Yahoo Autos The RUF Bergmeister Is a Tribute to Porsche's Lightest Car
Alois Ruf has collected many things over the years, among them, a 993 Cabriolet bodyshell left over after Porsche stopped building air-cooled 911s in the late Nineties. Almost 25 years later, that shell has become a car. Dubbed Bergmeister, this a tribute to the ultra-rare Porsche 909 Bergspyder, and designed by no less than Tony Hatter, who penned the original 993.
The original Bergspyder was built for the 1968 European Hill Climb Championship under the auspices of Ferdinand Piech, whose obsession with lightweighting rivaled Lotus founder Colin Chapman. The finished car weighed just 847 pounds, making it the lightest Porsche ever made. It was not a huge success, so the Bergspyder languished in obscurity until Porsche made a concept based on the 981 Boxster Spyder that paid tribute to the lightweight wonder.
"The customer said, 'Why don't we make a fun car? Something inspired by hill climbs,'" says Estonia Ruf, wife of Alois, who runs the day-to-day of the company. RUF has a history of hill-climbing itself, so a tribute to the Bergspyder seemed perfect.
The body panels are carbon fiber and the engine is a single-turbo 3.6-liter flat-six that can trace its origins to the 993-based RUF BTR2 of the Nineties. Better engine management and upgraded internals like titanium connecting rods help it produce 450 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. Naturally, a six-speed manual gearbox sends power to the rear wheels, and there's a limited-slip differential, too.
Wheels are 19-inch center-locks similar to what RUF uses on the new SCR, and there are carbon brakes as well. The interior is as pared back as could possibly be, with two bucket seats trimmed in suede and Porsche's houndstooth-esque Pepita, and a dashboard with just a fog-light switch, a fan-speed switch, and a battery cutoff. RUF says weight is around 2425 pounds.
"We thought, 'We'll see the reaction.'" Ruf says. "If [it's not positive], we figure it's a lovely car, we'll keep it in the family, as part of the history, and if we have enough people that are interested, we will go into production."
Alois Ruf told us around 15 customers registered interest, so it seems the Bergmeister will head to production. The production version will be based around RUF's new bespoke carbon-fiber monocoque, which underpins the CTR Anniversary and SCR, so it should be even lighter than the 993-based car you see here.
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