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German automaker Ruf Automobile GmbH (abbreviated RUF) makes vehicles. The company specializes in producing vehicles with unmarked Porsche bodywork in white. Instead of using badge engineering or disassembling pre-existing cars, these vehicles are constructed from the ground up as brand-new automobiles, using bare chassis, and are put together using Ruf-made components and materials (such as BTR, CTR2, and RT12). This indicates that the German government has formally acknowledged the brand as a manufacturer. As a result, all Ruf cars are recognized as production models rather than modified Porsches and have official Ruf VIN and serial numbers. Ruf is the biggest and most well-known manufacturer of Porsche performance upgrades and is famous for its record-breaking 211 mph CTR. Despite being primarily a manufacturer, Ruf has established itself as a car tuner, an expert in Porsche to Ruf conversions (such as Turbo R conversions), and a restoration of vintage Porsche and Ruf models. Ruf also performs maintenance and collision repairs.
In This Article...
Watch RUF’s Rise to Magnificent Freak Status in the Automotive Industry.
There aren’t many businesses that provide the same functions as Germany’s RUF. RUF was founded in Pfaffenhausen, Germany, as a garage in 1939. Over the years, it has transformed into a Porsche specialist shop, a Porsche tuner, and something that almost defies description: a manufacturer of brand-new cars that may resemble an air-cooled 911 but are actually entirely RUF from the wheels up.
If you squint, you might be able to see out some similarities between organizations like Caterham and the Lotus Seven, which greatly expanded the Lotus Seven formula’s original design intentions. Perhaps Singer as well.
The RUF CTR, also known as the Yellowbird, is a late-’80s evolution of the 911 with specifications that still blow minds today: 0-60 mph in 3.65 seconds, a 210 mph top speed, a sub-2,600-pound curb weight (! ), and a challenging but joyful demeanor behind the wheel. To date, none of those companies has created a vehicle with the same kind of world-tilting impact. It’s almost like a freak of nature—a hero vehicle that, by all accounts, exceeds even the most unjustified hopes.
A new short film called RUF: Love at the Red Line takes a look back at the company’s past eighty years, following its development from a service center to manufacturer and the production of what is likely the first viral car video (though back then, you had to buy Fascination at the Nurburgring on VHS). It includes interviews with car culture icons like Bruce Meyers and Kazunori Yamauchi, who helped promote the CTR by adding it in his enormously popular Gran Turismo video game series, as well as Alois Jr., Estonia Ruf, and other members of the firm.
The historical perspective is priceless: The 928, a front-engined vehicle that Porsche had intended to replace the rear-engine, air-cooled 911, was the a-ha moment for Alois, for instance. Obviously, it didn’t because the 911 is still operating (and in many respects, better than ever). However, the development of the CTR, which was at the time constructed using a body shell from Porsche, marked a turning point for the rear-engine sports vehicle. Instead of trying to stop the 911 from advancing toward pure, unrestrained performance, Alois and team set out to push it farther than Porsche dared. The results are still being discussed today, so RUF obviously did something good.
We could refer to this movie as a retrospective, but it would indicate that RUF’s story has come to an end. Nothing could be further from the truth, and its work will likely become more relevant and in great demand than ever before as the performance frontier pushes further and further away from the analog sports car experience that so many of us still yearn for.
In the movie, Alois Ruf says, “My motto has always been: When you drive one of our cars, you have to feel like you are driving your own trousers, your own pants.” We hope that things like the sound of a flat-six engine, the operation of a superb manual transmission, and the ability to interface with both in a properly tuned lightweight sports car will never go out of style.
Gordon Kozak
For as long as he can remember, Graham Kozak has been enamored with automobiles (probably before that, too).
Discover the history of Ruf Automobile
One of the titans of the tuning business is Ruf Automobile. Its 80-year history is covered in the company-produced documentary “Ruf: Love at the Red Line.”
What ultimately resulted in Ruf Alois Ruf Sr. founded Automobile in Pfaffenhausen, Germany, as a standard garage in 1939. Thanks to the tragedy of one driver, his son Alois Ruf, Jr., would later expand the company into a Porsche-tuning powerhouse.
In the video, Ruf Jr. describes how a Porsche 356 crashed after passing his father’s bus one day in 1963. The driver was taken to the hospital by his father, who also fixed the vehicle. This sparked Ruf, Jr.’s passion for Porsches and his successful career repairing and servicing sports cars.
In response to Porsche’s decision to reduce the 911 lineup in favor of the 928, Ruf started selling its own customized Porsches in the late 1970s. While Porsche’s plan to replace the 911 with the 928 was unsuccessful, it did open up a market for Ruf’s tuned 911s.
Alois Ruf, Jr. soon after started designing the CTR Yellowbird, the vehicle that would bring Ruf Automobile long-lasting acclaim. The 945R project began in 1979 with plans to employ a 450 horsepower twin-turbo flat-6 engine that was adapted from the Porsche 935 race car engine. The genuine Yellowbird made its debut in 1987 with a 3.4-liter twin-turbo flat-6 engine producing roughly 460 horses and a 911 Carrera 3.2 body.
With a high speed of 211 mph, the Yellowbird won the 1987 Road & Track “World’s Fastest Cars” competition, defeating competitors like Ferrari and Lamborghini. Alois Ruf, Jr. noted that the vehicle had only performed one previous high-speed shakedown on the route to the test in Germany.
Ruf followed it up in 1989 with “Fascination on the Nurburgring,” another music video featuring the CTR. This video, which may have been the first automotive viral video due to in-car footage and some amazing drifts, was disseminated on VHS back when there was no internet.
The “Gran Turismo” video game franchise is another essential element of the Ruf mystique. To obtain authorization to utilize Ruf automobiles in the games, producer Kazunori Yamauchi hunted out Ruf Jr. in 1998 and located him in a Japanese hotel. Because Ruf is regarded as a hero among auto aficionados, Yamauchi claimed that he wanted to feature the brand.
Before tackling the issue of making a car from scratch, Ruf steadily expanded his repertoire to include additional Porsche models and even a Volkswagen van. The 2017 Ruf CTR resembled the original Yellowbird, except it had a custom carbon-fiber body and chassis tub. With other retro-looking automobiles and restomods of some of its 1990s vehicles, Ruf has carried on that theme recently.
As Alois Ruf describes the idea guiding their spectacular performance, its unorthodox automobiles come into focus.
In this video from RUF, service garage owner Alois Ruf Sr. describes how a Porsche 356 Karmann notchback tried to overtake him one day as he was operating a bus. It rolled a couple times after losing control and sliding into the ditch. He checked on the driver’s wellbeing before purchasing and repairing the vehicle. He then sold it for a startling profit. The Rufs noticed there was something peculiar about Porsche owners. When Porsche thought the 911 was a dead end and began pushing the 928 on enthusiasts, Ruf Jr. saw his chance. Ruf’s son has a lifelong affinity for 911s.
Despite the 928’s best attempts, the 911 was alive and continued to operate. However, as Ruf notes, the 911 SC and 911 Turbo had a significant price and performance gap. RUF saw an opportunity to build a line of customized 911s, giving wealthy enthusiasts access to the models that Porsche wasn’t already offering. That eventually led to the CTR, also known as the Yellowbird, which put RUF firmly on the map, as well as ever-faster and more potent variants.
This RUF-produced video, which certainly presents the brand favorably, isn’t exaggerating when it says that the film the company made about the CTR, Faszination am Nurburgring, is considered to have been the first car-related viral video. Interviewees describe how they distributed VHS tapes. Even in the early days of the internet, before YouTube, it was a sought-after video shared among astute car buddies. According to RUF, it was only only supposed to be a side project for ardent insiders and owners, and it was never intended to become such a famous touchstone for auto aficionados. Of course, the company’s reputation was destroyed.
However, the company’s reputation had already been greatly enhanced by a famous Road & Track piece in which its overpowered 911 destroyed all rivals in terms of speed, including tuned Ferraris and other various European exotics. A legend was so created. A new generation became aware of the mystique of the company as a result of its inclusion in the Gran Turismo series (Polyphony Digital head Kaz Yamauchi barged into Ruf’s hotel and demanded that the cars be included in the game).
We are aware of what happened afterwards. The 2017 RUF CTR, the related RUF SCR, and perhaps the equally insane RUF Rodeo are the climax of Alois Ruf’s innovations becoming wilder and more divergent from their Porsche beginnings. The updated CTR looks old and is unmistakably a tribute to the Yellowbird, yet it may be the RUF least associated with a Porsche. The monocoque is a custom carbon fiber creation and not at all from a Porsche. It’s possibly the pinnacle of Ruf’s ambition for the business that bears his last name if you understand where he came from and his opposition to technology that lessens the car’s analog feel. A respectable yet unique love letter to the vehicles that he centered his life around. Of course, quite quickly.
And this brief documentary video is certainly worth watching whether you have a strong affection for RUF or are just curious to learn more about the company. Enjoy.
What sets RUF and Porsche apart from one another?
Ruf and Porsche are not that dissimilar from one another. Pfaffenhausen has a division called Ruf. Vehicles are created, improved, and restored by Ruf Automobile. The company has departments for panel beating, upholstery, paint, engines, and historic automobile sections. According to Wikipedia, the company uses unmarked Porsche bodies, also called “bodies in white.”
From there, Ruf constructs the automobiles. Instead of deconstructing already-built cars, the company builds new ones using materials from the brand. Germany now regards the brand as a manufacturer rather than just a performance brand. As a result, each vehicle receives a Ruf VIN rather than, say, a Porsche VIN.
In addition to having a tuning facility, Ruf can also restore cars. Additionally, the business provides servicing, crash repairs, and Porsche to Ruf conversions. Ruf is well-known for the CTR Porsche that set a new record for speed at 211 mph.
Why are Porsche and RUF similar?
Due to Porsche’s exclusive licensing in video games, Ruf models have traditionally replaced the Porsche models on which they are based in many well-known racing video game titles. from the moment Need for Speed: Porsche was released Porsche and Electronic Arts (EA) signed an exclusivity agreement in 2000, making Porsche models only available in EA games, most notably the Need for Speed and Real Racing series. Only a few games from the Forza and Project Gotham Racing series were exempt from this due to sub-licensing agreements signed between EA and the makers of those games, Turn 10 Studios and Bizarre Creations, respectively. However, Ruf models were substituted for Porsche in other well-known video game series, including as Gran Turismo, Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, Asphalt, Test Drive, The Crew, Driver: San Francisco, Driveclub, and a few Forza titles. Ruf is regarded by the German government as a full-fledged manufacturer, and as a result Ruf models have distinctive VINs, therefore this got around Porsche’s licensing. Following the termination of the exclusivity agreement between Porsche and EA in 2016, many series switched from featuring Ruf vehicles to Porsche. Porsche’s interference in games has led to rumors that RUF and Porsche can no longer coexist, however this has never been openly proven. For instance, a Porsche-themed update to Asphalt 8: Airborne deleted RUFs and all other vehicles that looked like Porsches. Both brands are present in The Crew 2, however due to the game’s classification system for cars, neither is in direct competition with the other (with the exception of the rally raid class where a raid spec 959 can compete against a raid spec 3400 K). Gran Turismo Sport, Gear.Club Unlimited 2, and Nitro Nation, on the other hand, have both brands that are capable of competing against one another at any moment.