Story and Photos Mike Spicer
Porsche tuner Akira Nakai from Chiba Japan has become an international cult figure with his extreme Porsche 911 conversions. His cutting edge Japanese style is internationally popular and has elevated him to “cult status”. His company Rauh-Welt Begriff or RWB for people in the “Know” translates to (Rough-World Concept).
Nakai travels all over the world to build cars for customers. So when I heard Tim Walbridge the owner of 503Motoring was having an RWB built at his shop I had to see it for myself.
Starting with a stock Porsche 993 Targa the car and body panels are painted before Nakai shows up. Upon his arrival the atmosphere is somewhere between a rock concert and an art showing. Eager spectators gather as his entourage settles into comfortable couches. Music is up and tables around the room consist of Jack Daniels, Japanese snack food, cigarettes, Stella Artois, and of course Nakai’s pink cell phone.
Nakai completes these RWB builds in just a few days. His routine is to work hard for a while then sit back to look at the car for fifteen minutes or so. He pleasantly signs a few autographs but his focus never wavers. He checks his phone puts down his cigarette and gets right back into working on the car.
While his style and approach to Porsche customizing may offend some purists his vision and cars have attracted many enthusiastic fans all over the world. Nakai made a name for himself with the street-drifting group Rough World (“Rauh Welt”) and the cars he builds reflect his drifting roots. This particular build had a very cool set of Vossen wheels picked out and a host of other aftermarket goodies. Each car gets a name that personalizes it to the owner and he only makes one car per customer.
Modifying 911’s is nothing new. At the track you will find a large array of augmented fenders and custom ground effects. But the RWB style is very fresh and it is always great to see an inspired group of enthusiasts take to the road.
