Rünge Cars: How It All Began 

Excellent video, Chris. Can't wait to feature the Veleno on the show!

I'm amazed at how many car guys started out with VW projects. They are the training ground for numerous skills... Your path from start to current is pretty inspiring. There's nothing better than seeing incredible projects come out of a simple garage workshop.

That Viper conversion takes the prize in my opinion. The proportions are perfect. The form is perfect and the reflective nature of the polished aluminum fits that creation perfectly. As an autobody man of 30yrs, I haven’t seen a better designed car so far. Really beautiful

Your work is amazing Chris, but what I enjoy the most is the story behind the cars and your company. I am sure your story you told here today will be the inspiration for the next generation of builders. And it really made me smile at the end seeing how your son is following in your footsteps. You must be very proud!

Amazing story man. Fun to see your son doing amazing things too.

Yup, you're my new hero. This is literally what I've always wanted to do with my life, and I envy your drive to do what so many of us dream of.

Amazing works of art created by a craftsman who is the embodiment of an era almost lost!! Bravo 👏

This is what having a burning desire and following your passion is all about, amazing!

Great video, Chris! Thanks for telling us the whole story - it's pretty inspiring!

Love your son's 74 914. That is a good year. Had three 914's in my younger days. Lots of fun in those cars. The first was modified with glass GT flares and over sized wheels/tires and was a slot car on wheels! Your cars are special and just fantastic!

You are my inspiration for getting myself an english wheel and starting to desgin and make my own coachwork. Thank you Chris for sharing you passion with the world. Thank you Chris! 🏁

Ok, 006…oMg such beautiful lines. Such incredible design and execution. Bravo times a thousand !!!

The Veleno reminds me of the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale Zagato which was also based on the Dodge Viper.

Cant say enough how much I appreciate your craftsmanship!! But what most impressed me is the fact you correctly call yourself a coach builder unlike others who call themselves designers like Kindig-it on TV ! Your work just is incredible and historically significant in will go down as some of the last beautiful hand crafted car art there is!! Thank you for keeping the art alive of automotive metalworking like you're doing!!!

Works of art!!

What a privilege having had the chance to spend just a bit of time getting to know more about you and your amazing craft, and knowing you are passing the passion on to your son so Rünge Cars and all it’s beauty will be around for the generations creating these amazing pieces of kinetic art for many more years to come. Thank you

01 will always have a special place in my mind. Awesome job Chris.

In 2009 I was working on Mad Max Fury Road here in Australia. That was when I was able to witness the amazing aluminium metalforming done by Mark Natoli, who hand built a lot of the panels and parts for the vehicles in the movie. He also hand formed a roadster body for The Great Gatsby movie & also builds & repairs historic aluminium racing cars at Goodwood. It took him a lifetime to master these skills, & I am just absolutely stunned that you have learnt these incredible skills & built an incredible business in such a short time. These are some of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen! May you thrive in the success you have earned and deserve. Thankyou for sharing your story! 😊

You are out of this world. To share this artistic passion with your family is really priceless. Thanks for letting us be a small piece of it!

Hey Chris! This is Tigers son from A-1 Performance exhaust in Santa Ana, this video just popped up in my feed and my dads been telling me stories about Runge for years! The bodywork is absolutely killer, I’ve never seen anything like it and damn do I want one

Glad to see someone with the stones to follow their dream.Super Super cool

Chris, it sounds as though your imagination/ skill was fully launched by the generous lady who offered up access to the weapons necessary to realize your mechanical ideas. Hats off to her. You chose my favorite period in auto racing to emulate. Subscribed.

I think the best thing about your coach building journey is that each new vehicle looks so much better than the one built before as your skills progress. I am looking forward to watching your progress as you keep the art of custom built cars alive in our modern mass produced disposable time. You are more than a car builder, you are an artist... a sculpter.

I am speechless, what a demonstration of perseverance , skills and humbleness. all the best to you, your family and your beautiful dream

Automotive Piece of Art! What a story! What a vision!

These are so gorgeous, and kinda helps me believe that it is possible to have my own automotive company

This is my first exposure to the Runge car company. Never heard of it probably because I’m a gear head by force not by choice. But I enjoy the subject and I love seeing a craftsman’s skilled work. I’m really impressed with your story and the cars you’ve built and I just wanted to say thank you for doing what you do. This story will inspire others for years to come. Unless you do something crazy or act like John DeLorean did after tasting success. I wish you well.

So amazing and to have your son working with you is such a great blessing

Your cars are just incredibly cool! They have a really unique look and that's important nowadays since most cars have the same boring look. Keep going on!

Chris you are the best!❤😊😊❤

Amazing! Thanks for telling us all the everything! Looking forward to seeing the future projects! 😎

I hope jay has you back soon. It seems he is almost charmed by your coachwork as many of us are! Looking forward to more content!👍🏼

Love the invisible car at the beginning!!!

Fabulous job Chris, You are a true artist.

Nice... thx for sharing. Love to see the cars you build! So cool, all the best and more power to you. 🙂

omg the veleno is just spectacular. i didn't fully appreciate your early cars until hearing their story, which is so inspiring.

Inspiring. Im a 19 year old guy from argentina and want to build something similar one day. Thanks for sharing this type of things.

RS010 looks soooooooo good. My favorite.

This was such a great story! I love that your son is getting in on the act! That Bimmer is gorgeous! He could make a whole career out of de-plasticizing 80’s cars! Can’t wait to see what comes next from both of you!

Respect, New Sub. This is one of the three things I love. Vintage Auto etc., Beautiful women and Audio. Love that Jay was involved in some way to help - encourage and you show the respect due.

Wow! Extremely impressive. Glad to see someone get to do what they love. Simply beautiful automobiles.

Amazing work Chris! I love your home grown hero story!!

Though all your cars have their own unique identity, style and beauty, that Veleno.... Ohhhh man... SHE is a STUNNING car! I'd LOVE to own one (RHD though being in the UK hahaha)... I applaud you Sir, on some exquisite work! 👏👏👏👌 😎🇬🇧

What an exceptional story. Very well done and your hard work has paid off! Nothing like a hand built car, the love and quality that you have put in. Again, you are an inspiration. I am going to follow you........ . From South Africa 🇿🇦

I'm absolutely stunned by your workmanship, every car is a functioning work of art. Fantastic your son is following in your footsteps, a fantastic legacy of skills to pass on to future generations.

Chris, well arranged approach. The hobby slowly became your life style. If you managed to turn passion into a way of earning money, I take off my hat!👍

Fantastic story of a life’s journey. You are a very blessed young man.

Living my dream!🙏 Love that we have boutique car manufacturers that are investing love and pride of work back into the automotive industry!! Something that large scale manufacturing has long forgotten😞 Some day I’ll build off the bones of some of the cheapest cars that have become paperweights in terms of used market resale value. I’m sure I’ll be comprehensively studying your craft sir so thank you for keeping it alive and most importantly - documenting this journey!!

Legendary 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

Such an inspiring story of passion, hard work and talent.

Well done. Excellence was expected.

My father owned two Veritas cars. One was the formula one race car driven by Karl Kling. My father bought the race car directly from Karl Kling in the early sixties and along with it came the other Veritas that was more or less a sister street version coupe. Your earliest designs kind of resemble the early Veritas cars. Your work is amazing!

Had the pleasure of seeing a FF008 in person a few years ago. Would have never imagined I would be watching a documentary from the company years later.

Fantastic journey Chris! Ive enjoyed watching you build your brand over the years. Rünge cars sets the home built bench mark of excellence. Awesome! 💯 🔥

I’ve been watching your progress over the years but now you’ve really grabbed my attention with the Viper based effort. You are living my dream, I really enjoyed this video.

Except for all the amazing stuff you achieve, I would like to add is that your work ethics is inspiring. I found that besides having great ideas, work ethics are fundamental. Now, I gotta go out to my shop building my stuff and make some money to provide for my family. And I gotta get my HD chopper running 'cos my baby girl wants to ride with my this summer. Greetings from Sweden.

Go ALL in on your hobby, and you'll never have to work. Well done Sir!

Amazing work wish I could buy one , your story is amazingly inspiring

Way to go Chris. You are a natural at this.

Dude, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. I have no doubt that you will be the inspiration for many young builders. I've enjoyed all of your videos over the years, thanks again for sharing, enjoy your successes, you have deserved them.

Saying that this is amazing would be an understatement.

That silver finish is so elegant and timeless

Thank you for sharing your story and showing us your amazing talent and craft..great to see your son following in your footsteps and showing his talent also...

Wow!! Amazing story. Thanks for keeping old skills alive and creating wonderful automobiles with them. And thanks to Jay Leno, one of the most knowledgeable and the coolest of the cool guys around. I borrow heavily from his choices in men's wear.

This one beautiful peace of art & engineering !

Absolutely brilliant Chris, very honest and very modest, greatness is born during your formative years. I'm a JDM fan with a Subaru 22b prototype. Watched a great TG documentary recently were the founder of Konninger talked about his son, who is working in the business but only cares about JDM cars also. Keep up your great work. I grew up in a garage too, so you're living my dream too..☘️

Congratulations on following your dream and having it pan out as a Car Maker and as a father.

ive been watching for a couple years. this was really cool to see how you got started and the progress you've made. i think FF006 is my favorite, but the Veleno is pretty stylish.

Greetings from a few miles north of the Twin Cities. Happy to see a fellow Minnesotan making such glorious art! Hope to see the Veleno this spring at a show. I'm certain Twin Cities Auto Show on the 31st would welcome you.

I remember seeing your first car. I believe it was at the annual German car show at the Motorplex, It wasn't yet painted, so your coachwork was on full display. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. 🙂 Being a BMW guy, I approve of your son's 320i.

Red Barchetta from Rush keeps playing in my head while watching this. 🏎️ amazing job! 💕

I've been following you for idk HOW many years on Instagram. I'm glad to have found your youtube channel and this video!

I have been following your builds since first posted on IG circa 2012. I havent had IG for a while but then I went to the Peterson Museum and saw one of your cars in person. It was a pleasant surprise. Congratulations for the talent! 16 yr old son?! you look 30 yrs old.

Chris, you don't build cars, you build works of art that you can drive. amazing work mate.

Its a pleasure to follow your journey and builds. Thank you for all the effort.

Absolutely breathtaking. Would love to experience driving the R1 some day!

Amazing work and journey. I hope you will continue with more of your ideas. Great inspiration! Thank you!

Never heard of you before, but I have to admit I'm blown away!

Love these cars. Works of art

God bless Tou and you craftmanship🙏 Beautiful work, Love and life ❤️

I love watching your journey, as a fellow engineer and metal/coach fabrication enthusiast. Your mirror finish still astonishes me. Thank you for this Chris!

WOW! That's all I can say. WOW!

Thrilled by all your designs.....

So Talented! Speechless...

Thank you for sharing this absolutely amazing story. You are living the dream that I have had for years. It’s so wonderful to see it come true even if it’s not mine. All the best to you ☺️🙏🏼☀️

Outstanding! This is an amazing journey! I remember your first one on here! You Sir, Are the true definition of a Kraftsman!$

What a great success story! Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful cars mate! Always loved your work.

My heart nearly stopped when you mentioned the Ranalah English wheel! A gentleman in the UK by the name of Dominic Chinea has resurrected the company and has charted on RU-vid the process of remanufacturing everything as close to the original as possible. 😊

Awesome..Congrats.

I’ve seen the R2 at Cars on 5th for the past two years and never knew the history of it. Seeing it in the video shocked me and immediately sent me to my camera roll to look at the pictures I took of it

YOU are Amazing and now your Son Wow at 16 years can strip and build motors Congratulations to you both long may you keep building these super cars Thank you for your videos .

Seeing porsche, astion Martin, jaguar, N a hint of ford Daytona all in onee! Exquisite builds!

So cool. Third generation of artists as well.

Ohhhh. Congrats Chris.

Beautiful work, and such a skilled pair of hands.

Great work good sir and goodwill to you,new to the channel and amazed ,the satisfaction of working on cars, everything coming together and driving them is truly indescribable....

Ugh… if only I was young again… definitely learn that english wheel. Beautiful work.

Amazing vision, focus and follow through…beautiful designs…cray safe…

this would be my dream! Well done for all the work you have done and there recognition you have received is just a testament to your great work! I’m trying to finish my steel sebring arches on my mgb and paint it this summer so that somehow I can get further into the world of coachbuilding and start my own business creating hand built restomods of popular classics