This Ruf CTR Yellowbird Is Expected To Sell For Over $1 Million

It all goes back to a now legendary Road & Track group test held at VW’s Ehra-Lessien facility in 1987. Even though it featured some of the hottest cars of the 1980s - including a Ferrari 288 GTO, a Porsche 959 and a Lamborghini Countach, to name but a few - it was the CTR that shone through. Partly because it was completely nuts, and partly because the bright yellow paint scheme of the test car made it stand out even more. It was nicknamed Yellow Bird, and the name stuck.

It all goes back to a now legendary Road & Track group test held at VW’s Ehra-Lessien facility in 1987. Even though it featured some of the hottest cars of the 1980s - including a Ferrari 288 GTO, a Porsche 959 and a Lamborghini Countach, to name but a few - it was the CTR that shone through. Partly because it was completely nuts, and partly because the bright yellow paint scheme of the particularly test car made it stand out even more. It was nicknamed Yellow Bird, and the name stuck.

Although the intention was to build a spectacularly angry turbocharged 911, Ruf chose not to do the easy thing and start with a 930, but instead use a regular 3.2 Carrera as the base. That flat-six grew to 3.4 litres and gained a couple of turbochargers, along with two intercoolers. Soon the power was at 469bhp, allowing for a top speed of 213mph. In 1987. Even the 959 it was tested against didn’t have an answer - it ran out of puff at a mere 197mph.

This particular CTR was built for the Swiss market and was delivered on 10 February 1989. The first owner, however, was a German man who’d gotten bored of waiting for the CTR that was being built to his requested spec. Once the second car was completed, he decided to keep both. We like his style.

With 52,200km on the clock it’s not exactly leggy, but considering how special this thing is, that’s a pleasingly high mileage. It’s clearly not just been stuffed away in a garage all of its life, in other words.

It’s due to be auctioned at RM Sotheby’s Monterey event on 25 August.