is, that will not suffice in the Marsien. The engine is tuned by RUF and offered in two different flavors.
The “slowest” version offers up 750 horsepower and 686 pound-feet of torque. You can step it up from there with a setup featuring uprated variable turbine turbochargers and new mapping. The PDK transmission is also reinforced to be able to handle the 830 horsepower that the top engine option puts out.
Either option will sound sweet as Akrapovic has developed an entirely new titanium exhaust system exclusively for this car.
We can’t talk about a safari style Porsche without discussing the suspension. Marc Philipp Gemballa teamed up with KW Automotive GmBH to develop a custom suspension just for the Marsien. The result is a completely new double wishbone front suspension setup equipped with KW solid piston damper technology.
The ride hide is adjustable at the touch of a button. Maximum ride height is 9.8 inches for when you are hitting the trails.
There are two different wheel setups available. One for on-road driving and the other for off-road. Off-road you get a set of 19-inch wheels up front and 20-inch wheels in back. They are wrapped in 235 and 255 width tires respectively. When you are ready to hit the street, you can switch to a 20-inch front and 21-inch rear setup.
They have 255 and 315 tires respectively. Top speed is said to be 208 mph with the street setup and limited to 130 mph with the off-road setup. We suspect that going 130 mph through the dirt and sand will be plenty fast enough for anyone.
On the inside you will find a cockpit that is a blend of modern day 911 and Carrera GT supercar. You are treated to Alcantara and carbon fiber everywhere. And of course, you can customize the interior to your liking. If all of this amazingness sounds expensive, you are right.
The base price for the Marsien is approximately $585,000. That is before any custom options you may desire. It also does not include the 992 Turbo S, so kick in another $200K for that. All said and done, you are looking at a $1 million dollar ride here. Is it worth it? That is between you and your accountant. If we had the money we would be calling Marc Philipp Gemballa right now.
Photos: Marc Philipp Gemballa
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