Ruf-Porsche 356 with 911 technology - Ferry's favorite

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Ruf-Porsche 356 with 911 technology - Ferry's favorite

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Created on December 9, 2025

Text:

Wolfgang Blaube

Photos:

Wolfgang Blaube

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Porsche Unternehmensarchiv

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Ruf Automobile

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Emory Motorsports

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Almost exactly the same: from this perspective, the unique Ruf R56.11 looks like a generation C Porsche 356 - only the wider wheels provoke the necessary skepticism...

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - No 356 at second glance: R56.11 cockpit with oil pressure gauge, rev scale up to 8000 (instead of 6000), speedometer up to 250 km/h (instead of 200).

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Iconic infotainment: The 356-typical operating landscape of Ruf's Restomod is dominated by the wooden steering wheel and lots of painted sheet metal.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Green on black instead of black on white: detailed view of the instrument cluster and rev counter, which are designed in the style of early 911 clocks.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - For good guidance: sports seats with high leather-covered flanks, with the stylish Pepita textile in between.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Nothing but hair yarn: plain, unexciting luggage compartment in the R56.11 bug - so what?

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Secret revealed: Under the luggage compartment, 80 percent 911 is revealed, from the unique fuel tank with integrated emergency wheel to the hinged lid for the legendary "smuggling compartment".

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - A unique driving experience: Put simply, the Ruf R56.11 is a Porsche 356 with a 911 chassis instead of a Beetle chassis - and almost twice as much power as a 356 Super 90.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Family reputation preserved: Because author and photographer Wolfgang Blaube can't steer and take pictures at the same time, Ruf junior Marcel (built in 1983) takes the wheel for the pictures on the move.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - The R56.11 in motion: a strange multi-channel déjà vu for experienced connoisseurs of classic Porsches - everything is typical Porsche, without being attributable to a specific production model.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Like a 356 heir to Ferry Porsche's taste: the classic original model in dark green and with a contemporary four-cylinder engine in the rear - albeit 60 years late and "Made by Ruf".

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Cut from the face: The front end corresponds exactly to that of the Porsche 356 Carrera 2. After all, the R56.11 is also a reference for the restoration department at Ruf.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Always wide: The chrome-covered steel wheels were available as six-inchers up to the '74 base 911 (150 hp) - or up to the '86 Carrera, if the new car buyer also ordered winter wheels.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Manual work required: classic chrome exterior mirror without interior adjustment, telescopic aerial as pre-installation (as long as there is no radio on board).

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Neither 356 nor 911: routing of the exhaust pipes through the rear apron as on the 356 Carrera 2. On the normal 356 they lead through the bumper horns, on the 911 a single pipe goes out on the left.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Stocky appearance: The considerably wider track of the 911 front axle is aesthetically very good for the traditional 356 body.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - A finish with an aftertaste: Why the refined 356 bears a Carrera 2 badge remains a mystery - surely an R56.11 badge would have been appropriate for the budget...

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Colorfully driven: The orange indicators and yellow fog lamp lenses lend the dark green bodywork a multi-faceted coloration.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Five-and-a-half-inch wide 911 steel wheels with chrome caps, rear apron of the 356 Carrera 2: Ruf reduced the external differences between the R56.11 and the Porsche 356 C to the lowest possible denominator.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Hidden object for 911 connoisseurs: the R56.11 from below. The lion's share of the 911 hardware is probably most impressive here.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Decalcified first floor: front axle and steering correspond to the Porsche 911. Visible at the top of the picture: the supply to the front oil cooler.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - A 911-style triangular relationship: wishbones with longitudinal torsion bars. Also on board: ventilated 911 brake discs all round.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Honorable donor organ: The five-speed gearbox with classic sports shift pattern (first gear at the rear left) comes from the '68 911 S. The exterior also looks suspiciously like a 911.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Home game: Alois Ruf built the R56.11 for himself - to his own taste, but also to Ferry Porsche's ideal.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - With the wind of two propellers: OHV six-cylinder Type 745 from 1959 - with twin blowers and two central camshafts, but only four main bearings.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Great effort, disappointing effect: Engine type 745 in a drawn illustration. Here, the discarded six-cylinder still carries the six individual inclined-flow carburetors.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Two-thirds six-cylinder engine: Polo engine removed, here with tuning parts from US Porsche specialist Emory Motorsports.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Aft ship in all its glory: unambiguously identifiable 911 technology, embedded in the framework of the 356 body. Of course, the anti-roll bar is also a must.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Basement impression of the Ruf R56.11. Clearly recognizable: the specially made heat exchangers, the short crankcase in between and the fine bones of the 911.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Short program of the familiar performance: Exhaust valve cover for two instead of three cylinders.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Polo instead of Porsche: engine manufacturer Dean Polopolus did not refrain from immortalizing his name in the crankcase casting.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - 911 heart in a nutshell: The six-cylinder carved into a four-cylinder has numerous components from the 911 generations 964 and 993.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Standard and special parts arranged in harmony: Polopolus aluminum crankcases flanked by the 911's magnesium timing chain cases.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Thunderstorm through the grille: The pithy 2.4-liter thunders its hot breath out through the rear apron of the 356 Carrera 2 - in Porsche jargon "hunter's fence".

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Shortly before eleven: In the engine compartment, the 911 blower and the mighty Weber 48 IDA twin carburetors catch the eye, while the oil nozzle of the dry sump lubrication system is visible from the right.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Back from the basement: On the outside, there is nothing to be seen of the many specialties shown under the sheet metal - the R56.11 stands there like an innocent Porsche 356.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Let off the leash: The power and torque of the R56.11 play in the league of the 2.7-liter 911. Meanwhile, the Polo engine can be upgraded; as a 270-hp three-liter, it still reveals civilian attitudes.

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Ruf R56.11 (2011) - Well done, bastard: Final ride with the fascinating one-off called Ruf R56.11.

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Summary

An opportunity like this doesn't come along often: a test drive in the Ruf R56.11, which is actually a Porsche 356 with a 911 chassis and "Polo" engine. Ferry Porsche would have enjoyed it - if there wasn't one zero too many on the price tag. You can read the whole story in this article.

This article contains the following chapters

An incomparably consistent Porsche - and yet not a Porsche
A 356 sheet metal dress on the technical framework of the 911
Two cooling fans, two central camshafts
Hans Mezger and Ferdinand Piëch step on the gas
Technical data Ruf R56.11

Estimated reading time: 11min

Preview (beginning of the article)

No, Ferry Porsche was not the prototype of an ambitious doer, a visionary. The small, friendly, almost shy man was sometimes unfamiliar with entrepreneurial growth and always met modernization with scepticism. His comfort zone, in which he felt secure, usually lay between what he had achieved and what was established. In 1963, a fateful year for Porsche, this was especially true of the 356 - at least in formal terms. Of course, Ferry (1909-1998) saw that the chassis and drive technology, which was largely borrowed from the Volkswagen design from the pre-war era, had reached the end of its evolution after 13 years of production. But did this mean that the classic body had to be changed? After all, sales of the Porsche 356 continued to rise unabated, especially in the United States - a fact that was not to change until the start of production of its successor.

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