A smartphone weighs about 200 - 300 grams. In it you can find a computer to browse the internet, a camera to take pictures of your food, a phone service to call your aunt, a sound recorder to record....erm... sound, a music player for your tunes and about a hundred other applications that you don't know how to use. All of this fits in your palm and you rarely can feel it's weight.
In the 1980s when this technology was just emerging the combined weight of all of the devices that are now in a smartphone exceeds 100 kg. So what happened to cars? An obesity problem is plaguing the motor industry. Cars are becoming heavier and heavier. Nowadays a small hatchback with an unpronounceable name like the Kia Cee'd weighs just about 1,400 kg which is a lot. You might say oh this is because all of the safety features. Safety features that weigh half of the car that can not even do 200 km/h.
A speed that was nothing for the RUF CTR 'Yellowbird' which was introduced in 1987 , could do 340 km/h and it was 1,170 kg. A small weight for a car that has a 3.2 flat six with two turbos, two intercoolers and a full roll cage. A lot of attention was given to aerodynamics by the boffins at RUF. After lengthily research and development they fitted Porsche 935 mirrors and called it a day.
Then they focused to the engine and what a masterpiece came out. It spotted an uprated fuel injection system and parts from the iconic Porsche 962. And they made it fast. So fast that it had a bigger top speed than the fastest car in the world at the time - the Ferrari F40.
The 'Yellowbird' was named like that because of the distinctive color in which most of them were made and the sound made by the twin wastegates relieving the two massive turbos every time you change gear.
The handling was typical Porsche with the close to infinite amounts of grip at the back, light steering, unbelievable long gear throws and massive oversteer after you step out the knife edge line.
The next clip not only shows every bit of the charm and character the 'Yellowbird' has but demonstrates the almost godlike driving ability of Stephan Rozer:
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