interclassics - Streetwell

To the untrained eye this looks like any other older Porsche. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.This is the RUF SCR. It may wear the familiar silhouette of a classic 911, but beneath its instantly recognisable profile is something far more audacious: a supercar engineered entirely by RUF, built from the ground up on a proprietary carbon‑fiber monocoque chassis, and powered by a 4.0 liter naturally aspirated flat-six that screams its lungs out at 8,270 rpm.

RUF’s revival of the SCR name began in 2018, but the concept matured into the machine we see here. At Interclassics in Maastricht, Holland I spotted not one but two of these incredible machines. Bavaria Motors, a specialist in performance cars and official distributor of RUF, from Belgium made the trip to the event and showcased this green and silver example.

At the centre of both these cars sits that engine, a hand-built, water‑cooled 4.0‑liter flat-six developed entirely in-house. It produces 510 horsepower and has a direct electronic throttle system. Giving it a throttle response that modern turbocharged engines can only dream about. According to RUF, the engine reaches its peak power at 8,270 rpm and sends 470 Nm of torque rearwards through a six-speed manual transmission of its own design.

In the annals of motorsport, few stories encapsulate the mix of ambition, ingenuity, and controversy quite like this one. Long before Dr. Helmut Marko became the architect behind Red Bull Racing’s dominance in Formula 1, he was stirring the pot in another prestigious racing series: the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM).

The year was 1988. Dr. Marko was running his own DTM team, fielding a pair of Mercedes-Benz 190Es. The cars were driven by Jörg van Ommen, a capable wheelman rivaling the factory-backed squads, and Franz Klammer, the legendary skier-turned-racer. For a privateer operation, the results were stellar. Van Ommen was pushing the works Mercedes team hard, earning admiration — and perhaps some resentment from the Mercedes-Benz factory team.

Behind the scenes, Mercedes-Benz was preparing to launch a game-changing evolution of its 190E race car for the 1989 season. Dubbed the 2.5L EVO1, the upgrade featured a larger, more powerful engine and significant aerodynamic enhancements. It was designed to take the fight to BMW, and anyone else daring to challenge Mercedes’ dominance.

Tag: interclassics

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