The German authorized dealer for Ferrari manufacturing prototype supercars in their spare time whilst making aftermarket styling parts.
In 1969, at just age 23 Hans-Albert Zender began producing custom car bucket seats in his garage. He quickly outgrew his garage and by 1973 he had 8 employees working for him and expanding their production to fabricating aftermarket body parts. In 1978 they released their first set in a line of alloy wheels. These wheels are still highly sought after and sell online for half a fortune even though most of them are not true 3-piece constructions.
"Zender Wheels with 3-Piece Look"
In 1980 they went in a new direction becoming the authorized dealer for Suzuki, the following year Ferrari. Throughout the years they were also authorized dealers of Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Maserati and Land Rover. Basically, if you wanted a premium car in the 80’s you went to “Zender Exklusiv Auto”. However their aftermarket support did not stop at these brands. They also produced styling body parts for Audi, BMW, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Opel, Porsche, Peugeot, Renault and Volkswagen. They later made steering wheels as well so if you wanted to you could get your whole car in Zender specification.
"BMW E30 with a Zender body kit"
Not waiting long for their next venture, in 1983 they created their first concept and prototype the “VISION 1”. An all wheel drive, turbo, 2.2 litre engine producing 300 horsepower, a rather fair amount of horsepower during that time. Their most powerful prototype was the “Fact 4”. The world’s first road legal car equipped with a carbon fiber structural skin with a tuned Audi, dual turbo, V8 producing 448 horsepower weighing only 1110 kg.
"The Zender VISION 1 concept car"
Zender’s story is short but sweet, tragically they closed their tuning division in 2008 and thereby quit making aftermarket body parts and wheels. Zender is gone but definitely not forgotten. To this day many car enthusiasts drive around in a car styled with Zender body parts, replica or not Zender’s legacy lives on. In fact a lot of their products still circle around in second hand markets which really prove their quality, surviving nearly four decades.
