About RUF
Ruf Automobile GmbH is a German automobile manufacturer. Rufs are built from unmarked Porsche chassis. When a chassis arrives, Ruf builds their own independent work into the car. Because Ruf installs many of their own-made parts, the company is recognized as a manufacturer by the German government. This is a similar business model to the one employed by Gemballa.
History
The company was founded in 1923 in Pfaffenhausen, Germany as "Auto Ruf" by Alois Ruf Sr. as a service garage and was eventually expanded to include a full-service gas station. Ruf began experimenting with vehicle designs of his own in the late 1940s, and in 1955 designed and built a tour bus, which he marketed around Germany. The positive response it received led to Ruf expanding his business again by starting his own separately owned bus company.
Alois Sr.'s involvement in the auto industry had a distinct effect on his son, Alois Ruf Jr., who became a sports car enthusiast and in 1960 began servicing and restoring Porsche automobiles out of his father's garage. In 1974 when Alois Sr. died, Alois Jr. took control of the business and quickly decided to do away with the bus company, service garage and gas station, switching the company over to being solely focused on work with Porsche vehicles. A year later in 1975, the first Ruf tuned Porsches appeared for sale.
Ruf debuted their first complete model in 1977, a tuned version of Porsche's 930 with a stroked 3.3 litre motor. This was followed in 1978 by Ruf's first complete non-turbo Porsche, a naturally aspirated 911 with a stroked 3.2 litre motor producing 217 horsepower.
