The Ruf Yellow Bird Ruled The World Of Speed Nearly 30 Years Ago
Ruf’s Yellow Bird hit an astonishing 211 miles per hour in 1987.
Ruf’s Yellow Bird is now thirty years old. Perhaps that’s a bit blunt, but in the automotive world, that span of time covers a vast amount of progress and ingenuity. Think of a Camaro from 1987. The emissions choked V8 engine struggled to get to 250 horsepower. At this same time, the Yellow Bird was embarrassing the likes of AMG, Lamborghini, and Ferrari. A game they still play to this day.
Ruf’s high-speed creation was essentially the car that put them on the automotive map. An initial goal of 200 miles per hour was set, and it was easily eclipsed. Sitting behind the axle is Porsche’s turbocharged flat 6, tuned and fettled to extract more horsepower than the standard unit. Acceleration times dropped to 4 seconds flat in the dash to 60 mph, and 1/4 mile times would still be the envy today. Figures of 11.7 at 133 mph is near current Z06 territory.
Only two cars passed the 200 mile per hour mark in that test, and the other was a Koenig modified Porsche, reaching 201. Ruf’s creation stood out, because it wasn’t a stripped out, bare bones racer. It still had all the luxuries you’d want from a fast Porsche, except this one was faster.
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via: [Road & Track]
