Friday 12th April 2002

New RUF

RUF will unveil their own car in Geneva in 2003 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their working with Porsche. The car has yet to be named yet but is expected to cost less than $100,000 and is sure to be a hot performer.

Work also continues on a 3600S version of the Boxster.

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[robert farago]

If anyone has a chance to create a niche for themselves, it's RUF. They already achieve the seemingly impossible: adding excitement to the world's most highly developed sports car, without compromising its fundamental strengths. RUF's engineering integrity is at least as good as Porsche's.

Equally important, they have a loyal customer base. RUF has already taken six orders for the new car, sight unseen.

The only cloud on the horizon is that RUF's new car could well be BETTER than Porsche's. Although RUF are a low volume manufacturer (with a lower case "l"), what will that do to their relationship with the Sultans of Stuttgart?

Answer: Porsche could one day buy RUF. And so they should. Mercedes - AMG, BMW - M, Porsche - RUF.

[Roadrunner]

I'm not sure Ruf has the ability to do things that Porsche couldn't, it's more like Porsche seems to restrain itself a little. If the engineers at Porsche can design and construct their beauties from scratch, then I'm sure they're fully capable of turning the turbo's boost up and adding another oil cooler. I guess the most important thing to Porsche is safeguarding their reputation for battleship build quality, rather than pushing their engines close to peak output, possibly affecting long term reliability.

[thom]

quote:The only cloud on the horizon is that RUF's new car could well be BETTER than Porsche's

Why would this be a cloud in Porsche's skies?
IMO Porsche customers who know about the Porsche world and fast cars in general are well aware that Ruf's cars are faster, but the 'magic' (or appeal if you prefer) of the brand, among others such as production capacity of course, is here to prevent Ruf from selling more cars that Porsche; what is more the bulk of customers, ie no natural-born petrolheads, wouldn't even think of giving a look elsewhere.
I think there are many people who could buy a Ruf but just go for the Porsche...

>> Edited by thom on Friday 12th April 16:56

[JonRB]

I'd say that it probably suits both companies. The RUF name weeds out the badge snobs and just leaves the enthusiasts, so a RUF can be more focussed than the equivalent (or donor) Porsche.