This Ruf Yellowbird Is Extra Special, and Not Just Because It’s the Wrong Color

The Ruf CTR, often known by its nickname “Yellowbird,” was a Porsche 911 Carrera so heavily customized that it essentially became a new car. A few were made to the same spec, but only one was painted Bordeaux Red and personally driven by Alois Ruf Jr. That’s the car we’re looking at here, and it’s for sale.

This 1989 Ruf CTR1 Lightweight, unofficially dubbed “Redbird,” is one of six extra-lean CTRs ever made. To earn the Lightweight designation, some steel body panels were swapped for aluminum; there’s no center console, no roll cage, no power brakes, no sunroof, no radio, some chassis sound-deadening foam is gone, and the seats are extra-light ones.

This Ruf Yellowbird Is Extra Special, and Not Just Because It’s the Wrong Color — *RM Sotheby’s*

1989 Ruf CTR1 "Redbird," interior. — *RM Sotheby’s*

The twin-turbo flat-six bored to 3.4-liters, Ruf five-speed transmission, and chassis reinforcements are still present, though.

These cars claimed 211 mph in 1987—a ridiculous speed for a vehicle this delicate in any era—letting it win Road & Track’s “World’s Fastest Car” shootout that year. But ’89 was when the “Faszination on the Nürburgring” video was released, cementing Ruf’s awesomeness in the minds of anybody who had the chance to see it.

This particular car, the ninth CTR built (of 29 total, six of which were Lightweight models), was reportedly stored at Alois Ruf Jr.’s house and used as his personal car to some extent before being delivered to its first real owner. Mr. Ruf himself was, of course, the tuner whose obsession with tinkering on 911s got one of the most elite Porsche customization houses into the annals of history after taking over Ruf from his father (also named Alois).

But even without the fun backstory, the spec on this thing is just incredible. The red-over-dark-brown has a real richness to it. I feel like I can smell the interior through some of these photos. I mean, the whole car is just delightful to look at.

Sadly, for most of us, looking is all we’ll be doing with it—R.M. Sotheby’s is auctioning it at Monterey this summer, but expects it to fetch between $4.5 and $5 million.