Perhaps the most pivotal moment in Porsche’s history came when the marque ceased production of air-cooled engines with the end of the 993-generation of 911. However, that didn’t mean air-cooled engine development stopped altogether, because the engineering maestros over at RUF carried on fettling away right up until 2016, with the release of the most potent air-cooled car ever to be unleashed on the open road: the RUF Turbo R Limited.
Seven of these asphalt-bound missiles were built, marking the end of RUF's production of air-cooled cars. Each was endowed with a continent-shifting 625hp, allowing the Turbo R to rocket up to an astonishing 212 mph, provided you’re brave enough to keep your right foot down. Starting with a 993 body-in-white chassis, each Turbo R was then swathed in custom carbon fibre RUF bodywork and given a unique RUF VIN. Crucially, the Turbo R was also fitted with massive carbon ceramic brakes to ensure it could shed speed as quickly as it could gain it, while one of RUF’s Integrated Roll Cages helped gaurantee that you would emerge alive if you ran out of either talent or tarmac.
Predictably, such a rare and technologically-advanced package doesn’t come cheap, and a Riviera Blue example recently sold at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction for 2,040,000 dollars. If these images have you hankering for a RUF sports car of your own, then you’re in luck because the Classic Driver Marketplace has plenty of examples for you to look through.
