Ruf has been building mega Porsches for decades, but this CTR3 Club Sport is far and away our favorite car from their portfolio. The Pfaffenhausen workshops have grown over the years, and in 2007 introduced one of the most amazing supercars ever, and it’s based on Porsche’s lowly 987 Cayman architecture. Granted, the CTR3 receives a lot of modifications from the Cayman it’s loosely based on, but the DNA is still there. The Cayman influence is most noticeable in the front crash structure and the interior/dashboard. At the back of the car, you’ll see lots of differences. From the outside, it’s clear to see that the car has been stretched with Ruf creating a full tube structure and a custom carbon fiber rear section bodywork.
The CTR3 that launched in 2007 is not wildly different from the CTR3 Club Sport that they continue to make today, a full ten years later, but it is incrementally better and still worthy of adulation. Power has been pumped up to about 775 horses from a 3.8 liter twin-turbo flat six. The look of the car has been updated a bit with some crazier aero and additional carbon fiber. Out back there’s a huge wing, and up top is a big engine intake scoop. This is a technically street legal car that is really intended more for track driving. If you compare it to a Carrera GT or a 918 Spyder, it’s probably more like the former than the latter, but the turbo engine actually contributes to an easily tractable power delivery. The CGT’s V10 delivered shrill high-revving power, while the 918’s instant-on electrics make it quicker to sixty. The CTR3 is neither of those, but it is all kinds of awesome.