TGR StaffIn an age when most performance cars rely on computer-controlled wizardry, RUNGE Cars has chosen a different path that smells faintly of gasoline and echoes with the metallic wail of air-cooled fury. From a small workshop in Minnesota comes the company’s boldest creation yet: the Hetzer, a 5.3-liter, flat-eight air-cooled engine that blends mechanical poetry with modern precision.
The Heart of a New Era at RUNGE
Rated at 620 horsepower and revving to a staggering 9,000 RPM, the Hetzer is the mechanical soul behind RUNGE’s next great machine, the upcoming R3. Founder Christopher Runge describes the engine as “more than a machine, it’s a statement.” That statement carries weight. Developed in collaboration with the engineering minds at Swindon Powertrain and air-cooled expert Sol Snyderman of Perfect Power, the Hetzer is an homage to motorsport’s analog past wrapped in CNC-machined modernity.
The engine’s stats read like an enthusiast’s wish list: a 5328cc displacement, 12:1 compression ratio, and 32 valves actuated by four camshafts. It’s an all-aluminum sculpture designed not just to perform but to inspire. RUNGE even designed it to bolt directly into classic air-cooled 911 platforms, an audacious nod to Porsche’s heritage and a gift to builders who still believe throttle cables should pull, not signal.
Built for Purists, Not Algorithms
Where most manufacturers chase efficiency through software, RUNGE is chasing purity. Pairing the Hetzer with a six-speed manual transmission, the R3 promises the kind of mechanical connection that’s nearly extinct. No paddle shifters, no synthetic exhaust notes, just the unmistakable harmony of air, metal, and motion.
Every component has been obsessively considered. From the machined intake plenums to the balanced rotating assembly, it’s a powerplant meant to be seen as much as heard. And while final performance figures remain under wraps, the company hints that its torque curve will deliver the immediacy of a race engine with the drivability needed for winding back roads or Sunday track sessions.
Seven Years, One Vision
The R3 chassis, seven years in development, weighs just 780 kilograms. Its proportions and stance recall the golden era of mid-century racing, sinuous, compact, and purposeful. Yet beneath its vintage silhouette lies a modern structure built for balance and response. This pairing of old-world form and cutting-edge engineering marks the beginning of a new chapter for RUNGE Cars, a brand that has built its reputation on doing things the hard way because it’s the right way.
The Future of Analog Performance
The first three Hetzer engines are reserved for RUNGE commissions, with chassis No.1 already spoken for. Customer orders for the Flat-8 and R3 will open in late 2025, when full specifications and pricing are revealed. For now, what matters most isn’t the numbers, it’s the philosophy.
RUNGE is betting on a belief that refuses to fade: that driving should be visceral, mechanical, and deeply human. The Hetzer is a reminder that even in an age of electrified silence, there’s still room for the sound of air rushing through fins and valves, a sound that stirs the soul.
RUNGE Cars hasn’t just built an engine. They’ve reignited a movement.
Always inspiring for readers like me who are currently learning metalworking to see what someone like Chis from Runge Cars has been able to build from the ground up. Such an amazing next step with his own bespoke engine.
How is it I have never heard of this company and all of a sudden Gary Oldman’s car is in Top Gear, they are building their own flat 8 engine, and apparently are in the American mid-west.
This wasn’t on my bingo card for Runge Cars
You can have these made in asia way cheaper and I bet he is having most of the work doen overseas and then just assmbling it for the internet in his shopt. why do people pay so much for a car made in a barn, when you can buy a real porsche?
You wont understand.. Lego block production type cars are for the masses. Even though they are in a small minority.