We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Federico Kunzendorf. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Federico below.
Federico, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
The idea of building these kinds of cars is simply the expression — the materialization — of a passion. Because this idea was born from something I truly love, it gave me the opportunity to put into practice some life principles that, for many years, had remained mostly theoretical.
Doing something where profit isn’t the goal brought me a deep sense of peace. It gave me the freedom to focus on what I truly wanted to do — to do it the best way possible, for no other reason than to pursue excellence itself. I believed that if I gave my absolute best to something I genuinely enjoy, the result would have to be good — and eventually, that might even lead to profitability.
I’ve loved cars for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been drawn to the simple ones — no sensors, no plastic, no computers. Just gasoline, a spark inside a cylinder, and the explosion that does the rest.
I’m especially fascinated by that era when a group of friends would prepare a car and race it on open roads from town to town, while people sat in trees and waved as the cars roared by. Back then, safety was just a few hay bales on the side of the road, and the drivers were true gentlemen.
Pre-war cars capture all of that spirit — the passion, the simplicity, the story — and those are the ones I love to create.
Federico, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As a little kid, I always remember the stories my grandpa and uncle used to tell me — stories about the races they followed on a portable radio back in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. They would describe the thrill of the announcer transmitting live from a small airplane, flying above the racing cars on the open roads of Argentina.
Back then, races spanned over 1,000 miles across mostly dirt roads. The cars were European and American models, transformed into open-wheel racers with big straight-eight engines. The drivers were pure adrenaline junkies — passionate people who drove at 100 miles per hour wearing nothing more than a button-up shirt, regular shoes, and a pair of goggles. No seatbelts, no fire extinguishers, no helmets.
That’s where the passion came from — and one day, I decided to put that passion to work.
The first car I had in mind was a 1932 Chrysler called Golden Seal (#14). It was among the top five of its time, racing against legends like the Reo Royale, Bugatti Type 35, Mercedes SSK, and Hudson Super Six. The car was originally built by two Italian immigrants in Argentina, and it was even invited to race in the 1932 Indianapolis 500 — back when the track was still known as the Brickyard.
I bought a Chrysler Imperial for $12,000, hired a builder, and started the project. But a couple of months into the process, I discovered that the builder had sold my engine and transmission. Long story short, I had to go all the way back to the beginning and start over.
Years later, with the Chrysler already finished, an interesting thing happened — I received a message from the grandson of the driver who raced the #14 Chrysler in Indianapolis in 1932. He shared incredible photos and stories about the car and his grandfather. We ended up becoming good friends.
Building that car taught me a lot. I made plenty of mistakes and paid a high price for trusting the wrong people. But I learned, and I kept going.
Then, I decided to build a very rare Ford. Once finished, we took it to the Hershey car show in Pennsylvania, we were exhibiting our replica of the Ford Edsel Speedster Model 40 and suddenly, an unexpected visit! Bill Warner came by to check out the car. Bill is not only an amazing person, but also one of the most knowledgeable people in the car world. He had previously found and restored the only known original Edsel Speedster Model 40.
His comment meant the world to us. He said, ‘If I put your car and my car side by side, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.’
That moment filled our souls. It made all the effort, all the hard lessons, completely worth it
We sold the Edsel to an English collector, and we use that “incentive” to keep building more cars.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My marketing strategy is what I like to call ‘anti-marketing’ — especially in today’s world, where, in my view, everything feels a bit upside down.
I believe that nowadays, the media doesn’t necessarily say something because it’s true, but because it’s what people want to hear — or because it boosts ratings. The goal isn’t always truth anymore; often, it’s attention. I think the same thing happens in production. You can either create something for attention, or you can stay true to your principles and desires, create something honest — and then share that with the world.
That’s how I approach my work. This is what I believe in. The cars I build aren’t necessarily the ones everyone is asking for — they’re the ones I want people to fall in love with.
If you asked me for a pre war speedster with automatic transmission, I won’t do it, but I’ll spend all the time necessary explaining you why you should put a stick shift, with passion.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
As I’ve said before, my main goal is to build these cars — but a close second is to create a group of friends, a community of passionate, slightly crazy, good-hearted people who share the same love for this simple, revolutionary act: driving, enjoying, and fixing a pre-war combustion engine machine.
How do I create loyalty with my customers?
Well, I don’t really see them as customers — I see them as friends. It genuinely makes me happy to see someone enjoying something I’ve built, something that was once just a dream in my mind and now brings joy to someone else.
The real goal is to build that extended family. And someday, I hope we can all get together — somewhere in the Appalachians or the Adirondacks or in FloridaFlyweelers where we are putting together an event call PWR (PreWarRacing)— and drive our open-wheel machines through the hills, just for the love of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vintageracingcar.com
- Instagram: vintageracingcar
