The Marsien sits in that fascinating space between restomod, supercar and desert weapon.
Built by Marc Philipp Gemballa around the Porsche 911 Turbo S, it turns a familiar performance icon into something with genuine off-road intent and serious collector-grade scarcity.
Now one of the 40 examples produced has surfaced for sale with 4,699 miles and a $1.6 million asking price.

At a glance
- One of 40 Marc Philipp Gemballa Marsien examples is currently listed for $1.6 million.
- The Porsche 911 Turbo S-based build uses carbon-fibre bodywork, bespoke KW suspension and a RUF-tuned flat-six producing up to 830 hp.
- This example shows 4,699 miles and combines road, track and high-speed off-road capability in an ultra-limited package.
A 911 Turbo S Recast as an Adventure Sports Car
Marc Philipp Gemballa, son of the late Porsche tuner Uwe Gemballa, created the Marsien as a far more involved project than a visual conversion.
The car’s name nods to the French word for Martian, which suits its otherworldly stance and its unusual brief.
It’s designed to move between tarmac performance and loose-surface punishment without losing the character of the 911 Turbo S underneath.

That positioning makes it a rare kind of modern specialist car, one aimed as much at collectors who already understand Porsche mythology as buyers who want something more extreme than a conventional supercar.
959 Paris-Dakar Influence in Carbon Fibre
The Marsien’s bodywork is formed in carbon fibre and takes clear inspiration from the Paris-Dakar-winning Porsche 959.
That connection matters because the 959 remains one of Porsche’s most significant high-performance off-road references, blending advanced road-car engineering with rally-raid capability.

On the Marsien, the proportions are unmistakably 911, but the wider, more assertive surfacing gives the car a different visual language.
It’s less about nostalgia than about reinterpreting the idea of a Porsche built to be fast somewhere other than a perfectly smooth road.
RUF Power and KW Suspension Give It the Hardware
The powertrain is a RUF-tuned 3.7-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six boxer engine producing up to 830 hp.

That output puts the Marsien firmly in modern hypercar-adjacent territory, yet its stated 208 mph top speed on tarmac keeps the project tied to the high-speed identity of the 911 Turbo S.
Bespoke KW suspension is a crucial part of the package, giving the car the hardware needed to deal with rougher terrain rather than simply looking the part.
The result is a machine with a split personality, able to present as a focused road and track car while still carrying the visual and mechanical intent of a dune-running special.
Rarity and the $1.6 Million Question
With only 40 examples built, the Marsien was never going to be a common sight, even by the standards of heavily customised Porsche-based machinery.
This listed car’s 4,699 miles suggest it hasn’t been kept purely as a static collector piece, which feels appropriate for a vehicle designed around movement across very different surfaces.
At $1.6 million, the price reflects more than the underlying 911 Turbo S platform.
The appeal lies in the low production number, the specialist engineering input, the RUF-tuned performance and the cultural weight of an all-terrain Porsche concept executed at an unusually high level.
Details & Specifications
| Creator | Marc Philipp Gemballa |
|---|---|
| Model | Marsien |
| Base car | Porsche 911 Turbo S |
| Production | 40 examples |
| Bodywork | Carbon fibre |
| Design influence | Paris-Dakar-winning Porsche 959 |
| Engine | RUF-tuned 3.7-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six boxer |
| Power | Up to 830 hp |
| Top speed | 208 mph on tarmac |
| Suspension | Bespoke KW suspension |
| Mileage | 4,699 miles |
| Listed price | $1.6 million |
The Marsien won’t make sense to anyone looking for a rational Porsche purchase, and that’s largely the point.
For the right collector, it offers something far more specific than speed alone, combining 911 familiarity, rally-raid imagination and extreme scarcity in one deeply unconventional package.




