Introduced for the 1987 model year and based on the Porsche 911, the CTR featured an enlarged and highly tuned version of Porsche's 3.2 litre flat-six cylinder engine, lightened body panels, an integrated roll cage (adding chassis stiffness in addition to occupant safety), upgraded suspension and braking systems, a custom-designed transmission, and several unique trim pieces such as polyurethane bumpers, and the use of the side-mounted oil filler (a Porsche feature for the 1972 model year only) necessitated by relocating the oil tank forward to clear the intercooler on that side.

The car received its nickname, "Yellowbird", during testing by Road & Track magazine, whose staff members noted the contrast created by its yellow paintwork against the overcast skies on the day of their photo shoot.

[2] The CTR (abbreviation of "Group C Turbo Ruf") was based on the 1987 911 Carrera 3.2 as opposed to the 930; Porsche's factory turbocharged version of the 911.

The decision to base the car on the Carrera 3.2 was made because of the 3.2's slightly lower curb weight and drag coefficient.

The company debuted the vehicle at the end of 1987 with pricing set at US$142,900 (approx US$362,000 in 2022), although that number could vary depending on whether a given customer ordered it directly from Ruf or brought in a car purchased via dealer for conversion.

[4][6][7] The CTR could generally outperform most of the other high performance cars of the time, including the Ferrari Testarossa and Lamborghini Countach.

Car & Driver called it groundbreaking, enthralling and influential and for Top Gear it's the best and most exciting lap for watching.

[5][14] In 2004, a Ruf CTR was able to keep up with newer sports cars like the Porsche Carrera GT, the Ferrari Enzo and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren at the Autocar 0-100-0 challenge and impressed the audience,[6] so did another one - with more than 100,000 kilometers on its odometer - at the Road & Track standing mile contest 2005.

The new CTR utilises an in-house developed carbon fibre body bearing resemblance to a Porsche 964 along with an aluminium chassis resulting in a dry weight of 2,640 lb (1,200 kg).