Gumpert back with the Gumpert Tornante at Geneva

The Gumpert Tornante will debut at Geneva

We realised at the end of last Summer that Gumpert had been very quiet. We’d run a few stories – for example when the Gumpert Apollo S et a Nurburgring record – but really, very little. And then we discovered that Gumpert had been on the edge of financial oblivion and had laid off almost all its staff.

But Gumpert managed to get an influx of funding from Asia and were able to re-hire staff, re-start Apollo production and get to work on plans for a new model in 2011. And here we are in 2011 and we get news from Gumpert that they have a new model in the works – the Gumpert Tornante – and it’s off to Geneva.

Even Gumpert probably wouldn’t argue too much if we called the Apollo a ‘Fugly’ car. It is, but it goes like very little else that’s road-legal. Its 4.2 litre, twin-turbo Audi V8 – Roland Gumpert was once head of Audi Motorsport – propels the Apollo to 120mph in less than 9 seconds. There’s not much can match it.

Now we learn that Gumpert are looking to produce something that looks as good as it goes (or so we assume). They’ve employed Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera – they of the Bentley Continental Estate – to come up with a “2-seater Fast Tourer based on a new central engine chassis and V8-powered driveline” to be called the Gumpert Tornante. Which sounds more than a little appealing.

And for now, that’s all Gumpert want to tell us. But we’ll get more – soon.

By Cars UK