Ruf is one of the most revered niche automakers and Jay Leno recently had the opportunity to see what makes them so special.
The German company first made headlines back in the late 1980’s with its famed CTR ‘Yellowbird’ shortly after Road & Track tested one and proclaimed it to be the fastest production car on earth. Leno was privileged to welcome chassis no. #001 into his garage, but it wasn’t the only CTR that Alois and Estonia Ruf brought along.
Also Read: One Of The 29 Original Ruf CTR Yellow Birds Goes Under The Hammer
Perhaps the company’s most eye-popping production model, the CTR3 Clubsport, is also featured prominently in the video. Ruf introduced the CTR3 in 2007 and it is underpinned by a bespoke platform engineered with the help of Multimatic. Unlike other CTR models, it’s mid-engined rather than rear-engined. The CTR3 Clubsport also takes things a step further with a bold aerodynamic design made particularly eye-catching thanks to its massive rear wing.
Powering the car is a 3.7-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six engine that pumps out no less than 766 hp at 7000 rpm and 723 lb-ft (980 Nm) of torque at 4000 rpm.
The final car featured is the Ruf CTR2 built between 1995 and 1997. It uses a 3.6-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder engine delivering 520 hp at 5800 rpm and was capped to just 16 standard models and 12 CTR2 ‘Sport’ versions.