• Tiny German company Ruf bloodied the noses of every exotic automaker in the 1980s when its CTR managed to hit 211 mph.
• The name of the track where the record was set was Ehra-Lessien, hence the name of this new car.
• Peak power is 650 hp, and there's a seven-speed manual, but the real tricks are the widebody, all-wheel-drive, and deployable rear spoiler.

Back in the infancy of the internet, a grainy video of a yellow Porsche drifting its way around the Nürburgring at maximum attack set the nerves of every enthusiast jangling. The speed! The tire-smoking slides! Those loafers! Piloted by test-driver Stefan Roser, the Ruf CTR became an instant legend.

It backed up that showboating with exotic-crushing speed, having laid down a 211 mph top speed run in 1987 at a private facility owned by Volkswagen. The name of that track was Ehra-Lessien, and it's the moniker chosen for the latest Ruf speed machine to hit the road.

Debuting in Monterey, California, at The Quail, the Ruf Ehra manages to be both wilder and more subtle than the company's CTR Anniversary model. There's no signature whale-tail, but instead there’s a fastback look with a teardrop shape, equipped with a carbon-fiber rear spoiler that deploys at speed for better stability.

On the other hand, there's no hiding the brawn of those hulking wheelarches, front and rear more than two inches wider than the current CTR. Famously, the original “Yellowbird” driven by Roser was based on a narrowbody 911, whereas this new car has skipped neither arm day nor leg day. It looks muscular, but not overwrought.

The interior is likewise stunning, with plenty of leather, titanium pedals, and seats patterned with Ruf's take on Porsche's Pasha checkered design from the late 1970s. No big screens, just build quality and all-business layout. Makes sense – if you watch Rosen's video, he's a little too busy behind the wheel to be trying to scroll through iTunes.

Out back, beneath that hideaway spoiler, is a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat-six good for 650 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque. Power goes to the ground through a seven-speed manual transmission, feeding fully variable all-wheel drive. The idea was to create a grand tourer version of the CTR, one capable of offering maximum traction even in poor weather.

The Ehra joins the iconic shape of the CTR Anniversary, the fastback SCR, and the delightfully chunky Rodeo at Monterey this year, with the latter three being delivered to their new owners. The last, the Rodeo, is an off-road-themed build that looks possibly the most fun of them all.

The Ehra might be a little more buttoned-down, appearance-wise, but is sure to be an absolute monster. It does, after all, come from a bloodline that once terrified the Nurburgring, thrilling everyone who saw it do so. Can even Ruf tame that kind of performance? We'll see.

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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.