While Porsche was busy patting itself on the back about creating the 911 Dakar - essentially a 911 on stilts - a 27-year-old chap named Mark Philipp Gemballa was quietly building something that makes the factory effort look like a mild-mannered hiking boot. The Marcien (that's French for Martian) is what happens when someone looks at a Turbo S and thinks, "Yes, but what if we could actually drive it to Mars?" .w-img { position: relative; width: 200px; height: 120px; margin-right: 20px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 5px; } .w-img img { width: 100%; height: 100%; object-fit: cover; transition: opacity 0.3s; } .w-img img:nth-child(2) { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; opacity: 0; } .w-img:hover img:nth-child(1) { opacity: 0; } .w-img:hover img:nth-child(2) { opacity: 1; } .display-card { padding: 10px; border-radius: 5px; background: linear-gradient(to bottom, white, #fbbcbc); position: relative; } .w-display-card-content { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: flex-start; } .article-card-excerpt { flex: 1; max-width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; text-align: justify; color: black; } @media (max-width: 768px) { .w-img { width: 150px; height: 90px; margin-right: 10px; } .article-card-label { font-size: 24px; } .display-card-title { font-size: 16px; } .w-display-card-content { flex-direction: column; } .article-card-excerpt { margin-top: 10px; } } Related: The BETTER 911 Dakar: MP Gemballa Marsien Yes, it's expensive. Yes, they're all sold out. And yes, most of us will never even see one in the wild. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "News", "@author": "D Figg", "headline": "Move over 911 Dakar. This Porsche is better at offroading.", "image": [ "https://f1rst-motors.s3.me-central-1.amazonaws.com/cars/1740400944553-b.webp", "https://f1rst-motors.s3.me-central-1.amazonaws.com/cars/1740400229184-7.webp" ], "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "D Figg" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "F1rst Motors", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://f1rst-motors.s3.me-central-1.amazonaws.com/logo.png" } }, "datePublished": "2024-12-21", "description": "The Marcien (that's French for Martian) is what happens when someone looks at a Turbo S and thinks, 'Yes, but what if we could actually drive it to Mars?'", "url": "/blogs/move-over-911-dakar.-this-porsche-is-better-at-offroading." } This isn't just another modified 911 - it's a completely reimagined beast crafted by the same carbon fiber wizards who supply Formula 1 teams. And while most modified cars these days seem to be exercises in excess, MPG (that's Mark Philipp Gemballa, not miles per gallon) has done something rather more thoughtful. They've created what might just be the world's first proper adventure supercar. The numbers are properly spectacular - 750 horsepower, 250mm of suspension travel, 40 units total, and a price tag of £585,000 including the donor car. In a world where people are paying millions for restored air-cooled 911s with questionable backstories, that's starting to sound like a bargain. Well, a relative bargain. Like saying your yacht is smaller than your neighbor's. The numbers are properly spectacular - 750 horsepower, 250mm of suspension travel, 40 units total, and a price tag of £585,000 including the donor car. In a world where people are paying millions for restored air-cooled 911s with questionable backstories, that's starting to sound like a bargain. Well, a relative bargain. Like saying your yacht is smaller than your neighbor's. Gemballa Marsien: Engineering Madness The fascinating thing about the Marcien isn't just the numbers - it's the obsessive attention to detail that makes those numbers work. Take the mirrors, for instance. They look like they're from a 911 RSR race car, but they actually house cameras and have sacrificial bolts so they snap off safely if you get too friendly with a sand dune. That's the kind of engineering that makes me weak at the knees. The entire body is bespoke carbon fiber, with cooling ducts that would make an F1 engineer proud. There's a massive central radiator up front that vents hot air around the A-pillars, GT3 RS style. The side intakes are enormous, feeding that hungry 3.8-liter flat-six in the back, while the rear arches flow into a fixed wing that's pure 959 Dakar. It somehow manages to look both completely mental and entirely sensible at the same time. Under the skin, things get even more interesting. The engine, that wonderful 3.8-liter flat-six from the Turbo S, has been tuned to produce 750 horsepower. Now in today's world of thousand-horsepower hypercars, that might sound almost modest. But that's exactly the point - they weren't going for headlines, they were going for usability. And if you really must have more, there's an 830 horsepower upgrade available, because of course there is. But the really clever bit is the suspension. The KW system can raise the ride height from 120mm to 250mm at the touch of a button - that's like having a 911 that can suddenly tip-toe through the desert. And speaking of the desert, there's an onboard air compressor hidden in the frunk for adjusting tire pressures. The entire underside is armored with aluminum plating, and the drive shafts have been strengthened and extended to cope with the increased articulation. Gemballa Marsien: Driving Experience Now, you might think that all this engineering wizardry would result in something that's a bit of a handful, a bit... experimental. But you'd be wrong. On the road, with the suspension dropped to its lowest setting, it feels like a very healthy Turbo S - brutally fast but not ridiculous. The eight-speed PDK gearbox has been strengthened but maintains all its daily-driver manners. It's like having a guard dog that knows how to serve tea. But point it at a sand dune, and something magical happens. Unlike traditional off-roaders that lumber through the landscape like drunken elephants, the Marcien skips across it like some sort of mechanical gazelle. The four-wheel-drive system maintains just enough rear bias to make it fun, while the front wheels are there to pull you out of trouble. And that titanium Akrapovič exhaust system makes the kind of noise that would wake the dead - and make them want to go for a drive. The genius of the thing is how it manages to feel both completely insane and totally secure at the same time. You can blast across terrain that would make a regular 911 cry for mercy, all while listening to the radio and enjoying the air conditioning. The damping is sophisticated enough to soak up impacts that would send lesser cars cartwheeling into the nearest century, yet it still corners on tarmac like a proper Porsche should. In the dunes, it displays a character all its own. The relatively light weight - it weighs about the same as a standard Turbo S - means it dances across the sand rather than plowing through it. The massive power means you can maintain momentum up the steepest dunes, while the sophisticated suspension keeps all four wheels in contact with whatever passes for a surface. It's utterly brilliant, and completely addictive. Gemballa Marsien Interior and Usability Inside, MPG could have gone completely bonkers with unicorn leather and diamond-encrusted cupholders. Instead, they've done something rather clever - they've kept all the bits that make a modern 911 brilliant while adding just enough special touches to remind you you're in something extraordinary. The blue-tinted carbon fiber is everywhere, but it's subtle, like expensive wallpaper in a posh hotel. The raised center console is pure Carrera RS inspiration, but it houses all the modern Porsche switches and systems that actually, you know, work. The fixed carbon bucket seats in this particular car have been stripped, sanded, re-tinted blue, and reassembled - which sounds like madness until you sit in them and realize they're perfect. You can even order it with four seats and no roll cage if you're the sort of person who takes the family dune bashing. What's really remarkable is that everything just... works. The climate control still cools like a Porsche, the infotainment still infotains, and all the driving modes still do exactly what they're supposed to do. It's got that 'OEM plus' feel that's so hard to achieve - like a factory special edition from an alternate universe where Porsche engineers are allowed to have more fun. Gemballa Marsien: The Bigger Picture Here's what makes the Marcien truly special - it's not trying to be the fastest, the most powerful, or the most extreme. In a world where everyone's chasing Nürburgring lap times or trying to break the 300mph barrier, MPG has created something that's actually more interesting - a car that creates its own category. The price tag of £585,000 might seem eye-watering until you realize what you're getting. This isn't just a modified 911 - it's a completely re-engineered vehicle with the kind of development budget usually reserved for small production cars. The carbon fiber bodywork alone comes from the same company that supplies five different F1 teams. The suspension has been developed specifically for this car. Even the door handles have been redesigned. What's particularly fascinating is that all 40 units were sold before most people even knew they existed. That tells you something about where the market is heading - away from pure numbers and towards experiences. The Marcien isn't trying to be the fastest car at Cars & Coffee; it's trying to be the car that makes you want to drive across a continent, preferably one with lots of empty desert. And that's perhaps the most impressive thing about it - it's a car that makes you want to have adventures. In a world where supercars are becoming increasingly digital and sanitized, here's something that vibrates with personality and begs to be driven hard. It's what would happen if a 959 Dakar and a modern GT3 RS had a baby, and then that baby was raised by racing drivers in the desert. THE VERDICT:And this, really, is where we need to take a step back and look at what young Mr. Gemballa has achieved here. While Porsche was carefully calculating how high they could lift a 911 without annoying the marketing department, MPG went ahead and built the car we all secretly hoped the 911 Dakar would be. Think about it - when was the last time a 27-year-old launched a car company and actually delivered something that makes sense? Most attempts at new car companies these days either end up producing vaporware with a side order of broken promises, or cars that look like they were designed by a committee of angry robots. The Marcien isn't just a good car - it's an important one. It shows that there's still room in the automotive world for passion projects that actually work. For every thousand-horsepower hypercar that never leaves its climate-controlled garage, there's now an alternative that begs to be used as intended. It's a supercar that actively encourages you to do silly things, while being engineered well enough to make sure those silly things don't end in tears. In many ways, it's the spiritual successor to the Porsche 959 - a car that used cutting-edge technology not just to go fast, but to go fast anywhere. The fact that it comes from outside Porsche makes it even more remarkable. It's like someone looked at Stuttgart's greatest hits album and decided to record a cover version that might actually be better than the original.And that's why, in a world of increasingly sanitized and digitized performance cars, the Marcien matters. It's not just a modified 911 - it's a statement about what cars can still be when engineering and enthusiasm collide with enough force. It's a reminder that the best car modifications don't just add power or make things louder - they reimagine what a car can be.Yes, it's expensive. Yes, they're all sold out. And yes, most of us will never even see one in the wild. But the fact that it exists at all, that it works so well, and that it was created by someone barely old enough to rent a car in most countries - well, that gives me hope for the future of the automobile. And in today's world, that's worth celebrating. And on that bombshell, I'm off to see if I can convince my bank manager that a Marcien is a sensible investment. After all, it's cheaper than a house in London, and I bet it's a lot more fun to sleep in.
