This Porsche 993-based RUF Turbo R Limited is part of an incredibly rare production run that ended recently
RUF may appear to the untrained eye as a typical tuning house adding some extra flair. The kind of company that Porsche’s board of governors would give a disdainful look towards as if it were a Powerpoint presentation full of animations and aggressively '90s Word Art. This could not be further from the truth.
The German company is so unbelievably competent at what it does, and adds such a novel dimension to Porsche’s 911 series that it is legally seen as a standalone manufacturer. It was granted this right in 1981 and soon after the USA followed suit to allow RUF to ship its cars to North America.
What really began the ball rolling for the RUF the CTR, or more affectionately dubbed the Yellow Bird, by one John Lamm of Road & Track. The Yellow Bird was a 930 Turbo but given the now famous wave of RUF’s magic wand. The result: the fastest production car in the world. So fast was the Yellow Bird (213mph top speed) that it was only the McLaren F1 that took its title in 1993.
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It's not just the Yellow Bird that rocks though This TurboR Limited is possibly one of the most sought after RUFs today. The company has historically bought body shells from Porsche whilst in the 'Body in White' stage at the factory. In simple terms, a shell that is constructed in terms of structure, but nothing else. The white part of the term referring to primer being applied ready for paint.
In the late '90s RUF purchased seven 993 Turbo body shells right at the end of production of the last air cooled 911. In 2016 it decided to pay homage to the original Turbo R. Updates to the package were made beyond the original's 490-horsepower offering, and a mind blowing 620hp was offered up through the classic Porsche powerplant. Once completed these were the most powerful air cooled engines ever produced.
The example seen here is one of the incredibly rare seven-car production run and was actually the very first made. It was delivered to its first and only owner in late 2017 and recently sold for $1,000,000.
