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Bright yellow has always looked good on RUF Porsches. This 996 R Turbo is no exception, and no one was expecting it when it pulled up at the Bergen Cars and Coffee last month. Enjoy the photos of this magnetic little number. Continue reading RUF R Turbo at Bergen Cars and Coffee
The Geneva Motor Show happened this week, and every year it’s like Christmas has come for the car industry.
Here are the highlights for me, and my thoughts on each…
Ferrari 812 Superfast
The front-engine V12 Ferraris are by far my favorite Ferraris. They have always been the ultimate expression of what a grand touring car can be, and their lineage goes all the way back to the beginning of Ferrari road cars in the early 1950s.
The 812 Superfast takes the insanity of the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, and takes it up yet another notch. With damn near 800hp on tap from its still-naturally-aspirated-V12 engine, the 812 Superfast is now the ultimate GT car (really more of a supercar) that money can buy. I also think it looks absolutely manic, yet somehow still in an elegant sort of way.
Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid
Do you think anyone ever imagined this when the Toyota Prius first came out? Hybrids were once pathetic little econo-boxes, but here is a 680hp Porsche Panamera with a hybrid system developed from the 918 hypercar. This is exactly how hybrid technology should be used. I want a 680hp bullet that can still get decent MPG when I’m not thrashing it. If nothing else, isn’t technology all about having your cake and eating it too?
This is the second insane RUF I’ve seen for the first time this year. I caught a CTR3 at Greenwich, and then I found this RT12 S at Radnor Hunt.
The RUF RT12 S is based on the Porsche 997, but has been modified enough to be considered a new, non-Porsche car. It was available with a variety of options including various engine configurations, gearing, and a choice of RWD or AWD. Maximum power available was 685hp, and with the right gearing it’s capable of a staggering 225 mph.
We saw this thing accelerate hard as it left the show, and it was definitely tuned a bit rich because black smoke came out the tailpipes under full throttle. It’s a monster.
Enjoy the photos!
“Hey, sweet Cayman you got there, dude!”
That’s not what you say to the owner of one of these insane machines. This is no mere Cayman, my friends, this is a RUF CTR3. Sure it’s made of Porsche bits, like all other RUFs, but this is a car they made themselves. The front of the car comes from the Porsche 997 GT3 RS, but the whole rear structure is bespoke, and not from a Cayman as you might expect.
The CTR3 is the ultimate RUF Supercar. With around 700hp coming from its twin turbocharged, 911-derived 3.8L Flat-6, it was one of the fastest cars on the planet when it hit the streets in the late 2000’s. In a time when the 1,001hp Bugatti Veyron was still outlandish, the CTR3’s 3.1 sec 0-60 sprint and 233mph top speed was rivaled by very few. It’s still damn fast today, we just now live in a world where people in Teslas everywhere can run 0-60 in 2.7 sec, and it’s totally crazy.
This is the first and only RUF CTR3 I’ve ever seen in person. RUF planned a max production run of just 50 units, and I’m not sure they ever completed it, so it’s is extremely rare.
Enjoy the pics!
While waiting for the shuttle to check out the auction at the Omni at Amelia Island, Nick and I caught a somewhat familiar sight of a slantnose Porsche rolling through the quiet streets. However, this was not a Porsche. This is a RUF BTR, the first of the line for the RUF series of modified Porsches. This is one of less than 35 made and it looked pristine. The paint simply stuck out like a sore thumb among the endless sea of beige and silver trucks and rental cars scattering the landscape. Plus, how often is it that anyone sees a RUF, of any kind, running around? This is pretty much like seeing Keith Richards or Mick Jagger in person at a grocery store for Porschephiles. Enjoy the photos. Continue reading RUF BTR Slantnose spotted in Fernadina Beach, FL
Mind Over Motor 