RUF's 901 Prototype vs. the only other one in existence! | Porsche 911 prototypes No. 6 & 7

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Alois Ruf — yes the founder and owner of RUF Automobile — shares the story of his Porsche 901 prototype, one of two in existence. The other one is owned by PCA member Don Meluzio. Each brought his prototype to Rennsport Reunion 7, where we spent some time examining how the cars are different from each other and production 911s.

#RUF #Porsche911 #RennsportReunion7
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[tomw]

This is my favorite PCA video to date. Mr Ruf is mesmerizing to listen to, thank you!

[rugu]

I saw this car and spoke with Don extensively about this car at the Lehigh University Concours d'Elegance about 30 years ago. I literally knew nothing about Porsche's at the time (I was a Corvette guy back then) and when I saw the placard with the information that it was a prototype I was in awe. Don was so happy to tell the story about the restoration and the history of the car. He said, at the time, if Porsche received any questions regarding a 901, they referred them to him. Fast forward and I'm not a PCA member with a 2017 C2 manual coupe that I absolutely love. Great interviews!

[JoeEngineer]

As someone who works in automotive product development and worked with test mules, this was fascinating to watch. Thanks for this incredible bit of 901 history!

[frankbarrett]

In 1983, just before the 911's 20th anniversary, I started looking for the oldest surviving 911 for an article in Porsche Panorama. Back then, without e-mail, you had to call or write to people, so this took time and effort. After following numerous leads, I found this car, owned by Don Meluzio in York, Pennsylvania. Ironically, he lived only about a mile from where I had grown up! Anyway, the article ran in Pano before the car was restored by my friend Dennis Frick, who still runs a fine Porsche restoration business, Europa Macchina, in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. (Dennis later restored a '59 Mercedes-Benz for me and now owns my 1969 Velocette motorcycle.) After restoration, Editor Betty Jo Turner ran another article with more information about all of the car's unusual features. Until seeing this video, I never noticed that the body sides were more vertical than the production cars. Don is a great guy and a fine curator for this pioneering 911!

[owenoconnor]

Such gentlemen, many thanks for bringing these fantastic interviews with Mr Ruf and Mr Meluzio

[johnlocke]

Mr. Ruf is the man of Porsche wisdom! Always love listening to his stories!😊

[michaelgkatsoris]

Really loved listening to Alois Ruf tell his story about the car. Even though he is a native German I couldn't help thinking how great a communicator he is. I can see how he was so successful in his business. With a personality like his and the raft of stories he has he could charm the pants off of anybody. Especially with a story like this one. I wouldn't have noticed a lot of the difference in details had he not pointed them out.
Mr Meluzio's story was equally interesting maybe even more so. It took him longer to figure out what he had then Mr. Ruf who had the advantage of a real connection to Porsche in Germany. Glad to see these two survivors with a great story.

[mikegt]

Such a nice nostalgic trip for all of us longhood lovers!
My thanks to Manny and Damon for bringing it to us.

[maxboost]

Well done as always, Manny! I'm grateful to have seen all of this in person!

[michaelcobb]

Manny - great interview/questions, thank you for sharing !

[BrokenWrenches]

what a couple of remarkable cars. kudos to the owners for restoring them so authentically and for sharing them. probably couldnt put a price tag on them now.

[Pinevillain]

Amazing story, but I continually find myself distracted by the massive thickness of Manny's office chair!

[stoives]

Fantastic video, never knew these two existed.

[fittipaldi]

Brilliant video. I love the nuances of the dash.
I had 1963 Type 3 VW and from memory the ignition key was on a steering wheel column whereas our 1961 356B has the ignition on the dash on the right hand side as it is a Australian deliver Porsche.

[MrJearley]

Thank you for this video. You guys anybody who reached this comment he is really nice like this for real. He is a approachable guy. I’ve met him one time at one of the Luftgekult and saw him again at the Beverly Hills concourse, and he had remembered me, so he’s really a nice guy and his wife is really nice as well. Well PCA thank you for this video your subscriber on the West Coast Los Angeles, but watching this wonderful video on the big island of Hawaii.🤙🏽🤙🏽🤙🏽🤙🏽

[Ronpedley]

So cool!.. Yes would be fun to find out how the key moved to the left.

[dmeluzio]

Amazing video. Thank you so much for posting this. Amazing men as well. One I call dad and one I call a great friend. ❤

[MrJearley]

A Goertz design, the Datsun 240 Z I believe it was him I think, but the Japanese never tell or say very much about the German guy that designed the Datsun 240 Z

[toddatstone_city_outlaw]

No. 5 is in Wisconsin, from what I understand its the oldest 901 in existence. Every once in awhile I see it around the Chicago area.

[jaygillotti]

Excellent video. There is one slight discrepancy - Mrs. Porsche (Butzi's mother) passed away in 1985.