1. History

2. Ruf Models
    Current models  Modern models  Classic models  Past models  Prototype models 

3. eRuf Electric Vehicles

4. In video games

5. References

6. External links

Ruf Automobile GmbH is a German car manufacturer that manufactures and engineers original vehicles using unmarked Porsche chassis, specifically known as bodies in white. The cars are built from the ground up as completely new cars, using these bare chassis, and assembled using Ruf-made parts and materials (e.g. BTR, CTR2, RT12), instead of badge engineering or disassembly of existing cars. This means the company is officially recognized as a manufacturer by the German government. As such, all Ruf models have certified Ruf VIN and serial numbers, and are recognized as production models, rather than modified Porsches. Ruf is historically known for its record breaking 211 mph CTR, and is the largest, most renowned company to make Porsche performance enhancements. Though primarily a manufacturer, Ruf has also made a name for itself operating as a car tuner, a specialist in customer-requested Porsche-to-Ruf conversions (e.g. Turbo R conversions), and a restorer of classic Porsche and Ruf models. Ruf carries out service and crash repair, as well.

History

The company was founded in 1939 in Pfaffenhausen, Germany as "Auto Ruf" by Alois Ruf Sr. as a service garage and was eventually expanded to include a full-service gas station in 1949. Ruf began experimenting with vehicle designs of his own in the late 1940s, and in 1955 designed and built a tour bus, which he marketed around Germany. The positive response it received led to Ruf expanding his business again by starting his own separately owned bus company.

Alois Sr.'s involvement in the car industry had a distinct effect on his son, Alois Ruf Jr., who became a sports car enthusiast. In 1960, Alois Jr. began servicing and restoring Porsche automobiles out of his father's garage. Following Alois Sr's. death in 1974, 24-year-old Alois Jr. took control of the business and focused on his passion: Porsche vehicles, and especially the 911. A year later in 1975, the first Ruf-enhanced Porsche came to life.

Ruf debuted their first complete model in 1977, a tuned version of Porsche's 930 with a stroked 3.3 litre motor. This was followed in 1978 by Ruf's first complete non-turbo Porsche, the 911 SCR. It was a naturally aspirated 911 with a stroked 3.2 litre motor producing 217 horsepower. Numerous customer orders were placed for this vehicle.

In the years since, the company has made a major mark on the automotive world by producing exceptionally powerful and exclusive Porsche-based production models. The 1987 Ruf CTR achieved a top speed of {{convert|339|km/h|abbr=on}} in April 1987 and set the record as the world's fastest production car for its time; in 1988 it even reached {{convert|342|km/h|abbr=on}}. Its successor, the 1995 Ruf CTR2, had clocked a top speed of {{convert|350|km/h|0|abbr=on}}, making it for a brief moment the fastest road-legal production car in the world in the mid '90s, until the McLaren F1 broke the record in 1998 at 241 mph, thus making the CTR2 as the 2nd fastest production car of the decade. However, the CTR2 cost only a fraction of the price of the F1.^[1][2][3]

In April 2007, Ruf released the new CTR3 to celebrate the company's new plant in Bahrain, and as a 20th anniversary celebration of the original CTR and successor to the CTR2. At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Ruf also showcased the RGT-8, the first production V8-powered 911 in history.

Ruf Models

Current models

Modern models

• Turbo Florio
• CTR3
• CTR3 Clubsport
• CTR 2017
• SCR 2018

Classic models

• R56.11
• Turbo R
• RCT Evo

Past models

• Turbo 3.3
• SCR
• BTR
• CTR "Yellowbird"
• RCT/RCT EVO (update)
• RUF BTR2
• CTR2
• Turbo R
• RGT
• Rt 12 (two trims available)
• RTR
• R Kompressor
• Rt35/Rt35 S
• R Turbo
• 3400S/3600S (update)
• 3800S
• RK Coupe/Spyder
• Dakara

Prototype models

• RXL
• eRuf Model A
• CTR (2017)
• RGT8

eRuf Electric Vehicles

The eRuf Model A is an all-electric sports car made by Ruf Automobile. The car is powered by UQM Technologies^[4] propulsion system (a UQM PowerPhase 150). The car has a top speed of {{convert|225|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}^[5] and it's capable of producing {{convert|150|kW|PS hp|0|abbr=on}} and {{convert|479|lbft|Nm|abbr=on}} of torque.^[6] Estimated range per charge is {{convert|250-320|km|mi|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}, depending on performance level, using iron-phosphate, lithium-ion batteries built by Axeon of Great Britain.^[7] The power and torque produced by the 3-phase motor can be used to recover almost as much power as it can put out. During coasting the engine works as a generator producing electricity to charge the batteries.^[8] Ruf announced that it hoped to begin production of the eRuf in the fall of 2009.^[9] This did not happen, and at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Ruf announced a new model, the eRUF Greenster, with limited production planned to commence at the end of 2010.^[10]

In video games

Ruf models have historically appeared in many large racing and driving video games franchises in place of the Porsche models they are based on due to Porsche's exclusive licensing in video games.^[11] Starting with the release of Porsche Unleashed in 2000, Porsche had an exclusive licensing deal with Electronic Arts (EA) that said Porsche models would only appear in EA games, most notably, the Need for Speed franchise as well as the Real Racing series. The only exceptions to this were Turn 10 Studios, the creators of the Forza series of games, who were able to negotiate some sub licensing deals for Porsche models to appear in DLC and expansion packs for some of their games, including Forza Motorsport 3 and 4 and Forza Horizon 2.^[12], and Bizarre Creations, and their first two Project Gotham Racing titles, Project Gotham Racing, and Project Gotham Racing 2. Other large video game franchises, however, including Gran Turismo, Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, Asphalt, Test Drive, The Crew, San Francisco, Driveclub and many of the Forza games used Ruf models in their video games in place of the Porsche models they are based on as they are usually very similar visually. This goes around Porsche's licensing as Ruf is considered by the German government to be a full fledged manufacturer, and as such Ruf models have unique VINs.^[13] The exclusivity deal between Porsche and EA, however, ended in 2016 leading many franchises to replace Ruf models with similar Porsche models.^[14]

References

External links

• Official Ruf Automobile GmbH website

• Frank Baum (disambiguation)
• Frank Baum (footballer)
• Frank Baum (soccer player)
• Frank Baxter (disambiguation)
• Frank B. Dehn & Co.
• Frank Beach
• Frank Beal
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• Frank Beard (disambiguation)
• Frank Beattie
• Frank Beatty
• Frank Beck (baseball)
• Frank Beck (British Army officer)
• Frank Beckwith
• Frank Beebe
• Frank Beede
• Frank Beisler
• Frank B. Ellis
• Frank Bello Bass
• Frank Bell (RAF airman)
• Frank Belote
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• Frank Bender