A group of Chinese investors named Consolidated Ideal TeamVenture has purchased the remains of Gumpert, a German boutique car maker that filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
Gumpert is still run by Roland Gumpert, the former Audi engineer who founded it in 2004, but its new owners have renamed the company Apollo. Some might associate the moniker with a NASA program or with a Malaise-era Buick, but in this context it likely refers to the only model Gumpert has ever manufactured.
The Apollo project is scheduled to lift off in March at the Geneva Auto Show when Consolidated Ideal TeamVenture unveils a brand new model. The dark teaser image published by the company reveals little, so it’s too early to tell if the car will be an evolution of the aforementioned Apollo, an updated version of one of Gumpert’s earlier concepts, or a brand new model.
Interestingly, Consolidated Ideal TeamVenture paid $1.8 million for the remains of Italy’s De Tomaso last May, and the investors announced vague plans to use the name on cars built in China. How that ties in to the purchase of Gumpert is anyone’s guess at this point. We’ll know more about what the future has in store for both brands when the Geneva show opens its doors on March 1st.
Leave a Reply