CHAPTER AND VERSE

Back in 1977, when Commodore was unveiling its PET all-in-one home computer and the world was having its ears beaten into submission by the Sex Pistols, Alois Ruf Jr was busying himself with the launch of Turbo Number One, the first of many Porsche-based production cars to roll out of RUF’s Pfaffenhausen workshop. Modelled on the ground-breaking 930 (911 Turbo), wearing Carrera RS 3.0 bodywork and dressed in dark green paint, Turbo Number One was a 930 on steroids — engine displacement was increased to 3.3 litres (well in advance of Porsche applying the same update to the 930), developing 303bhp at 5,500rpm, with 304lbft torque coming on song at 4,000rpm. Rolling on bespoke RUF rims and uprated Bilstein suspension, this mean green speed machine also upped the ante when it came to luxury — over standard 930 interior specification, Turbo Number One boasted additional air-conditioning, a heated rear-view mirror, lashings of dark green leather (including a perforated headlining) and trick footwell illumination only extinguishing when the driver’s seat belt was locked into place and the ignition key was in its barrel.

Transferring power to the road via a Getrag fivespeed transmission twelve years before Porsche would get around to doing the same with the 930, Turbo Number One despatched the zero to 62mph dash in 5.1 seconds. Despite the extra ratio, refined suspension and the introduction of an eighty percent limited-slip differential, however, RUF’s creation was still a handful, its nose being lighter than that of the 930 and relying on super-subtle movements of the driver’s right foot to ensure corners were navigated start-to-finish without incident. Only four units were built.

SEA OF CHANGE

Based on the 911 SC and featuring a naturally aspirated flat-six with