Sales Spotlight: 1993 Ruf RCT
This week, our Sales Spotlight has a slightly different flavour to it. For one, the car we’ve decided to showcase isn’t actually at an independent Porsche specialist; it’s going under the hammer at Silverstone Auction’s dedicated Porsche Sale on Saturday 15 October.
Secondly, our latest Sales Spotlight star isn’t actually a Porsche 911 at all: it’s a genuine Ruf RCT, based on a 964 Carrera but fitted with a bespoke, Ruf-built turbocharged engine turning out 385bhp
This particular Ruf is the only RCT (“Ruf Carrera Turbo”) bestowed with a wide body shell and, most interestingly, Ruf’s electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. Estimated at £120,000-£140,000 it seems like quite an incredible (and unusual) car for the money.
Porsche had experimented with four-wheel drive on its 959 supercar in the mid Eighties but, the first all-wheel drive 911 Turbo wouldn’t arrive – in the shape of the 993 – until 1995. Built in 1993, this particular RCT allowed Ruf to, once again, beat Porsche to technological punch.
Originally, this car started life as a Porsche 964 Anniversary Edition, delivered to Porsche Stuttgart where it was spotted by Alois Ruf Jr, the head of Ruf Automobile GmbH who decided to use it as the basis for his ground-breaking RCT build.
Back at Ruf’s factory in Pfaffenhausen, the 964 Anniversary was converted to RCT specification with the help of a twin-plug 3.6-litre flat six, fitted with a KKK K26 turbocharger and Motronic engine management.
The gearbox was rebuilt with a limited slip differential while Ruf also added its then-new four-wheel drive system. The build was completed with brake and suspension upgrades, a sports exhaust system and Ruf’s trademark five-spoke 18-inch alloys (made by Speedline).
Ruf’s attention to detail also saw the 964’s external rain gutters deleted while there were a number of bespoke touches inside, including the steering wheel, gauges and pedals. Of around 100 RCT’s ever built, this car remains the only wide body example with four-wheel drive.
Kept in a private collection until 2007, the Schwarz Metallic Ruf RCT has subsequently lived in the UK and comes complete with a full history (including its original German paperwork).
To read more about this Ruf RCT, or to see all of the lots going under the hammer at the Porsche Sale on 15 October, head to Silverstone Auctions’ website now.
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