The Dragon Fire Orange-painted celebration of RUF’s ultra-rare CRT2 could become one of the most expensive 911-based vehicles ever sold.
RUF’s heyday was three-plus decades ago, but the few commissions that the small-volume automaker still produces today are evidently more valuable than classic the Porsche 911s on which they’re (loosely) based.
Unlike Brabus or even Singer Vehicle Design, RUF is recognized as a manufacturer by German authorities, and its vehicles carry their own VINs. The only component sourced from Porsche is the bare body—everything else is made by RUF.
During the aforementioned heyday circa 1987, RUF made the CTR, which stands for Group C Turbo RUF, a reference to the endurance racing category in which that era’s Porsche 911 competed. Starting with a shell from the long-running G-Series line of bodies provided by Porsche, the outfit developed its own take on the Porsche flat-six, increasing its displacement to 3.4 liters, fitting twin turbochargers, and building its own crankcase.
The CTR—and other RUF reimaginings of Porsches that came before it, like the 1970s-era 911 SCR—had always been cool. But the CTR was made a legend in Road &Track’s World’s Fastest Cars 1988 issue, where it was revealed that the model was the fastest roadgoing car the outlet had ever tested.
“At 211 mph, we have yet to find [a car] that is street-legal that will top the RUF CTR Porsche,” the outlet revealed. “As R&T contributing editor Phil Hill put it after achieving that lofty speed, ‘I must say, it’s pretty extraordinary to take a car you can drive on the street and go this fast. How fast is 339 kilometers per hour in miles per hour? Two-ten or so? Amazing.’”
RUF continued its hi-po Porsche story in 1995 with the CTR2, which instead utilized the newer, wider, and more aggressive body from the 993 series. It got a 3.6-liter twin-turbo flat-six good for 520 horsepower, up from the CTR’s 469 horsepower, and could hit 217 mph. Despite an extremely low production volume—an exact number hasn’t been verified, but estimates top out in the low double digits—the CTR2 was made a legend in its own right thanks to four Gran Turismo appearances, beginning with the second installment of the wildly popular racing sim video game franchise.
The 1998 Project Dragon seen here is a celebration of the CTR2, specifically the uprated 580-horsepower Sport version. Constructed using the final unfinished 993 body retained by RUF since the CTR2 era, Project Dragon was delivered to the anonymous commissioner in 2024 and crafted in collaboration with Tony Hatter, renowned for his design of the 993-generation Porsche 911.
While its Dragon Fire Orange shell and five-spoke wheels are retro, Fast and Furious-esque throwbacks to the late 1990s/early 2000s, the componentry beneath is mostly modern, including the carbon ceramic brakes and Bilstein PSS10 suspension. It fittingly runs an air-cooled flat-six—the 993 911s were the last to feature air-cooled engines. However, it produces a savage 621 horsepower, a much higher output than even the track-focused 911 GT2s from the 993 era. Delivered in March 2024, Project Dragon displayed just 759 miles at the time of cataloguing and presents in virtually new condition throughout.
David Brynan, Gooding Christie’s Senior Specialist, said: “Project Dragon carries forward the spirit of the Yellowbird and CTR2, the extraordinary cars that established RUF’s reputation for combining understated design with exceptional performance. Commissioned by one of the marque’s foremost collectors and designed in collaboration with Tony Hatter, it brings the unmistakable character of the CTR2 into a bespoke car built with the benefit of decades of further development.”
Incredibly, the 1998 RUF Project Dragon carries a pre-auction valuation of $6 million to $8 million. If something in that price range materializes when it crosses the block at Gooding Christie’s Retromobile New York Auctions on the weekend of Friday, November 20, it will become one of the most expensive 911s ever sold.
