The Goodwood Festival of Speed kicks off this weekend, and hundreds of modern and vintage sports cars, race cars, and motorcycles will speed up the 11th Duke of Richmond’s driveway at his estate in Sussex, south of London, for bragging rights and the fastest speed.
What started 33 years ago as a fun hill climb for 50 historic cars and motorcycles has become a four-day car culture extravaganza that attracted some 200,000 people from around the world last year.
RUF Is Showing A Car With A Very Curious New Engine
RUF CTR3 test vehicle with new B8 twin-turbo eight-cylinder boxer at 2026 Goodwood Festival of SpeedRUF Automobile
So is it any wonder that automakers, parts suppliers, and racing teams have identified the Festival of Speed as a fantastic place to gain brand exposure and to pique the curiosity of car collectors who might be looking for a new addition or a new technology to spice things up? RUF will certainly be in attendance in a major way, showing a new engine unlike any other.
You know RUF Automobile – it’s the German family-owned car builder that graduated from tourist buses in the 1950s to modified Porsches in the 1970s, produced the CTR “Yellowbird” as the world’s fastest car in 1987, the 2007 CTR3 with a bespoke body and chassis, and the 2017 CTR Anniversary with an all-new carbon-fiber monocoque chassis. Sprinkle lots of other fun projects in between, but this latest isn’t about the car, but what powers it. Say hello to B8 – the flattest eight-cylinder engine you’ve seen in a minute.
Years Of Work On Porsches, But Not Boxer-8s
RUF CTR3 test vehicle with new B8 twin-turbo eight-cylinder boxer at 2026 Goodwood Festival of SpeedRUF Automobile
This week at Goodwood, the company founded by Alois Ruf Sr. in 1939 will break new ground once again, introducing the “B8,” a 4.8-liter twin-turbo eight-cylinder boxer engine said to develop more than 1,000 horsepower and 1,000 Nm (738 pound-feet) of torque. Crowds gathered in the Supercar paddock will get to hear this unique power plant fire up for the first time on Thursday morning.
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But if gearheads miss the startup, there will be two chances in each of the following three days to hear this engine roar and to see how well it propels a lengthened CTR3 test vehicle driven by racing legend Tanner Foust during Supercar runs. RUF Chairman and owner Alois Ruf sees the Boxer 8 program as a defining moment for the company.
“A boxer-eight has never been part of our story, or anyone else’s in this form, so we decided to write a new chapter in automotive history.”
–RUF Chairman and owner Alois Ruf
Known internally as the rear mid-engine “Erprober” or “Tester,” this RUF prototype developed in-house has a CTR3 body that has been stretched 100 millimeters to make room for the boxer-eight, which is connected to a RUF six-speed manual transmission.
The new livery draws inspiration from the unmistakable Blossom Yellow color of the CTR Yellowbird. And take note of the flowing graphics symbolizing the number eight in continuous motion, a hat tip to the cylinder count.
RUF CTR3 test vehicle with new B8 twin-turbo eight-cylinder boxer at 2026 Goodwood Festival of SpeedRUF Automobile
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Who really cares about eight-cylinder boxer engines these days? Porsche never used them in production vehicles because they were too big, too wide, and awkward to package, but they worked well in high-revving, air-cooled, legendary race cars like the Porsche 904/8, 907, and 908 through the early 1970s. While incredibly rare, eight-cylinder boxers have a rich motorsports legacy, and this won’t be the first run for an engine of this type at Goodwood.
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The Google machine says no production vehicle has ever used one. Where RUF intends to take its “B8” boxer next is anyone’s guess, but RUF says this B8 will “shape a future RUF model.” Is there room for one in a Porsche Cayenne, or even the larger three-row SUV that Stuttgart has promised?
