Ruf Rt35 Anniversary (991) LAUNCH and RIDEALONG in DETAIL. Beauty from Pfaffenhausen!

The idyllic foothills of the Alps near Pfaffenhausen, Germany, come alive with the distinct wail of a modified flat-six engine. That’s because Pfaffenhausen is the home to RUF, the eponymous Porsche conversion firm founded as a mere car repair shop by Alois Ruf nearly 80 years ago and run by his son today. RUF and Porsche have a long, intertwined history. Alois Ruf Jr gained notoriety in the late 1970s for its turbocharged 911, with a motor stroked from 3.0 to 3.3 litres that put out a then-thundering 217 hp. By the 1990s, its reputation was cemented—thanks in part to the 211-mph 911 CTR in 1987 that was nicknamed ‘Yellowbird’. To celebrate RUF’s 35th anniversary—that of the Porsche tuner, not the original repair shop—the company turned to Porsche’s then-new 991. Delivered to RUF’s factory as a body in white, the 991s were assigned RUF VIN numbers and thus stand on their own.