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08.12.2022
Meet the Ruf Bergmeister. Its the latest car to leave the Ruf factory in Germany and is a lightweight homage to hillclimbing Porsches from the past. Inspired by the Porsche 906, 909 Bergspyder and 718 RS 60 Sypder, the Ruf Bergmeister is the lightest car Ruf has ever built, tipping the scales at just 1,100kg.
The 909 Bergspyder in particular played an important role in this car’s conception. The lightest car Porsche has ever made, it was built for the 1968 European Hillclimbing Championship. But the car was not forgotten by Porsche and it later became the inspiration for the first-generation 918 Boxster Spyder.
Based on a type-993 911 bodyshell, the Ruf Bergmeister was designed by the original designer of the 993. Naturally, the car is potent in the performance department. Power comes from a 3.6-litre turbocharged flat-six, producing 450hp and 442lb/ft of torque, via a slick-shifting, six-speed manual gearbox.
While no official performance figures have been released yet, thanks to the car’s lightness, you can expect the performance to be thrilling. Carbonfibre body panels, a stripped-back interior and a lightweight engine based on the 993’s Ruf BTR2 engine from the 1990s, helps to keep the weight down.
Under the bonnet, Motul lubricants ensure the Bergmeister’s mechanical parts work beautifully, blending the boundary between outright performance and top-quality reliability. As the official lubricant partner to Ruf, every car that leaves the factory is given the full range of Motul products, from Motul 300V engine oils, which have been continually developed over 50 years and tested to success in world motorsport, to brake and gear oils. In fact, even the machines that are used to make the cars are lubricated by Motul products.
While the Ruf Bergmeister was originally built as a one-off, at its unveiling at Monterey Car Week earlier this year, Ruf received significant interest in the car. If it does head into production, the car is likely to be built on the new, bespoke carbonfibre monocoque chassis that underpins other Ruf models such as the CTR, so expect it to be even lighter than the concept.
