Equipment
3367/463hp twin-turbo, RUF 6-speed, RUF wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, roll cage, Recaro race seats, Blaupunkt cassette, books, tools, accessories.
Condition
#1 Concours
World-class. Could compete in the world’s best Concours d'Elegance events.
One of 29 built and nine in this color, which really is the one you’d want. Unregistered until 2020 and showing 1677 km (1042 miles). There are two small paint cracks on the nose and a few small blisters throughout, but otherwise this car looks perfect.
Market commentary
RUF started tuning Porsches in the 1970s. By 1981 it had gained full manufacturer status from the German government, and in 1987 had its first big break with the CTR (Group C Turbo RUF). Road & Track named it the “world’s fastest car,” and the name they’d given the car during the test, “Yellowbird,” stuck. Ruf also released a film called Faszination auf dem Nürburgring, which showed the Yellowbird screaming around the Nürburgring with test driver Stefan Roser at the wheel. Clips from it have made the rounds on YouTube and social media for years. With 29 built, the Yellowbird is rarer than contemporaries like the Ferrari F40, 288 GTO, and Porsche 959. This result is a world record for a RUF at auction. For reference, a concours-condition F40 is $3.45 million, and a Porsche 959 Sport of the same quality is $4.7 million. To those unfamiliar with RUF this might seem like an extreme amount of money for what looks like a mildly customized yellow 911, but for something so rare and so groundbreaking in its day, it seems reasonable.