TurboMan

Kraft, did your original Gemballa-car also have this full leather tailored interior? I'm trying to establish whether it was a part of the original package or added later by some PO. (The car had absolutely no records when bought, but the registration card suggests 10+ previous owners)

The front seats are full leather (even the backsides, unlike my Porsche OEM) with electric controls and heating. They offer very nice support and are comfy even on long trips.

TurboMan

...and the back seat, although just as unusable as the OEM one, looks also rather stylish in leather (it has "Recaro" embossings too!)

Sami951

Juha - I saw a red 944 at the old Universal Automobiles when I was shopping for my first car, it had those same seats but no bodykit (just poorly attached boxed rockers)... also had red gauge faces. The sales guy said something about Gemballa IIRC, but it was a long time ago and I wasn't really paying attention

kraft

No mine was in black cloth with porsche written in i don't know the english word "broderies" in French. Those leather seats looks like one option that Porsche offers but it could be Gemballa's too. If you are really interested you may also contact the big boss of Gemballa. Mister Uwe Gemballa himself. At my big surprise he kindly replied to my mails, i know that last year there was one mail adress when you can touch him directely. If you are lucky maybe will he reply to you. I'm sure he will as he see that you are an Gemballa addict seeking informations and recordings.

Those leather seats are GREAT !!!

TurboMan

Hmm... that's quite an interesting find, although I doubt it's the same car, as my father bought this one in year 2000 from a private seller (Isn't that around the same time you bought your 944S? I saw your previous car a few times in Otaniemi back then.)

It might be that Recaro had made a special run of these seats back in the day when 944 was new. It would be fun to know about the details of these seats production.

Btw. this Gemballa car DOES have red gauge-faces too... (They look nice but are too damn dark to see if there's any glare from sun)

kraft

Mmh i don't believe that it's original. In this time 80's it was not in the air and popular as today colored gauges. Possible that it's a late retrofit ?

sybelix

Hey Juha,
perhaps you should join the PCF (Porsche Club Finland) and attend our get togethers..

TurboMan

Kraft,

I guess they could have been fitted later, but they do look kind of... old. I mean there are some cracks in the translucent parts of the gauges that probably appeared with age, as they don't look like a result of botched install. I have also seen 944's with old white gauge-faces (fitted 10+ years ago), so I guess there must have been some demand for them even back then.

kraft

You are right in the way that before anything Gemballa is a grand couturier in cars and by this he's able to make whatever customer will ask for. This is the principle of the Gemballa's house, making anything the customer could wish and that's why they make dream cars that it's difficult to see somwhere else on the planet
The extremo is a godess

Sami951

Yep.. I don't think it was the same car either, as the one I saw didn't have that cool bodykit, just the seats and the gauges (and ugly *** boxed rockers that were falling off). I just feel like the seats and gauges could well be Gemballa items.

Olli Snellman

I have to find old D & W catalog from the ealy '90's; it has pictures both Zender and D&W bodykits, itry to scan the pics.

i have seen this car several times for sale in the "late" Universal Automobiles. The last time i saw it was just before they finished their operation in Vantaa and moved the rest of their cars to Sula/Tuusula.
The whole Gemballa body kit was there at that time. Also this car had the same wheels,red gauges and full leather interior. Into my knowledge there have been three of these 944 Gemballas in Finland, two reds and one black. All of these cars had that same leather interior (i have seen all of these cars). The rumor has it, that some finnish "tuning company", i suppose it was Ekolme in Tuusula, exported these Gemballa kits, installed them and also refurnished the interior. From the Finnish company Bayermann they bought leather Recaros and pieces of that same leather for the backseat.
I suppose the another red is the one Sami has seen, because quite many of the Finnish Porsches have been for sale at the Universal Automobiles

kraft

I know that Porsche too was offering optional recaro leather seats, saw this in options list i think but i can't remember to which option this is attributed. Anyway i would like to have beautiful leather seats too...maybe later
For the gauges i prefer to let the original ones or maybe in white they could look fine. The problem with all this colored gauges is that they are not enough translucent to let the instrumentations alarm and warning lights pass

Friendan

Je suis d'accord avec toi, ce n'est meme pas drole, ca...pauvre S2 (ou 951)...

*Michael.*

No, it was destroyed. There were big pieces missing that broke off.

kennycoulter

there was a "gemballa" 944 in columbus here. i talked to the kid that had it. he was trying to sell it for 6000. he said it has higher compression or different cams. i think i threw his business card away, but if anyone wants it.....didnt look very nice, i canm try to remember the name of his "company".