Ruf CTR
Speed at 1 mile: 185.8 mph — 4th
Time to 1 mile: 28.6 sec — 7th (tie)When this Ruf CTR, aka Yellow Bird, first appeared in Road & Track — in the July 1987 "World's Fastest Cars" cover story in which it went 211 mph at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien track in Germany — there was a young waiter at a Bennigans restaurant in Houston who idolized Alois Ruf and one day hoped to build fast cars of his own. His name: John Hennessey. So when the noted Viper tuner sees Yellow Bird in our lineup, he's totally stoked...like a kid seeing his dream car for the first time. At Lemoore, though, John's enthusiasm is matched by that of Steve Millen, who drives Yellow Bird — now with more than 100,000 kilometers on its odometer — to a scintillating speed of 185.8 mph in the standing mile, notably squatting with each upshift of its super-quick 28.6-sec. run. Not bad for a 18-year-old car. Although it's not quite as quick as a modern Trans-Am car, it has a higher speed at the end of the mile. When Steve gets out, his eyes are smiling from within his full-face helmet. All he can say is: "Wow!" Continues Steve: "That thing's a blast. It accelerates hard. It's a real old-school car with a lot of torque and power. Just awesome. What a rush. It pulled the whole way through. You can feel that it's lighter than some of the other cars." Then, as he gives Alois a thumbs-up sign of approval, he adds, "It's a good old car." The understatement of the day. [ www.rufautocentre.com ]
Curb weight est 2580 lb
Horsepower 469 bhp
Pounds per horsepower est 5.5
Gearbox 5-speed manual
Tires Dunlop SP Sport 8000; 205/50ZR-17 f, 255/40ZR-17 r [ http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=7&article_id=2572&page_number=1 ]
Luke Pavlick
 
Items in the mirror appear ... TO BE LOSING I want to die peacefully in my sleep ... just like Gramps
not screaming and terrified like the
people in his car at the time |
