RUF's new Ehra pays tribute to the speed run that made it a legend
RUF built a new 650hp widebody supercar and named it after the track where it made history.
RUF unveiled the Ehra at The Quail during Monterey Car Week, its latest creation built on the carbon-fibre monocoque chassis the German tuner-turned-manufacturer first introduced on the 2017 CTR Anniversary, and has since used for the SCR, the off-road Rodeo and the Tribute. Despite the classic 911 silhouette, the Ehra shares essentially nothing with an actual Porsche underneath.
A widebody built without RUF's usual duck or whale tail
The Ehra is 58mm wider at the front and 54mm wider at the rear than the CTR Anniversary, giving it a proper widebody stance without resorting to the duck or whale tail RUF is known for. Instead, a vented carbon-fibre wing pops up automatically at motorway speeds and tucks away when it isn't needed. Custom front and rear fascias, LED lighting, air intakes cut into the rear quarter windows and new five-spoke forged magnesium wheels with centre-lock hubs round out the exterior. The launch car is finished in “Liquid Silver” paint, with yellow brake calipers front and rear, a quiet nod to the Yellowbird it's named after.
The engine and gearbox doing the work
Power comes from RUF's 3.6-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six, producing 650hp and 900Nm of torque, sent to all four wheels through a fully variable all-wheel-drive system with a rear limited-slip differential. Notably, that power goes through a seven-speed manual gearbox rather than a paddle-shift automatic. RUF says the Ehra reaches 0-60mph (roughly 97km/h) in 3.2 seconds; a top speed hasn't been confirmed, though given the car's Yellowbird namesake, a figure north of 300km/h wouldn't be a surprise. Double-wishbone suspension at all four corners, with pushrod-actuated horizontal adaptive dampers, was tuned to balance outright pace with everyday usability, and six-piston front/four-piston rear brakes handle stopping duties.
A cabin built to match the effort under the skin
Inside, folding carbon-fibre bucket seats are trimmed in light-brown leather with RUF's signature “Pasha” checkered pattern, paired with a leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel, titanium pedals and green-faced analogue gauges. “EHRA” badging is worked into the rear firewall and door sills, and an integrated display has been designed to blend into the cabin rather than dominate it.
The name comes from where the Yellowbird made history
RUF named the car after Ehra-Lessien, the German proving ground where Phil Hill drove the original CTR Yellowbird to 211mph in 1987, a production-car speed record that built RUF's reputation. Building a new flagship on that name, rather than another Yellowbird tribute, puts the emphasis on the achievement itself rather than just the car that did it.
Revealed alongside the cars that inspired it
RUF brought the Ehra to Monterey Car Week alongside several other cars from its own line-up, including the Rodeo and the SCR, putting its newest creation in direct company with the models that share its underpinnings.
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RUF doesn't often miss, and naming this one after a speed run instead of the car that set it is a nice bit of restraint from a company that could easily have leaned on the Yellowbird's looks instead. The pop-up wing and yellow calipers do the nostalgia work quietly, without turning the Ehra into a straight tribute act.
The seven-speed manual is the real story here, though. Building a 650hp all-wheel-drive widebody supercar in 2026 and still routing it through a stick shift is a deliberate choice, one that echoes what we said about McLaren's own manual gamble earlier this week, and it says more about who RUF thinks its customers are than any spec sheet does.
