Zender Vision 1S

It’s been a long week, and it’s Monday, and so I thought it’d be nice to look at photos of an early ’80s all-wheel-drive German supercar before the day is through. 

I think that the desire to create something unique is buried within all of us, and whether it’s a desire to write a book, design a supercar, or landscape the front yard to your own “tastes”, this desire can help drive us to do our best work.

For tuning parts and alloy wheel manufacturer Zender GmbH, I can imagine it was quite the shock that it survived the challenge of building its own supercar, the Vision 1, and several one-offs after it. Zender thrived in the ’80s and ’90s, only to first close up in 2008 as the business was too difficult to maintain, and its story since is not relevant to the strangely familiar sports car you see here.

Usually, making something like the Vision 1 as an independent entity is a recipe for certain financial ruin, but Zender sold a lot of (mostly) Volkswagen and Audi tuning parts in those days. But how to get the word out and sell more tuning parts? 

In 1983, you could put up tents at events, place ads in magazines, make a commercial, or go race. That's pretty much it — forget seeing Zender on the Internet, in video games, or during a YouTube ad break. 

I think we take for granted the near-instant spread of information we enjoy now, and the minor miracle that enthusiasts of have taken care to preserve many old videos, brochures, road tests, and other materials for our benefit today.

Anyway, in 1983, if you really wanted to make an impact, only a magazine cover would do. I'm not saying this was the reason for developing the Vision 1, but earning press was an important part of the project.

The Frankfurt Motor Show in 1983 saw Zender unveil its first full vehicle, the Vision 1S 2+2 sports car. Based around an Audi Quattro floor pan, at first look it has a sort of Lister-ness (or Camaro-with-body-kit-ness) about it. Maybe that's because of the long hood and sleek-but-chunky shape.