Ruf is bringing back old school - Page 2

VincentVega · 03-04-2016, 05:31 AM

I'm impressed they keep pushing. I would be pretty easy to sit back and tune cars based on their history, they earned that. But instead they come up with new engines, suspension, water and oil cooled, bodies... impressive.

rs200evo · 03-04-2016, 06:55 AM

Having been a Ruf guy for many years, I find it quite humorous that some people still consider Ruf to be just a tuner and not a manufacturer. If you want to send your car to Ruf, or buy their performance parts, you can do that as well. Ruf has been manufacturing Ruf vin cars for over 30 years. I believe a comparison to another manufacturer/ tuner is worth mentioning. The original Shelby Cobra was built using an A C Bristol body. After Shelby was finished producing his cars, they received Shelby vin numbers because Shelby we recognized as a manufacturer, not just a tuner, otherwise they would of had to use the A C Bristol chassis number. These new Ruf cars are testament to Ruf's continued determination to be the best with respect to building ultra high performane automobiles without sacrificing quality and reliability.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I took this photo around 2002. It's a Ruf-badged "RGT."

They took me for a ride in another one where we got up to 330 km/hr and it was not on a hwy, but rather a back road. It was nuts. They are a very small shop in the middle of nowhere.

asphaltgambler · 03-04-2016, 07:21 AM

Possible comparison is where a few niche manufacturer's in the domestic muscle car market have been licensed to re-create 'tri-five Chevy's, 1st gen Camaros and Chevelle bare body's to complete turn-key rides.

While they are very expensive the argument is it's less expensive than resources it takes to find an actual early car, fix all the sheet metal and related parts back to goodness, then build it from there.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Possible comparison is where a few niche manufacturer's in the domestic muscle car market have been licensed to re-create 'tri-five Chevy's, 1st gen Camaros and Chevelle bare body's to complete turn-key rides.

While they are very expensive the argument is it's less expensive than resources it takes to find an actual early car, fix all the sheet metal and related parts back to goodness, then build it from there.

The real issue is just money. Chevy will not make much money when someone does a full restoration on another 57 Cheby. If they can sell a license fee to some other company to build a body or part they make money.

masraum · 03-04-2016, 07:35 AM

Hmm, blue, no orange, no Gray, no red, crap. If I was ridiculously rich, that would be a very tough decision.

Arizona_928 · 03-04-2016, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The real issue is just money. Chevy will not make much money when someone does a full restoration on another 57 Cheby. If they can sell a license fee to some other company to build a body or part they make money.

Muscle car was a bad analogy. If you don't understand the concept of RUF. It's more
Engineering like Königsegg, but more like GMPP. Like COPO.

flipper35 · flipper35's Garage

The wheel wells on the orange one were off a bit to me. Other than that, I have always loved their cars.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Yep, RUF is a league above Singer.

One bit of trivia is I was there when Alois met his now wife. He was in Oklahoma City to talk to us at War Bonnet Tech session. She was working at the hotel we used. When he arrived from the airport I was there to welcome him for the region. I am sure he does not remember me but he noticed her.

asphaltgambler · 03-04-2016, 08:20 AM

Actually, I thought it was by comparison, very similar to what RUF was / is doing - as in 'possible'. If you take say a tri-five Chevy in it's original form, then build a modern / pro-tour frame, suspension, engine under the same sheet metal is that not a fully re-engineered car just as RUF is doing?

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Yep, RUF is a league above Singer.

One bit of trivia is I was there when Alois met his now wife. He was in Oklahoma City to talk to us at War Bonnet Tech session. She was working at the hotel we used. When he arrived from the airport I was there to welcome him for the region. I am sure he does not remember me but he noticed her.

His wife is smoking hot. I mean smoking. I talked with her at length. I think she's from Brazil.

M.D. Holloway · 03-04-2016, 08:48 AM

If Ford (or someone) decided to put of F100 versions they would sell like mad as well. I suppose you could say the same for any classic actually...

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

........................

I suspect when one goes to the state DMV to get a tag for their new Singer it is titled as a 1989 911. The RUF is titled as a new RUF.

I believe with Singer you buy the car first. Or you bring yours to them. In most cases they start with a 964.

I've said it in the past, If I had the money for a Singer, I'd buy a Ruf.

VincentVega · 03-04-2016, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GG Allin

I've said it in the past, If I had the money for a Singer, I'd buy a Ruf.

x2

I've always thought the Yellowbird was the coolest car ever made, but some of these new Ruf's have me thinking.

rusnak · 03-04-2016, 10:06 AM

Love the SCR

911boost · 911boost's Garage

Damn, the 964 looking ones are awesome. I wish they had the air intakes like the Turbo S and Yellowbird though.

Not that I will ever have enough green to buy one.

onewhippedpuppy · 03-04-2016, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

Hmm, blue, no orange, no Gray, no red, crap. If I was ridiculously rich, that would be a very tough decision.

No, because you could buy one of each.

Count me in with the Yellowbird obsessed, I still remember the magazine covers touting it as a 200 MPH car.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

No, because you could buy one of each.

Count me in with the Yellowbird obsessed, I still remember the magazine covers touting it as a 200 MPH car.

When I was at super car Sunday in LA there was an original yellow bird I was drooling over. Two cars down was one of those RWB abominations. All the crowd was drooling over the RWB except me and one other Porsche aficionado. The yellow it'd was one hell of a car in its day, and would still be a threat to most cars today!

Shaun @ Tru6 · 03-04-2016, 02:58 PM

Interesting give and take on the Singer vs. Ruf, unexpected. Singer doesn't quite have the provenance of Ruf, but they are equally authentic, and impressive, variations of a factory 911. In my book anyway.

If offered both, I would probably defer to the Singer but only because I am such a longhood fan.

Eric Coffey · 03-04-2016, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by javadog

That's not entirely accurate, although that's the impression we got from reading articles in the media about their cars back in the 80's and 90's. They used bodies that already had Porsche VIN numbers and crossed those numbers out, then re-stamped a new number adjacent to it.

They do make a complete car now that is all their own. The rest start out as Porsches.

JR

Well, I'd say that's not entirely accurate.

Ruf has been a certified auto manufacturer for 30+ years, and a US import-approved manufacturer for almost as long.
I think there is a lot of confusion due to the fact that there are different types of Ruf cars that are/were available:

1. Original Ruf production cars. These start from a bare "body in white" from Porsche, with no VIN.
So, while the Ruf production cars are built on bare Porsche chassis', they don't really "start out as Porsches" as they were never fully-built, Porsche VIN'd autos.

2. Conversion cars. These are factory Porsche cars that are converted to Ruf models/specs (supplied by customer cars, or directly from Porsche as "used" cars).
Depending on the circumstances, I think this is where you may see the "crossed out" VIN as you mentioned.
AFAIK, German (TUV?) regulations specify that if a car's modification exceeds a certain level, it must get a new number.
So, depending on the level of modification, and perhaps the car's destination/origin, I would imagine you would see Ruf VINs on previously Porsche VIN'd cars.
Seeing as there are far more conversions than original Ruf VIN cars, it makes sense that some would think that's the only way they are/were "created".

3. Tuner cars. These are factory Porsche cars that are tuned/upgraded (typically bolt-on stuff) but still retain a majority of factory parts, and keep the original Porsche VIN.

At least, that is my understanding of it.