Page 1 of 1 During the 1970s and 1980s, Alois Ruf Jr. firmly established Ruf Automobile GmbH as a leading Porsche specialist. Initially, Ruf focused on servicing cars but quickly turned to putting his own touch on Porsche models, and in particular the 911. The level enhancement increased over the years and in 1987, Ruf introduced the CTR supercar that was built from the ground up in the Pfaffenhausen factory using a bare 911 shell as the basis. Intended as a competition car for the road, CTR was an abbreviation of Group C Turbo Ruf.
Ruf based the CTR on the 911 Carrera 3.2 shell, which was lighter and slightly more aerodynamically efficient than the 911 Turbo body. The first step was the installation of full roll-cage to improve passenger safety and structural integrity. The suspension and braking systems were upgraded to cope with the added load. Considerable weight was shed by replacing the doors, front hatch and engine cover with aluminium examples. A fibreglass bumper was created with flush-mounted indicators. The result was an even slippier and 200 kg lighter car.
The Porsche-sourced flat-six engine was bored out to increase the displacement to just shy of 3.4 litres. It was equipped with a fuel injection system that fittingly had originally been designed for the Porsche 962 Group C car. A custom twin-turbo and twin-intercooler system was also fitted. The result was an output of 463 bhp, which was significantly more than the 325 bhp produced by the contemporary 911 Turbo. Whereas the 911 Turbo was available only with a four-speed manual for reliability reasons, Ruf devised their own five-speed gearbox capable of handling the additional power.
Launched late in 1987, the CTR was hand-assembled at the Pfaffenhausen factory. It was famously crowned the winner of Road & Track's 'World's Fastest Car' competition with a recorded top speed of 211 mph. The test car was painted bright yellow and one of the photographers dubbed the CTR 'Yellowbird', which is a nickname that has stuck to this day. The CTR received universal acclaim in other media and remains one of the most iconic sports cars of the period and the most sought after of all cars produced by Ruf.
Between 1987 and 1996, Ruf built 29 CTRs from scratch, which were assigned distinct Ruf 'W09' chassis numbers. Additional Porsche 911s were also converted but retained their 'WP0' Porsche identity. In 1995, Ruf launched the CTR2, which was based on the 993-generation 911. To mark 30 years of the CTR, a special anniversary model was introduced in 2017, which used a bespoke body and chassis. Page 1 of 1
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CTR Yellowbird
During the 1970s and 1980s, Alois Ruf Jr. firmly established Ruf Automobile GmbH as a leading Porsche specialist. Initially, Ruf focused on servicing cars but quickly turned to putting his own touch on Porsche models, and in particular the 911. The level enhancement increased over the years and in 1987, Ruf introduced the CTR supercar that was built from the ground up in the Pfaffenhausen factory using a bare 911 shell as the basis. Intended as a competition car for the road, CTR was an abbreviation of Group C Turbo Ruf.