Porsche 911 (964) Carrera 4 RUF BTR 1989 for sale

The race to build the first production car with a top speed of 200 miles per hour became a real spectacle in the 1980s. In 1987, Ferrari claimed that the F40 was the first to break the sound barrier at 201 mph (= 323.4 km/h). Until, in the same year, a small German manufacturer named RUF, as part of the Speed-Shoot-Out organized by the American magazine "Road & Track", improved the record to 209 mph or 336 km/h. Established with the "Yellowbird" on the 8.65-kilometer straight of the VW test track in Ehra-Lessien. Thanks to this record and the subsequent promotional video "Fascination at Nürburgring" featuring RUF test driver and editor of "auto motor und sport" Stefan Roser at the wheel, the Yellowbird catapulted RUF into the consciousness of an international audience. But the origins of the RUF myth date back a few years earlier. Even though he had just started towards independent production, Alois Ruf was already invited in 1984 to the first "World’s Fastest Car-Test" by R&T. And for this, he showed up with a RUF BTR (Group B Turbo RUF) also on these pages in Ehra. The car with chassis number 1 was driven by Phil Hill and Paul Frère and reached a verified top speed of 186.2 mph (299.6 km/h). Frère even managed to reach 189 mph (304.1 km/h) by folding both rearview mirrors, leaving behind a Ferrari BBi, a Lamborghini Countach, and even a Porsche 911 Turbo and a 928 S. The BTR was built for dominance on the German autobahns and "Road & Track" proclaimed it that day as the fastest production car in the world. Unlike the contemporary 930 Turbo, RUF chose to build its ultimate road car with the standard narrow body of the 911 – the "Wide Body" option would have reduced the top speed by at least 15 km/h. However, the BTR received the whale tail rear wing from the 930 and behind the deeply contoured front bumper hid an external radiator and two brake cooling ducts. RUF's super wide 17-inch wheels perfectly filled the wheel arches and only at the front did RUF use Porsche 930 brake calipers, while reinforced in-house calipers were used on the rear axle. The body features an integrated roll bar.