Ruf Automobile

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 911 Turbo 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.autozeitung.de/ruf-porsche-75-jahre-jubilaeum-reportage-bilder-89679.html|title=Reportage: 75 Jahre RUF Jubiläum|access-date=2021-05-03|website=Autozeitung|language=de}}

In 1987, Ruf released the Ruf CTR, which 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 the second-fastest production car of the decade. However, the CTR2 cost only a fraction of the price of the F1.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5P9xihfGvzMC&pg=PA10|title=Supercars|author=John Lamm|year=2001|pages=10–11|publisher=MBI Publishing Company |isbn=0-7603-0794-6}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a29347/the-worlds-fastest-cars-1987/ |title=In 1987, The World's Fastest Cars Couldn't Catch A 211-mph Twin-Turbo Ruf |first=Peter |last=Egan |journal=Road & Track |location=US |date=2016-05-29 |access-date=2016-08-31}}Auto, Motor und Sport 25/1988

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. The Ruf CTR3 was designed and engineered in a partnership with the Canadian engineering firm Multimatic.{{Cite news|url=http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a20746/2008-ruf-ctr3-1/|title=2008 Ruf CTR3|date=2007-05-21|work=Road & Track|access-date=2017-07-24|language=en}} The Ruf CTR3 was Ruf's first entirely unique model, built using their own chassis and body. The CTR3 differs from typical Ruf models in that it uses a Mid-engine design, as opposed to the 911's Rear-engine design. Automotive journalists have compared it to the Porsche 911 GT1, which similarly used a mid-engine layout with a body designed to resemble the Porsche 911.{{Cite news|url=https://www.excellence-mag.com/issues/195/articles/ruf-ctr3|title=Ruf CTR3 |website=excellence-mag.com |date=2011-08-05}}

In 2017, Ruf unveiled the Ruf CTR Anniversary at the Geneva Motor Show, 30 years after the launch of the original Ruf CTR. The CTR Anniversary is Ruf's second model to use their own body and chassis design, which was designed and engineered in partnership with German engineering firm Vela Performance. The Ruf CTR Anniversary retains the Porsche 911's rear-engine layout, but does not use any major Porsche components. The only original Porsche parts are windows and windscreen wipers borrowed from the 964 and 993.{{Cite web|url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/ruf-diamonds-backstage-porsche-tuning-house|title=Ruf diamonds: Backstage at the Porsche tuning house}} The CTR Anniversary uses a 3.6-litre water cooled twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine producing {{cvt|700|hp|PS kW|0|abbr=on}}, and a custom 7-speed transmission built to Ruf's specification by ZF.,{{Cite web|url=https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/ruf-diamonds-backstage-porsche-tuning-house|title=Ruf diamonds: Backstage at the Porsche tuning house}} and is unrelated to any Porsche transmissions.

In 2018, Ruf unveiled the new Ruf SCR. The SCR uses the same in-house body and chassis design from the Ruf CTR Anniversary, although with a normally aspirated engine producing 510 PS (503 hp; 375 kW). The 2018 Ruf SCR borrows its name from the 1978 Ruf SCR.

• CTR3 Evo
• CTR Anniversary
• SCR 2018
• Rodeohttps://rufnorthamerica.com/rodeo/
• R Spyderhttps://www.ruf-automobile.de/en/modelle/ruf-r-spyder/

File:Eruf.jpg]]

{{Main|eRuf Model A}}

The eRuf Model A is an all-electric sports car made by Ruf Automobile. The car is powered by a UQM Technologies{{cite web|url=http://www.uqm.com |title=UQM Technologies |publisher=Uqm.com |access-date=2009-04-29}} propulsion system (a UQM PowerPhase 150). The car has a top speed of {{convert|225|km/h|mph|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}{{cite web|author=Nick Hall|title=eRuf Model A (electric Porsche 911)|url=http://cars.uk.msn.com/reviews/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=147866035|work=MSN Cars|date=2008-11-13|access-date=2009-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301051914/http://cars.uk.msn.com/reviews/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=147866035|archive-date=2010-03-01|url-status=dead}} and is capable of producing {{convert|150|kW|PS hp|0|abbr=on}} and {{convert|649|Nm|lbft|abbr=on}} of torque.{{cite web|author=Jake Holmes|title=Ruf eRuf Concept Model A - Car News|url=http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/porsche_file/ruf_eruf_concept_model_a_car_news|work=Car and Driver|date=October 2008|access-date=2009-01-17|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124013747/http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/porsche_file/ruf_eruf_concept_model_a_car_news|archive-date=2009-01-24}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.electricdrive.org/index.php?tg=entry&idx=more&article=1996&idg=2 |title=Electric Drive Transportation Association |publisher=Electricdrive.org |access-date=2009-04-29}} 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.{{cite press release|title=eRUF Concept Model A 2008 "Emotion without Emission"|url=http://www.ruf-automobiles.com/ibase/download.php?filename=%2Fhomepages%2F1%2Fd160998924%2Fhtdocs%2Fibase%2Fmodule%2Fmedienarchiv%2Fdateien%2Fpdf%2Fdownloads%2FEvents_Veroeffentlichungen%2Fpress_release_english_eRUF.pdf|publisher=RUF Automobiles|date=2008-10-10|access-date=2009-01-17|archive-date=2011-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715212257/http://www.ruf-automobiles.com/ibase/download.php?filename=%2Fhomepages%2F1%2Fd160998924%2Fhtdocs%2Fibase%2Fmodule%2Fmedienarchiv%2Fdateien%2Fpdf%2Fdownloads%2FEvents_Veroeffentlichungen%2Fpress_release_english_eRUF.pdf|url-status=dead}} Ruf announced that it hoped to begin production of the eRuf in the autumn of 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/porsche_file/ruf_eruf_concept_model_a_car_news|title=Ruf eRuf Concept Model A - Car News|author=Jake Holmes|date=October 2008|work=Car and Driver|access-date=2009-01-17}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/04/geneva-2009-ruf-greenster-evolves-the-electric-porsche-concept/|title=Geneva 2009: Ruf Greenster evolves the electric Porsche concept|last=Abuelsamid|first=Sam|date=4 March 2009|publisher=Autoblog.com|access-date=2010-11-27}}

Ruf models have historically appeared in many large racing video game franchises as a substitute for the Porsche models they are based on due to Porsche's exclusive licensing in video games.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/02/09/ea-we-need-to-talk-about-porsche|title=EA, We Need to Talk About Porsche|last=Reilly|first=Luke|date=2015-02-08|website=IGN|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-08}} Starting with the release of Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed in 2000, Porsche entered an exclusivity deal with Electronic Arts (EA) which meant that Porsche models would only appear in EA's titles, most notably the Need for Speed franchise and the Real Racing series. The only exceptions to this were a number of games in the Forza and Project Gotham Racing series due to sub licensing arrangements made between EA and their games' respective developers, Turn 10 Studios and Bizarre Creations. Other large video game franchises, however, including Gran Turismo, Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, Asphalt, Test Drive, The Crew, Driver: San Francisco, Driveclub and a few Forza games used Ruf models in place of Porsche. This circumvented 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/12/13/13935732/porsche-ea-exclusive-license-gran-turismo|title=EA's exclusive licensing deal with Porsche is over|work=Polygon|access-date=2018-11-08}} The exclusivity deal between Porsche and EA ended in 2016, leading many franchises to stop featuring Ruf models in favor of Porsche.{{Cite news|url=https://www.gtplanet.net/porsche-pushing-ruf-racing-games/|title=Is Porsche Pushing RUF Out of Racing Games?|date=2017-05-04|work=GTPlanet|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}} Though it has never been publicly confirmed, it has been speculated that Porsche and RUF can no longer co-exist in games due to interference from Porsche. For instance, in Asphalt 8: Airborne, RUFs and all other vehicles resembling Porsches became unobtainable for purchase in a Porsche-themed update, but users who had them before the update kept them, until an update in 2023 The Crew 2 features both brands, but neither competes against each other due to the game's car classification system. However, Gran Turismo Sport, Gran Turismo 7, Gear.Club Unlimited 2, and Nitro Nation feature both brands that can compete against each other at any time.

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Ruf Automobile}}

• {{Official website|https://www.ruf-automobile.de/en/}}

{{Automotive industry in Germany}}

{{Ruf}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Car manufacturers of Germany

Category:Auto parts suppliers of Germany

Category:Battery electric vehicle manufacturers

Category:Companies based in Bavaria

Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1939

Category:German brands

Category:Sports car manufacturers

Category:Electric vehicle manufacturers of Germany

Category:German companies established in 1939

Category:Auto tuning companies