Meet The RUF Tribute: Vintage 911 Styling With A 543-HP Turbocharged Air-Cooled Engine

Porsche isn't the only automaker celebrating 60 years of the 911, and RUF Automobile has just unveiled a new sports car at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, to celebrate the same milestone. But don't call it a 911! The air-cooled RUF Tribute is an entirely different sports car, despite its visual similarities with the Porsche, and RUF is an automaker in its own right, not a tuner like some seem to think.

The RUF Tribute is special in a number of ways, but mostly because it combines vintage 911 styling with a 3.6-liter twin-turbo air-cooled (!) flat-six generating 543 horsepower at 6,750 rpm and 553 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm. That's just 29 hp short of a Porsche 911 Turbo but in a lightweight, vintage-style package.

The engine itself has been designed by Alois Ruf and is all-new for the Tribute, featuring billet aluminum cylinder heads, four-cam three-valve technology for the first time in an air-cooled car, VVT, and dry-sump lubrication.

Other highlights include twin intercoolers, a Bosch electronic engine management system, fly-by-wire throttle, and static high-voltage distribution with individual coils. Beyond this, each cylinder has its own engine knock control system to monitor and prevent ping by adjusting each cylinder's fuelling and spark.

While most elements of the RUF Tribute are new, the subframe on which the engine is mounted is a carryover of the RUF modular system employed in the SCR and CTR Anniversary.

You'll find double-wishbone suspension at each corner, while the chassis is carbon fiber and boasts RUF's integrated roll cage, making it stiff and lightweight.

RUF touts the Tribute as "a love letter to air cooling" and is a true homage to the original air-cooler 911.

"At RUF, we believe in tradition and being true to our roots while constantly innovating," said Alois Ruf Jr. "Our new RUF Tribute shows our appreciation for the iconic Porsche 911, my first automotive love, with a modernized air-cooled engine designed in-house at RUF."

Revealed at this year's Monterey Car Week celebrations, the Tribute is on display alongside the RUF CTR3 Evo - the most powerful RUF ever produced - and the roofless RUF R Spyder.

"The CTR3 Evo pushes the capabilities of RUF even further, while the R Spyder is our unique reinterpretation of a classic design. All of our new RUF vehicles perfectly blend elements of the past and present while pushing all aspects of performance," says Alois Ruf Jr.