Ruf came into the public eye in 1987 when they released their Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2-based CTR, an extremely limited-production model which for several years held the title of world's fastest production vehicle.

Originally offered at a retail Price of $315,000 USD, the CTR2 featured either the standard rear-wheel drive or an optional all-wheel-drive, Recaro racing seats with Simpson five-point belts, enlarged brakes, an integrated roll-cage, a Ruf manufactured coil-over suspension system, an integrated bi-functional rear wing (for downforce, and air induction to 2 intercoolers, one on each side) and a kevlar body with lightweight glass; power came from a race derived air-cooled Porsche 3.6 litre, twin-turbocharged flat-six engine, based on the engine used in the Porsche 962 Le Mans Group C car (hence the name CTR2) but tuned by Ruf to produce 520 hp (388 kW) and 505 ft lb (685 N·m) of torque.

The McLaren F1 was the only other production car at the time that broke the CTR2's record, by clocking a top speed of 240 mph in 1998 where Mclaren claimed the limiter was removed surpassing its previous 231mph claim.however,one source states the F1 that set the new top speed record was an upgraded version making far more horsepower than claimed, which then made the Ruf CTR2 fall to the 4th fastest production car of the decade.

In 1997, Alois Ruf intended to prove the new car's ability and entered two special wide-body 'CTR2 Yellowbird' prototype 'Sport' versions, code-named 'CTR2sport' with 702 hp (523 kW) in the 1997 Pikes Peak Hillclimb race.

Steve Beddor's 'Pikes Peak' prototype Ruf CTR2sport, went on to win the Virginia City Hill Climb 3 times, as well as finishing 1st-place in 20 other races nationwide, making it arguably one of the most important 'non-Zuffenhausen' Porsche racecars of the 1990s.