RUF

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RUF at the Petersen Automotive Museum

I’m sure you know what RUF is, and what these three letters stand for in the world of Porsche tuning, in the Bavarian town of Pfaffenhausen, Alois Ruf Sr founded a company called AUTOR RUF back in 1939, when his son, Alois Ruf Jr took over the business in 1974, they released the first RUF modified Porsche, and things went only up from that moment.

Having the world’s fastest car is a thing many want to add to their Palmares, and RUF managed to do that twice already, both the RUF BTR and the RUF CTR were the “World’s Fastest Production Car”, and if you couldn’t really afford one of these stupendously fast, Porsche based RUF beauties, you could still get behind the wheel of these amazing cars … virtually, as they were part of the Gran Turismo video games. Today RUF has become a manufacturer, their current models, which include models like their CTR Anniversary and the SCR, are designed, engineered, and manufactured entirely by RUF using RUF parts including the chassis, engine, transmission, and even the body.

Renowned Porsche-themed event organizers Luftgekühlt have partnered up with the famous Petersen Automotive Museum for a two-part exhibition, where the first part, that’s to open on May 15th, is called the “Pfaffenhausen Speed Shop, The RUF Gallery”, and it will showcase some of the more important RUF creations from as far back as the 1990 RUF CTR Yellowbird.

But “The Vault presented by Hagerty” at the Petersen Automotive Museum will also have a 2012 RUF CTR3 ClubSport, a 2007 RUF Turbo R Cabriolet, a 2016 RUF Turbo R Ltd, a 2016 RUF Ultimate, a 1994 RUF RCT EVO narrow body, a 1994 RUF RCT EVO wide body, and a 2015 RUF RT12R on display for visitors to admire.

“We are honored to be chosen for a dedicated exhibit at the Petersen,” said RUF Automobile Owner Alois Ruf. “From our beginnings in a small shop in Pfaffenhausen, Germany to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, we have only sought to bring joy through cars. We are grateful to both Luftgekühlt and the museum for helping us spread that joy.”

If you would like to visit these amazing RUF cars at the Petersen Automotive Museum you will have to purchase tickets in advance on their website, also note you will be required to wear a face mask and social distancing guidelines of at least six feet will be enforced to make sure you can visit this exhibition is all safety.

May 14, 2021 / Comments Off

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The return of Gemballa?

If names like 911 Extremo, Avalanche, Mirage GT, or MIG-U1 ring a bell, you probably know Uwe Gemballa’s creations from the past, back in the Eighties two famous families already partnered up to create some of the world’s most impressive Porsche engines, Uwe Gemballa and Alois Ruf … today these families join forces again.

Uwe’s son, Marc Philipp Gemballa (not associated with Gemballa GmbH) set up his own company to create an off-road capable sportscar based on the Porsche 992 Turbo S, and he’s going to partner up with RUF Automobile GmbH for the creation of an upgraded engine … the Porsche sourced six-cylinder boxer unit will be tuned to deliver over 750 hp and 970 Nm of torque.

This new Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH car is called the ‘Sandbox Project, powered by RUF’, and while the car hasn’t been officially launched on the market, ten units are already sold simply based on 3D-renders. This will be the first project from this young entrepreneur takes the famous Porsche 959 ‘Paris-Dakar’ racecar and reimagines it as a new off-road supercar.

“We enjoy working with my father’s trusted business partners. Many of them rank among today’s leading suppliers in the automotive industry, and in addition to their decades of experience, they know the standards we strive for and perfectly understand what matters. My father trusted the technical expertise as well as the high-quality standards and the well-proven working methods of Alois Ruf. Consequently, the choice to partner with RUF Automobile for the engine development was a natural decision for us. I am pleased that we can continue this very special friendship and partnership”, says Marc Philipp Gemballa

An official World Premiere is scheduled for Spring 2021, but only 40 units will be built of the Sandbox, powered by RUF, and the initial ten units are even more special ‘Launch Edition’ models, these are all sold out already, only the remaining 30 units are still available … no MSRP has been listed, however.

Marc, now 27, starts a new era with his company Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH, exactly ten years after his father, Uwe Gemballa passed away, being raised with supercars around him, he worked at companies like Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche … but now he intends to create the next evolution of supercars, not just a focus on extreme high hp figures, or being the fastest on the ‘Green Hell’ track … his Sandbox vision is a supercar that can be taken off-road … just like the legendary Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar cars.

After two years of development, he created a contemporary supercar with an almost timeless design, offering comfort and daily driving possibility for a road car that can be taken off-road too, to build his vision Marc gets the support of his father’s worldwide network of clients, dealers, suppliers, and partners. Alan Derosier as a designer, KW Automotive for the suspension, RUF Automobile for the engine work, Michelin to supply the tires, world-renowned Akrapovič for the exhaust, VELA Performance as an engineering partner, and KLK Motorsport as aerodynamic specialists.

February 18, 2021 / Comments Off

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One of one Isdera Commendatore 112i goes to auction

Renowned RM – Sotheby’s will host a very special auction on February 13 2021 in Paris that has some amazing super and hyper cars already listed at this moment. How about six different Lamborghini from the time when Ferruccio was still running the company from Sant’Agata, or a 2015 Spania GTA Spano, one of 12 ever made, and the only one from the 2nd series production, interested in a 2008 Gumpert Apollo? It’s entered into the auction next month too, don’t miss it.

But for me personally the most interesting car is the silver metallic, 1993 Isdera Commendatore 112i … only one was ever built, and it comes with the same V12 Mercedes-Benz M120 engine as a Pagani Zonda! But the story of the Isdera Commendatore 112i begins in the Seventies, when Eberhard Schulz joined forces with B&B in Frankfurt to develop the CW311 prototype unveiled at the local 1978 IAA.

Mercedes-Benz even allowed B&B to put the famous star on the front of their CW311, but Schulz left B&B four years later and started his own company, Isdera, an abbreviation for Ingenieurbüro fur Styling, DEsign und RAcing. His first car was the Isdera Spyder 036i in 1982, a very rare car today as only 17 would be built, but Schulz really wanted to create a road-going version of that CW311 prototype … which became the Isdera Imperator 108i in 1983.

The Isdera Imperator 108i was powered by a 5-Liter V8 engine from Mercedes, the M117, and it came with real gullwing doors just like the Mercedes 300 SL, between 1983 and 1991 only 20 units would be made, all bespoke to order … but Schulz wasn’t satisfied yet, so he continued the development of a real boutique super car.

1993 Isdera Commendatore 112i Rémi Dargegen © 2020 RM Sothebys

In 1993 Isdera unveiled the next step in design and performance … the Commendatore 112i, a car named in honor of Enzo Ferrari himself, this new model took the Imperator idea to the extreme. Installing a V12 engine underneath two gullwing-style engine covers, delivering 400 hp from its 6-Liter displacement, dual overhead camshafts and coupled to a manual gearbox through a bespoke flywheel (Mercedes only had developed an automatic gearbox for this engine). RUF delivered the Porsche gearbox for the Commendatore with an additional sixth gear … which resulted in a theoretical top speed of 340km/h (211 mph), during wind tunnel testing this one-off prototype reached the magical 200 mph speed (322 km/h) … in 1993!

Over the lightweight spaceframe chassis, Schulz mounted a body made from GRP, a Porsche 928 suspension was modified with BBS/Bilstein developed active dampers … the Commendatore would lower itself three inches at speed to reduce drag, which was only 0.306 when tested. The car came with the Isdera trademark gullwing doors, their own windshield wiper system to avoid drag, and the Commendatore didn’t even have traditional rear view mirrors on the fenders … there was a glass panel in the roof and a periscope style mirror was fitted on top of the roof.

Massive BBS racing wheels were used and Schulz had every intention to build a few road-legal cars and have a racing variant enter the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France … but in 1993 a major economic downfall occurred in Japan. And unfortunately most of Isdera’s funding came from Japan, so the company was forced into a restructuring and the Commendatore 112i project was halted. No entries into Le Mans, and the one-and-only car built was put aside, only to be unveiled again at the 1999 IAA in Frankfurt. Renamed into the ‘Silver Arrow’, a Swiss consortium had removed the BBS wheels, the periscope mirror and installed five-spoke wheels and ‘normal’ wing mirrors, have a look at those modifications in our earlier article on this car.

But things had turned around for Isdera by 2016, and they managed to buy this unique prototype back from the new owner, with only 10,500 km on the counter, it was rebuilt for road use and even had a license plate and registration now. Isdera did return their Commendatore 112i back to 1993 specs with those stunning, gold finished, multi-piece BBS Racing wheels. But also blue and black upholstered Recaro seats and the correct Porsche Arctic Silver paint.

This Commendatore 112i comes with a certificate if authenticity from Isdera themselves confirming this is the only one in existence, ever. This very special Nineties car will draw attention, even when parked next to a Koenigsegg or a Pagina from the same era … or newer, the Commendatore 112i is a very unique car that aged extremely well.

January 20, 2021 / Comments Off

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Alois Ruf details 80 years of history in ‘RUF: Love at the Red Line’

Alois Ruf, Jr. knows the exact moment he and his father Alois Ruf, Sr. realized just how fanatic Porsche people are about their cars. While sitting at a stoplight in their Porsche 356 Karmann hardtop one Sunday afternoon, a stranger knocked on the window and begged for a chance to buy that exact car. The Rufs agreed to follow the person to his house, and the random buyer used cash from a candy box to overpay for the car that same day. After handing the cash over, the trusting stranger then loaned the Rufs a different Porsche to use to grab the necessary paperwork. “These Porsche people, they must be crazy,” Alois, Jr. remembers his father saying. “Everything is different with these people. Something is there that is not normal.” The Rufs went on to use craziness to build an 80-year business that is now engrained in Porsche lore.

Marking eight decades of service, Ruf put together a 30-minute documentary about its own history and recently released the project in full on YouTube. The video is spearheaded by Alois, Jr., and includes several other notable Porsche employees, owners, historians and fans. Ruf remains headquartered at Pfaffenhausen, Germany, where Alois, Sr. first opened a small repair shop.

Senior’s first Porsche was the result of a terrible crash. In 1963, while driving a Mercedes-Benz O 321 HL, he witnessed a Porsche 356 Karmann hardtop pass his slow-moving omnibus. When the Porsche try to correct into the proper lane, it lost control, drove into a ditch and flipped twice. Senior calmed the man down, brought him to the hospital, and explained he had an auto shop that could repair the car. But the owner ended up selling the car to Alois, and Alois sold it about a year later in the previously mentioned scenario. From that seed, a lasting relationship grew.

The car RUF is known for, the Yellowbird, came from an idea that emerged back in 1979. At the time, Junior called it the 945 R, and he planned to give it 450 horsepower with a twin-turbo version of the 935 engine. He ended up building the CTR 1 out of a shell from a 911 Carrera 3.2, and the car’s pure performance characteristics filled a gap left by Porsche at the time. In part due to a popular VHS tape, that car later became a legend.

Learn more about RUF’s beginnings, and how the business progressed, straight from Alois, Jr., in the video above.

Related Video:

May 4, 2020 / Comments Off

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The RUF GT Is the Porsche 911 GTS We Really Want

More Horsepower? Yes Please

The Porsche 911 GTS is an excellent car, one you might think could not be made any better. Well, the tuner company RUF Automobile GmbH is here to prove you wrong. RUF’s new GT car is based on the Porsche 991 generation of the 911 GTS. The company took the car and added a bit more power, among other things.

The RUF GT comes with a 3.0 liter flat-six twin-turbo engine that makes a super-strong 515 hp and 476 lb-ft. That’s Porsche GT3 levels of power in a GTS. In other words, it’s just plain awesome. It makes the car good for a 0 to 62 mph run of 3.4 seconds. That’s a tenth of a second faster. The top speed also increased from 192 mph to 199 mph. While that might not seem like a dramatic shift in performance, they are notable numbers.

The car gets only a few styling changes. New equipment includes bumpers, air intakes, rear diffuser, and twin tailpipes. That’s all that’s altering the look of the car. If you really want to make some additions to your RUF GT you can add a new ducktail rear spoiler or a big fixed wing. The wheels for all of the RUF GTs are a unique five-spoke design.

The changes to the Porsche aren’t life-altering, but they’re notable changes and worthy of some recognition. RUF does some seriously cool modifications to performance vehicles. The company brought two cars to the Geneva Motor Show: the vehicle profiled above and a special GTR Anniversary edition machine that’s a homage to the classic Yellowbird car. That car comes with a carbon fiber chassis and puts out 710 hp. All we know is that we want one of these machines from the German tuner company.

March 7, 2019 / Comments Off

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Ruf bringing production CTR Yellow Bird Anniversary and Ruf GT to Geneva

In 1984, a tiny German car company from Pfaffenhausen beat every legendary go-fast carmaker at Road & Track‘s World’s Fastest Car competition. The Ruf BTR took the silverware with a 186-mph trap speed. Three years later, Ruf conquered an exotic-car Legion of Doom at next gathering for the same competition, with racing great Phil Hill taking the Ruf CTR Yellow Bird to 211 mph. The CTR beat the next-fastest car by 10 miles per hour. This year’s Geneva Motor Show will welcome the production version of the CTR Yellow Bird Anniversary, limited to 30 units.

Ruf showed off a prototype version of the anniversary model at the 2017 Geneva show. The transfer to production didn’t change any of the significant specs. Carbon fiber bodywork sits over a carbon tub and lightweight steel front crash structure. Whereas the original Yellow Bird worked a 3.4-liter twin-turbo flat-six to the tune of 470 horsepower, the celebratory version gets a 3.6-liter twin-turbo flat-six producing 700 hp and 649 pound-feet of torque. Snappy drivers can get to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, on their way to the 225-mph top speed. Dry weight’s said to be 2,640 pounds.

Ruf will also bring its GT model, based on the 991-series 911. Powered by a 3.0-liter flat-six rated at 515 hp and 476 lb-ft, shifting through a seven-speed dual-clutch helps achieve the same 3.4-second dash to 62 mph as in the Yellow Bird. Top speed is 199 mph, though. Weight comes in at 3,197 pounds — a few hundred lighter than a 992-series 911 — the ducktail spoiler holding that lighter rear end down.

Among the other milestones the carmaker’s celebrating this year, perhaps the most important: 80 years ago, Alois Ruf Sr. opened a vehicle repair shop, most likely unaware of the global footprints his firm would leave. We expect plenty of beauty and stories on the company’s Geneva show stand next month.

Related Video:

February 22, 2019 / Comments Off

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Reveal: RUF SCR 2018

It’s been 40 years since RUF revealed a modified Porsche 911 called the ‘SCR’, with a 3.2L six-cylinder engine pushing out 217 horses. The tell-tale sign of a RUF Porsche was the whale-tail spoiler that crowned that iconic backside for aerodynamics.

It took four years of development for RUF to produce the SCR 2018 to their exact liking and specifications, updated from the first prototype appearing in the 86th Geneva Motor Show. Well, they’re back with a complete overhaul, inside and out.

Debuting this week in Geneva, the RUF SCR 2018 came into fruition, featuring a full monocoque body, active push-rod suspension, and carbon fiber everything.

With just 1250kg in weight, the RUF is out to fight with the big dogs. The figures are no laughing matter, with a top speed of 320 kph, and a very balanced, composed body layout.

The neat part is that RUF built everything in-house. RUF’s approach differs from other manufacturers, requiring a donor car to be gutted, indirectly inflating air-cooled vintage Porsche market prices. We’re looking at you, Singer! It’s the price to pay for perfection!

Finally, the RUF SCR 2018 features an integrated roll-cage within the carbon fiber chassis, so it’s race-ready, and the push-rod suspension is complex technology only seen in Formula One cars.

Inside lies a 4.0L naturally aspirated six-cylinder boxer engine producing 510 horses. All of these details compound into something magical and the pictures speak for themselves. Unfortunately, these come with a hefty price and the RUF SCR 2018 will be quite a pricey piece of memorabilia.

With all of this technical specs laid out, we must see it being put to paces around a track.

March 7, 2018 / Comments Off

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RUF is bringing something special to Geneva

RUF has something special coming for the Geneva Motor Show – something the company claims is different from every car it’s built before. As you probably know, RUF mainly builds cars from Porsche bodies-in-white, which are then modified extensively and given RUF serial numbers and model names. They’ve been doing that for years, as well as modifying customer cars.

Lately, RUF has been branching out a bit. The CTR3 of the mid-2000s, for example, used some Porsche structure up front but a rear subframe (which the company endearingly refers to as the “birdcage”) out back, allowing it to have a mid-engine layout despite not being based on the Cayman/Boxster twins. The bodywork, while looking somewhat like a mashup of 911 and Cayman styling cues, was bespoke and made out of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber. There’s still a lot of Porsche in it, though.

At Geneva, RUF is hoping to reset a bit. The car it’s teasing (no image at this time, unfortunately) will have a totally unique structure, an in-house carbon fiber monocoque chassis to be specific. That’s a big departure for the company. The last time it tried something like that was in the early 2000s, with the semi-mythical R50 prototype. That didn’t go anywhere, for reasons we aren’t privy to. Apparently things have changed; perhaps manufacturing costs have come down (probably a factor), the market for low-volume supercars has gotten sweeter (definitely), and any engineering challenges that the R50 faced have been overcome (likely as well). Will it have a flat-six from its long-time friends in Stuttgart? No official word, but it’s likelier than not.

RUF also claims it’ll be a car inspired by the most famous RUF of all: the original CTR, better known as the Yellowbird. What that means remains to be seen, but the Yellowbird is pictured above. Back in 1987, it was turning the supercar world upside down and shaking the lunch money out of it. It, and the NSX that followed not too long after, rattled the traditional supercar players who subsequently upped both their performance and refinement games. It’s the most important part of RUF’s legacy, and so tying the new car so closely to the Yellowbird is a smart play.

We’ll find out more about this car in Geneva. Until then, enjoy this classic Yellowbird promotional film featuring a truly classic Nurburgring segment.

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March 3, 2017 / Comments Off

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OFFICIAL: W Motors Unveils Arab World’s First Homegrown Supercar

We all know that Dubai and the Middle East are king when it comes to supercars. Some of the sleekest, fastest and rarest machines drive the streets and yet, out of all the supercars and all the money, not a single one originates from the Middle East… until now.

W Motors has announced that it will be producing, with the help of Austrian manufacturer Magna Steyr and German carbuilder RUF, two supercar models, the Hyper-Sport and the Super-sport. Both models, announced at an event in Beirut, Lebanon, will become the first ever supercars produced in the region.

No specs have been released yet but W Motors claims that the cars will be the “most exclusive, luxurious and technologically advanced hyper-cars in the world” and will be “introducing never seen before technologies inside and out” – Like diamond-crusted LED taillamps and a fully-functional holographic display.

The Hyper-sport will be limited to only five units and will be officially unveiled in Dubai this December.

July 23, 2012 / Comments Off

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