For a few decades now Ruf Automobile GmbH has provided Porsche owners unsatisfied with the marque’s standard offerings the opportunity to have something that is quite a bit more special. In some cases, those builds look like entirely original designs where we might fail to recognize the original chassis upon which it was based, but most of Ruf’s work is easily identifiable and the untrained eye may not even realize these are any different from a standard Porsche. There has always been a serious sleeper factor to a Ruf build and it is that dedication to maintaining the refined nature of any Porsche that I think has made Ruf such a serious manufacturer and sustained its success. The example here, a 1989 Ruf RCT Evo, I think falls into that latter category of build that, for the most part, differs only subtly from the 911 from which it sprang. Under the exterior, however, lies a much more potent beast: 425 hp directed through a 6-speed manual transmission and delivered, in this case, only to the rear wheels makes for serious performance and an attention-holding driving experience. That’s a good 45 hp even above the 3.6 Turbo S! A Ruf build always has been a complete work enhancing each aspect of the car’s performance so, naturally, upgrades to braking and suspension are included to help keep that extra power under control. There are a few details of this RCT Evo that I would change: it doesn’t possess the interesting rear light treatment we see on some RCTs, the rain rails are still present, and Mint Green, though one of the special 964 colors, has never been my favorite. Those are minor niggles (well, other than the Mint Green exterior) and entirely aesthetic so we can rest assured the performance remains top notch. All together this is a special 964 and a conversion we come across much less frequently than those for the 930.
