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Thanks for the compliments guys, always appreciated - although the intent of my post was really to give a major tip of the hat to the Ruf's for their incredible work.
Mooty, after testing over a dozen military-type greens, we used Glasurit RAL 6003 Olive Green and then modified it to make this custom color.
With respect to attraction to Ruf cars, there is a huge fan base but they (RUF) would do well to invest more in sustaining at least one or two "dealers" here. The guys in Dallas, RAC, as I recall are no longer representing Ruf here.
Do RUFs even pass DOT? Or can the newer ones only be brought in for collectors, shows. Based on the posted pics I don't see a side air bag and the license plate/frame imply that to me.
In addition to all that have been said, Alois & Estonia have been
wonderful & generous hosts on my prior visits to Pfaffenhausen
in Bavaria. I still see them just about every August on their
visits to the Historics in Monterey. As an interesting side note,
Estonia hails from Venezuela & I believe she met Alois in here
in the US many years ago! Alois was previously married & has
grown children from his first wife.
*
Originally Posted by secretcollector
People just don't realize that they are one of the only
manufacturers (not tuners or retro/modifier firms) in
the world which is independently owned and building
totally bespoke cars.
As some of you that follow Ruf know, Genii Capital Group bought
a significant stake into Ruf Automotive in 2013. How much? We
really don't know! And Genii Capital’s founding board member,
Gerard Lopez, was named as Chairman of the Board in a non-
executive role at RUF.
Genii Capital (Luxembourg-based) biggest connection to the
automotive world (until recently) had been their ownership
& management of the Lotus Formula 1 team. However, that
was sold to Renault in Dec of 2015. After the 2013 announcement
of a partnership with Ruf, I frankly have not heard, or read,
much else about Genii Capital Group's continuing involvement
with the automotive company in Pfaffenhausen.
I've always been fascinated by Ruf cars, but....that's just it. Where is the warranty work done? Is the company going to be around 5 years from now? Are they really DOT certified?? A lot of unknowns for that amount of money. The beauty and craftsmanship however do not seem in question.
It has always been disappointing to me, on their behalf, that here in the U.S., they don't get more recognition and higher accolades for the incredible work that they do. People just don't realize that they are one of the only manufacturers (not tuners or retro/modifier firms) in the world which is independently owned and building totally bespoke cars.
I hope that this project, the just announced Yellowbird 30 and others they have in the works finally brings them the audience here that they enjoy in Europe.
I think every Porsche aficionado in the US is very well aware of Ruf. I was blown away by their products at the 2015 Geneva show; my favorite stuff there...the GT3RS and GT4 were so pedestrian in comparison. But it seems like their US marketing effort has been limited to one Dallas dealer that only offers/offered parts and modified cars, no? Very few people are interested in or willing to driving around on dealer plates to skirt EPA/DOT/CARB regs...
Singer has demonstrated that there clearly is a market in the US for bespoke, focused Porsche-based products. Perhaps the new capital infusion mentioned by Eduardo will lead to a serious effort here by Ruf?
There is a lot more to the dallas situation and the distribution of RUF than I'm willing to discuss. I was a customer there since 2003. I have driven many of the RUF cars and the one I always wanted was a CTR2 993. Dallas always treated me really well and they basically got squeezed too hard by Ruf and decided to go independent and focus more on "whatever the customer wants" as opposed to "what Ruf wants". Things like that are a natural business cycle and as a dealer I can say that sometimes I get friction with my brands as well.
Digression...
First time I went 200MPH was in an RT12 (the Mexico blue car from the ring video) and the car was awesome.
I think that they (Ruf) have gotten their act together but around/ during the financial crisis they got involved in some bad decisions that turned their customers off, and Porsche simultaneously stopped selling them shells. It was a double whammy that prevented me from getting one myself and ended up with a CGT instead.
04-02-2017, 12:03 AM
Paint color
