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32 Top six modified 911s: RUF
RUF
SPECIALISTS IN INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING WITHIN ORIGINAL DESIGN
The five
specialists on
the preceding
pages have
decades of
experience
between them,
but it’s nothing
compared to the grandeur of RUF’s own history,
which is now 81 years and counting. Fettling Porsche
since the days of the 356, it was further development
of the 911 SC in the late 1970s – RUF offering the
sort of upgrade in power arguably lacking from the
factory – which really chimed with enthusiasts. The
mighty SCR followed, along with the RUF Turbo, two
creations which blew Porsche’s respective models
entirely out of the water in the performance stakes.
By the 1980s, RUF was a recognised manufacturer
in its own right, developing the acclaimed BTR, but
the CTR proved a defining moment. This 211mph
beast would claim the title of fastest car of 1987, as
well as the hearts of petrolheads the world over.
Simply, the CTR put RUF on the map.
Other models followed, each a real statement
of intent done in the RUF way: discreet, innovative
engineering with the driver firmly in mind.
The company considers its CTR 2 and CTR 3 as
its marquee cars in recent years, released in 1997 and
2007 (to mark a further decade since the release of
that mighty CTR 1). However, RUF exploded back
onto the scene with a new generation of sports car
in 2017, titled the CTR Anniversary. 30 years on from
the original, the Anniversary looked like that famous
‘Yellowbird’, its proportions growing slightly “as if it
had been to the gym”.
Central to the car’s specification (and perhaps
accounting for a large proportion of the 15 million
Euro investment made by RUF to develop it) is a
carbon fibre monocoque, which the company says
will be utilised for RWD, AWD, rear-engined, midengined,
manual or twin-clutch automatic versions of
sports cars it produces in the near future.
Speaking of which: “The SCR will most likely be
ready for first drives around April or May,” a company
representative told us, referring to a revival of a name
RUF made famous some 40 years previously.
Unlike the CTR, the SCR (above) is naturally
aspirated and, crucially, not numbered. All 50
examples of CTR Anniversary were sold out within
days of launch, but with the SCR, so long as there’s
demand, Pfaffenhausen is happy to build a car which
promises a “characterful answer to the desire for
pure, undiluted driving pleasure in a world without
compromises”. We can’t wait to drive it.