In 1987, the RUF “Yellowbird” CTR took a seat at the luxury car table and promptly flipped it.
Built on the unfinished chassis of a Porsche 911, the Yellowbird showed up the performance stats of even its sacred progenitor, exceeding top speeds of 210 mph right out of the gate before clocking an unofficial 215 mph in ‘88.
And now, to celebrate its 30-year anniversary, it’s back and better than ever.
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the RUF CTR Supercar lives on the marque’s first in-house rear-engine carbon-fiber monocoque chassis. A mere Porsche tuner no more (save that pre-966 911 shell), the new CTR Supercar houses a 3.6L twin-turbo flat six capable of 700 horsepower — good for a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 220 mph.
And as if the makers had read our Christmas wishlist, she’s analog in more than looks. Stripped and minimal from the outside in, the CTR is a six-speed manual.
In further homage to the anniversary, only 30 will be produced (including the Geneva model) and they’ll run around $791,000.
So the good news is that the epic ride from your childhood video-game dreams lives again. The bad news is that most have already been claimed, so you might have to wait for the 50th anny to sneak into the (non-virtual) driver’s seat.
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