Six million dollars for a 1989 Ruf? That’s what one deep-pocketed collector just paid for an ultra-rare CTR Yellowbird at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction. That price is the highest ever recorded for a Ruf at auction. Only 29 Yellowbirds were ever built, and this one is even rarer. It’s barely been driven. The odometer shows just 1,040 miles, likely making it the lowest-mileage CTR in existence. The sale price is nearly six times more than the last Yellowbird sold at auction. That kind of jump says a lot about how collectors see these cars today. In the late ’80s, the Yellowbird was one of the fastest cars in the world. Decades later, it’s proving that rare speed—and low mileage—can still bring in serious money. Read More The Taycan Turbo GT is Now the Quickest Electric Car at Interlagos This 1989 Ruf CTR Yellowbird is a Rare Six-Speed Survivor Take a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2, strip it down, rebuild it, and turn it into something barely recognizable. That’s what Ruf did with the 1989 CTR Yellowbird. The transformation was about making the car as light and aerodynamic as possible. Steel doors, bonnet, and engine cover? Gone. In their place, aluminum panels shaved 180kg off the weight. Wider rear wheel arches, reshaped bumpers, and sleeker mirrors all played a role in reducing drag. Ruf built only 29 from scratch, and just nine left the factory in Blutengelb (Blossom Yellow)—the color that gave the Yellowbird its name. This car is one of them. In fact, it’s one of just four that traded Porsche’s five-speed gearbox for a six-speed manual. Inside, a Recaro seat setup and an aluminum roll cage kept things minimal and race-ready. Stored in a climate-controlled facility by its first owner and carefully maintained by its second, it remained in near-pristine condition. A Le Mans Engine Made the Ruf CTR Yellowbird the Fastest Road Car The Ruf CTR Yellowbird's 3.4-litre air-cooled flat-six borrowed technology from the Porsche 962, a car that dominated Le Mans three times. That meant race-grade fuel injection, a pair of turbochargers, and power figures that nearly doubled the stock 911 Carrera 3.2. Porsche’s standard four-speed manual wasn’t enough, so Ruf built its own six-speed gearbox to match the power curve. The result was 463bhp, 408lb-ft of torque, and a top speed of 211 mph, briefly making it the fastest production car in the world. Read More McLaren Adapts Fighter Jet Technology to Reinvent Carbon Fiber in Supercars This Yellowbird, Chassis 26, was fitted with the Leichtbau package, meaning more aluminium panels, a leather-wrapped roll cage, and Recaro bucket seats with harnesses. It even had a radio, just in case the driver wanted music at 200 mph. Fast-forward to 2024, and the car made headlines again—but this time on the auction floor. The last Yellowbird sold publicly in 2018 for $1.02 million. This one? $6.055 million. Alois Ruf Jr. was there to witness it, calling it the lowest-mile CTR ever sold at auction. Ruf also displayed a 2018 Ruf SCR, their 964-inspired carbon-tub creation, alongside a BTR2, Ruf’s take on the 993-generation Porsche 911. One of the SCRs featured the rare “Mary Stuart spec”, with a wraparound rear spoiler that blended into the fenders. Source: Gooding & Company
