THIS VERY CAR - the No.1 chassis BTR-1 - TRCBD 001- was delivered new in October 1982.

See 9 page OCTANE Magazine feature - this month's issue, April 2022 issue No.226

Road tested at 186mph in 1984 in Road & Track as the World’s Fastest Production Car TRCBD 001 – 186mph was achieved by 1961 Formula One Ferrari World Champion and three time Le Mans Winner Phil Hill – the USA’s first F1 champion from Santa Monica California. A copy of Road & Track is on file here. Later, Paul Frere - Belgian motoring journalist and 1960 Le Mans winner - achieved 189mph in this car by folding the door mirrors!

MAIN PHOTO is of Phil Hill at speed road testing this car in 1984 when first registered M-VX 3113

THE STORY OF THIS CAR – the very first BTR RUF 911

From tuner and modifier of Porsches, Alois Ruf graduated into full manufacturer status – awarded in 1981 by the German Automobile Manufacturers Association.

The first group of BTR RUF-designated cars – numbered BTR-1, BTR-2 and BTR-3 were constructed in 1982.

Alois RUF’s favoured 911 was the basis for the trio of initial cars – the very first of which : BTR-1 is offered for sale here…

The BTR’s engine was based on the 3.3-litre Turbo…this No.1 production car here is 3.4-litres, fed by a RUF intercooler and oversize KKK Turbocharger.

The resulting 369bhp feeds a previously not introduced new dog-leg 5-speed gearbox, not even used by Porsche at this stage. This custom-built dog-leg 5-speed gearbox was Alois RUF’s secret weapon – with the perfect set of gear ratios for achieving 189mph.

The development of the dog-leg RUF 5-speed gearbox was a big development back in the day because the factory 5-speed unit from the 3.2 Carrera could not handle the extra power of the turbocharged Porsche 930 flat-six. So until RUF solved the issue, 930 owners were destined to use the transmission that was one gear short of reaching the car’s full potential

Suspension and brakes are also uprated to RUF’s BTR specification

Phil Hill remarked “I was really delightfully impressed by its manners and astounded by its speed -and yet it’s quite tractable for normal driving”

Paul Frere later recorded 189 mph - to do this he folded the door mirrors inboard and recorded a one-way pass

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Lot number 839 Brooks Auction catalogue number 78 of 4th December 1997 at Olympia states:- “BTR-1 was delivered new in October 1982 to Wolf Gregor, passing in due course to his brother Tilman, its current owner. The car made history in 1984, when, after a test conducted by Road and Track magazine, it was pronounced the ‘world’s fastest’. To win the crown this RUF trounced not only Porsche’s own 928S and 911 Turbo, but the best from Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, and Lamborghini to boot. The car was driven by ex-Formula One World Champion Phil Hill, BTR-1 clocked a staggering 186.2 mph; later managing 188.9 mph with Paul Frere at the wheel. ‘I was really delightfully impressed by its manners and astounded by its speed – and yet it’s quite tractable for normal driving,’ remarked Hill.

Repainted in in the winter of 1995, and benefitting from an engine and transmission rebuild c13,000kms ago, BTR-1 comes with all-leather interior, rollbar, sunroof, stereo radio-cassette 17” RUF wheels, and has a German TUV/ASU”

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So…the third owner was Stephen Bloch of London N6, acquiring this car at the above mentioned Brooks Sale, at The National Hall Olympia – photo No.2 above showing the car being driven flat out by Phil Hill when registered M-VX-3113

Bloch recognised this RUF as the genuine article rather than a hacked about old 911 with a turbocharger with an expensive set of the company’s light alloy wheels, but his ideas remained 356-shaped until he realised that auctioneer Robert Brooks was working hard to arouse some interest in this BTR-1. Bloch began to consider it, and then, as the bidding languished around the £10,000 mark, he became seriously tempted. This 190 mph projectile could be the high-performance bargain of the century! Robert Brooks called Bloch’s bud of £12,000 once…twice…three times, and after a second which must have seemed like an eternity, the gavel fell to Bloch for a total of £14,703, or not much more than a good 911SC of similar vintage.

Stephen Bloch was approached by 911 and Porsche World for their July 1998 issue which details that the first owner was Wolf Gregor and then his brother Tilman. Both meticulous in this car’s upkeep, “with full service and maintenance, Tilman accounted for no fewer than three major engine overhauls and one rebuild of the 5-speed gearbox (not unreasonable when you consider the power that the RUF factory had managed to extract from it)”. A copy of this 911 and Porsche World is on file.

“Bloch took BTR-1 straight to RUF Automobile GB in Weybridge, Surrey, for a thorough inspection and service. Service manager Graham Leask identified -- PLEASE SEE https://www.charlesleith.com/cars-for-sale/1982-ruf-911-btr-1-first-production-car