One Of The 29 Original Ruf CTR Yellow Birds Goes Under The Hammer

The original Ruf CTR Yellow Bird has gained mythical status in the petrolhead community, not just because of that Nurburgring video but also because it gained the title of the world’s fastest car during a magazine test in 1987.

This is the 10^th of the 29 in total CTR ‘Yellow Birds’ produced by Ruf, ordered originally by the company’s distributor in Switzerland, where it was delivered new on 1989. Unfortunately for the true geeks out there, this CTR ‘Yellow Bird’ is finished in black over a grey interior with black Recaro bucket seats.

The car was eventually bought by a German customer who back then was waiting on his own CTR but was growing impatient with his order. Eventually he took delivery of the second car and kept both of them.

The odometer shows just 52,200km (32,435 miles), with Ruf confirming the originality of the mileage and of the car in general. It has never been restored or damaged and is presented in a “wonderfully original condition”.

The CTR received the nickname ‘Yellow Bird’ by the magazine photographers during Road & Track’s test at VW’s Ehra-Lessien, where it clocked 211mph and beat supercars of the era like the Porsche 959 and the Ferrari 288 GTO.

CTRs used the narrow body of the 911 Carrera 3.2 while power came from a bored-out 3.4-liter flat-six engine, fed by two turbochargers and a fuel injection that was originally developed for the Porsche 962. All Yellow Birds came with a five-speed manual gearbox, at an era when 911 Turbos were offered with a four-speed manual. Ruf says that the CTR Yellow Bird made 469hp but that figure has been confirmed to be wildly pessimistic by the company’s founder.

The rather special Ruf CTR Yellow Bird will be auctioned at RM Sotheby’s Monterey event on August 25, and is expected to fetch between $1 and $1.2 million. Not bad for one of the most legendary 911-shaped sports cars out there…