Rare 730-HP Manual RUF Porsche-Based Supercar for Sale With Just 8,651 Miles
RUF doesn’t build many full cars, and it builds even fewer like this. A 2012 RUF Rt 12 R, one of the wildest Porsche-based supercars of the 997 era, has come up for sale through Graham Rahal Performance and is being showcased on duPont Registry with an asking price of $899,995.
Finished in Candy Apple Red over a black interior and showing just 8,651 miles, it’s being described as one of only nine Rt 12 Rs built and the only one specified with “S Optics,” essentially blending the most extreme R mechanical package with S-style visual details.
One Of Nine, And A Fully Fledged RUF
While it looks loosely like a 997-generation 911, the Rt 12 R is a full RUF-manufactured car, complete with its own VIN and extensive rework of the shell, running gear and engine. This example is from the final year of Rt 12 R production and is billed as the first fully in-house RUF motor car from that run. The body wears RUF’s own front bumper and splitter, wider rear haunches with integrated air tunnels to feed the turbos, and a carbon rear deck with a ducktail-and-wing combo that makes it look more like a road-legal GT racer than a tuned 911 Turbo.
Graham Rahal Performance’s car adds exposed carbon details around that rear spoiler and other trim pieces, plus center-lock wheels that sit just right in the arches. Inside, the cabin stays mostly in character for a 997, but you get RUF-specific seats, badging and carbon accents to remind you this isn’t a simple bolt-on job. For collectors who track provenance closely, the Rt 12 R sits in the same halo territory as other high-profile RUF builds.
730 HP, 6-Speed Manual And 200-Plus MPH
Under the rear deck is a heavily reworked twin-turbo flat-six, enlarged and strengthened with RUF internals. Figures for the R-spec Rt 12 hover around 730 horsepower and 693 pound-feet of torque, sent through a 6-speed manual gearbox and an all-wheel-drive system that can actually put that power down. Period testing quoted 0–60 mph in the low-three-second range and top speeds well north of 200 mph, with some sources suggesting geared-out potential close to 230 mph depending on final-drive choice.
To cope with that, RUF essentially rebuilt the car underneath, adding fixed coil-over suspension (with an optional front-axle lift), a hidden integrated roll cage, big brakes and sticky rubber. Curb weight lands around 3,300 pounds, which gives the Rt 12 R a power-to-weight ratio in genuine hypercar territory. As with earlier legends like the RUF CTR “Yellowbird”, the headlines aren’t just about the numbers, but about the way RUF blends raw speed with long-distance capability.
RUF Values Keep Climbing
With an asking price just shy of $900,000, this Rt 12 R sits right at the sharp end of modern RUF values, but the wider market suggests there’s real appetite. More “mainstream” Rt 12s have already shown strong results, including a 650-horsepower, 1-of-13 Rt 12.
Against that backdrop, a final-year Rt 12 R with unique specification, low mileage and dealer backing from Graham Rahal’s own performance outfit starts to make more sense as a flagship collectible.