As you’re probably well aware, there is no shortage of Porsche tuning, customizing, and restoration shops that turn out some impressive P-cars. German enterprise RUF is one of the originators, having started building well-engineered custom Porsches in the mid-1970s, becoming famous among enthusiasts by the mid-1980s with its 200-plus-mph RUF CTR Yellow Bird, and continuing that success through the current day. Now, company chief Alois Ruf Jr. has announced his brand’s latest creation, the RUF Rodeo Concept.
Designed as an off-road-ready sports car, the RUF Rodeo Concept shares its carbon fiber platform with the RUF CTR Anniversary and SCR models, both reinterpretations of the venerable rear-engine Porsche 911, and adds a four-wheel-drive system, larger dirt- and mud-shedding tires, and long-travel suspension. RUF says the Rodeo Concept can utilize a turbocharged RUF flat-six engine or a naturally-aspirated unit, like the 510-hp, 347-lb-ft, 4.0-liter flat-six found in the SCR. We can also see a knob mounted on the center console with the word “Vorne,” German for “in front.” This appears to possibly adjust power bias between the front and rear wheels.
Other touches to the RUF Rodeo Concept include a custom roof rack for hauling gear, four front-mounted auxiliary driving lights, a front bumper guard, underbody skid plates, a natural leather interior, Native American art-inspired seat upholstery and a tow hook-the latter just in case you get well and truly stuck out on the trails. No word on how much the engine-lid-mounted shovel will run you on the options list.
While modifying Porsche 911s for off-road and rally-style driving has been popular among Porschephiles in recent years, the idea has roots in earlier Porsche Motorsports campaigns. Porsche factory driver Vic Elford won the 1968 Monte Carlo Rally behind the wheel of a specially prepared 911 T, while later in the 1980s Porsche began testing the all-wheel-drive system of the upcoming 959 supercar in a series of prototype 911 rally cars that ran-and won-the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally. Porsche’s first 911 road car with all-wheel drive, the Carrera 4, arrived in 1989 (for the 1990 model year) with the 964 series 911.
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While RUF’s Rodeo Concept may look an awful lot like a Porsche 911, it is actually a completely bespoke vehicle with a carbon-fiber chassis and 4.0-liter flat-six engine developed in-house by RUF and sharing no Porsche-branded componentry. As you may suspect, all that work doesn’t come cheap. RUF also announced that its first production SCR has been built and that car is expected to start in the $800,000 range. That price, incidentally, is about where many Singer cars start as well. Singers are “re-imagined” enough that company founder Rob Dickenson prohibits them to be called Porsches, though most Singers do begin life as production 964-series 911s.
RUF says that U.S.-based RUF enthusiasts inspired the new model, including mega-enthusiast Bruce Meyer (founder of the Rodeo Drive Concours, where the special model derives its name from), fashion magnate and car collector Ralph Lauren, and California-based collector Phillip Sarofim.
