Porsche tuner RUF sets up UK office

RUF, the well-known tuner of Porsche cars, has set up a UK office for the first time.  

The Tunbridge Wells-based operation joins RUF’s network of offices around the world. The centre of RUF’s UK operations has been set up in partnership with existing exotic car broker TheCarSpy.

The Bavarian brand, which is famous for its extreme iterations of existing Porsche products, currently has a six-car range made up entirely of 200mph-plus cars.

Three of these were showcased at last year’s Geneva motor show: the 791bhp Porsche 911-based RtR, the 424bhp Turbo Florio (based on the 911 Targa 4 GTS) and the RGT (another 911-based car, this time with a 4.2-litre engine and 518bhp).

RUF has been working with Porsche on its cars since 1974, when Alois Ruf Jr took over the company from his late father. RUF will also continue to offer its restoration and classic services in addition to its pumped-up Porsche line-up.

It’s not yet known if this initial UK presence is part of a wider global growth, but it’s likely that as the Porsche brand goes from strength to strength, interest in RUF’s offshoots will too. It's also likely that an updated version of the RUF 3800, which is currently based on the Cayman, will be released following the launch of the updated 718 Cayman. 

Mark Sekula, co-founder of TheCarSpy and now RUF Automobile UK, said: “The UK has tremendous potential for RUF cars and it will be our task to establish a sound base for both pre-sales and post-sales support for customers in this country. We feel that now is the perfect time for us to satisfy the needs of the high-performance and luxury sector based on our own current market experience here in the UK.”

We drive a RUF rival, the 9FF GT9: