European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                R a cars for the fortunate few a glimpse inside the engine compartment of a ctr twin Turbo known As the yellow Bird. A porsche Carrera Shell before Ruf izing Story and photos by Randy Barnett motor sports editor from the Road the buildings of Ruf automobile a Mph look like those of other car firms. Chances Are you would t notice them As you drive through the bavarian town of Pfaffenhauser. But within those premises some of the world s most exciting Road going sports cars Are created for the fortunate few who can afford them. Only 25 to 30 Ruf cars Are made during a year the most expensive costing More than $156,000 if purchased tax free and the waiting time from order to delivery Date is six to eight months. There is no shortage of extremely wealthy customers. Along with the manufacture of porsche based super cars Alois Ruf takes care of customers from All Over the world who want Stock porsche Ruf sized for More Power or sharper appearance or both. The firm which has 46 employees does it All engine and transmission conversions on customers porsche 911 s Ruf works on that Model exclusively suspension changes Interior and body changes and restoration. It s an International business with outlets in the United states Canada and Japan and plans for others in Australia France and England. There Are Ruf car fan clubs in the United states and Japan. Ruf a highly personable 39-year-old German master Mechanic grew up with the automobile business in his native town of Pfaffenhauser about 100 Miles Southeast of Stuttgart. Ruf s father Alois sr., who died in 1974, founded the business 50 years ago. The original building is part of today s Complex still in use. Then came the War and it was t until 1945 that my father got going again Ruf said. Times were hard then of course and he had to achieve things from nothing. He would repair anything on wheels. By 1960 my father had a Fiat Dealership then he switched to Bow in 1962. That Bow Dealership sounds Good today but at that time Bow had Only two models the tiny Isetta Bubble car with a motorcycle engine and the big Bow Sedan with a v 8. Nearly everyone preferred the vow Beetle to the Isetta and no one could afford a v-8. So after a year the Bow experience was ended. My father said no More dealerships i was a teen Ager then and a sports car fanatic. My father and i had a very Good relationship and when i had an idea he would always listen. So when i suggested that we specialize in sports car tuning concentrating on porsche cars he gave it a lot of thought and he agreed to give it a try. That was in 1963, and last year we celebrated our 25th anniversary by adding a new building across the Street. And that s the Success  the firm s relationship with the porsche factory has been Long and special Ruf said and includes contacts with the porsche technical Center at Peissach. Put simply Ruf said we offer certain products to the porsche 911 Driver that he can t get from the factory. A typical example is the porsche 911 Turbo. We put a five Speed transmission in our version continued on Page 10 february 16, 1989 stripes Magazine