Photgraphy by Patrick C. Paternie
Driver’s Notebook: Ruf RGT/RS
February 1, 2005
Rlois Ruf rubs his hands together and then points toward the houndstooth-checked Recaro driver’s seat, beckoning me inside his latest creation, which he terms “my latest baby.” He is a chef eager to serve up his latest delicacy, and today’s special is the Ruf RGT/RS–a brilliant Mexico blue, 395 hp, ducktail-spoilered homage to his favorite classic Porsche, the 1973 Carrera RS lightweight.
Located in the quaint rural hamlet of Pfaffenhausen, about an hour’s drive southeast of Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Ruf Automobile GmbH has been serving up a menu of ultrahigh-performance Porsches since the ’70s. Its breakthrough vehicle, however, was the now legendary 1987 “Yellow Bird” CTR, which was the first street car to reliably crack the 200 mph barrier (211 mph) in a well-documented series of high-speed showdowns with exotic car manufacturers such as Ferrari and Lamborghini.
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A ducktail spoiler, recalls the classic aerodynamic signature
of the 1973 RS. (Click image to enlarge)But Ruf Automobile is more than a hot rod—Porsche tuner shop. Although the company designs, distributes, and installs its own aftermarket Porsche performance products around the world, it has been certified as an automobile manufacturer in Germany since 1981 and by the U.S. authorities since 1987. Ruf has the capacity to build about 35 cars a year using bare-bones “bodies-in-white” chassis he gets directly from the factory sans Porsche serial numbers; as a manufacturer, Ruf applies his own serial numbers to each completed car. Building the RGT/RS is Ruf’s way of celebrating both the 30th anniversary of the original 911 Carrera RS–still considered the quintessential expression of the original 911 concept by many Porsche enthusiasts–and 40 years of the Ruf family’s involvement with the Porsche marque. (His father, Alois Ruf Sr., started the business in 1939 as a general auto repair shop.)
“I am going back to the basics,” Ruf says with a grin, adding that his inspiration for the RGT/RS was the by-product of restoring the dark blue 1964 901 with houndstooth-checked seats that he proudly displays in his showroom window. (The first 232 cars produced of what we now know as the 911 series were originally designated as 901 models before Peugeot threatened legal action over what it claimed to be international rights to three-digit vehicle names with a zero in the middle.)
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The inspiration for the RGT/RS may have come from vintage 911s, but the chassis
and mechanicals come from one of the last models of the 996 series, the GT3, a
basic, stripped-down 911 (sans backseat and sound insulation) for the weekend
warriors who need a track car that they can drive to work. The rear-drive,
normally aspirated GT3 puts out 380 hp as delivered from Stuttgart, and Porsche
built an even lighter—weight GT3 RS version that it said would be available to
U.S. customers. As it has in the past, though, the company decided not to offer
it in the United States. (Click image to enlarge)
“The best Porsches never come to the States,” Ruf declares. His fondness for the United States goes back more than 30 years to his first visit as a 19-year-old German country boy trying to raise capital for the family business with three modified 911s to sell. He quickly sold them and has since built up a small but extremely loyal family of owners Stateside who can afford to pay about twice the sticker price of a factory Porsche for one built by Ruf. The cars cannot exactly be called custom-built, but the relationship between Ruf and his customers is a bit like that of a fine clothier and his clients, when they share the same sense of style and taste. “This is more a passion than a business for me,” says Ruf.
When some of his “family” groused about Porsche’s decision not to offer the GT3 RS for U.S. consumption, Ruf decided to fill the void with his own rendition of a GT3. He starts with a lighter-weight, reinforced GT3 chassis and adds a sturdy integrated roll cage that is so neatly upholstered in Alcantara suede as to be undetectable save for the bracing behind the Ruf composite sport seats, to which the six-point Schroth racing harnesses are attached. Conventional three-point seat belts are retained for street use. Besides the houndstooth-checked seating inserts in the first of what Ruf intends to be a series of 35 cars, buyers can choose from two other ’70s-inspired patterns: a tartan or a basket-weave pattern.
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