RWB explained: Akira Nakai and the wide-body Porsche phenomenon

At a shop in the US, about 50 people watched Akira Nakai cut into a customer's Porsche 993 with a small air saw, guided only by tape (Motor1). Two days later the car had RWB fenders, and there was no undoing it. This piece covers who Nakai is, how an RWB build actually works, what it costs, and why the cars split Porsche people down the middle.

Who Akira Nakai is

Nakai is a Japanese tuner born on October 19, 1970, in Chiba (Wikipedia). He got into cars young, partly through films like Gone in 60 Seconds and The Cannonball Run.

Before Porsches, there was drifting. Nakai ran a Toyota AE86 Trueno with a drift crew called Rough World in the 1990s (Wikipedia, Jalopnik). That name became the company: Rauh-Welt Begriff, usually translated as "Rough World Concept."

He still works out of a small garage in Chiba (Motor1). There is no factory and no production line. RWB is mostly Nakai, a kit of fiberglass parts, and a very full travel schedule.

The first car was a beer

Every RWB car gets a name, and the first one set the tone. Nakai named it Stella Artois after his favorite beer (Wikipedia, Jalopnik).

The accounts differ slightly on what it was. Wikipedia describes a damaged 911 Turbo bought from its original owner while Nakai worked at a body shop. Jalopnik calls it a 1985 911, bought with money from a job at a Porsche shop. Both agree it was the start, and the car later appeared in Need for Speed (2015), where Nakai played himself as the game's "Build Icon."

Naming carried on. Later cars include RWB Champagne, built in France's Champagne region, and a 964 for Hoonigan co-founder Brian Scotto (Wikipedia).

What an RWB build involves

An RWB Porsche gets new front and rear bumpers, side skirts, wide fender flares and spoilers (Wikipedia). Owners can choose fender widths, canards and suspension settings. The visible signature is the exposed rivets holding the flares on, plus a much wider track.

The process is what makes it unusual. You buy the kit, have it painted to match, and then Nakai comes to you (Jalopnik). He books about two days per car, uses rattle cans and basic air tools, and cuts the original steel fenders freehand (Motor1).

Motor1 followed one 993 build in detail. The owner, Justin Ashworth, had bought his kit four years earlier, partly because COVID scrambled the schedule. Before Nakai arrived, a local collision shop spent about 360 hours over 38 days prepping the body. Ashworth told Motor1 that Nakai will "build a car in front of you in your own garage, or in front of 1,000 people."

Nakai works on air-cooled G-body 911s, 964s and 993s, and occasionally the water-cooled 997 (Motor1). The 930, 964 and 993 are the bases most buyers look for (Logi-Net).

What it costs

The RWB part is cheaper than most people assume. The donor Porsche is where the money goes.

Motor1 reports a 993 kit starting at $28,000 including installation. Jalopnik's estimate from people familiar with several builds was about $40,000. Expect a wait of about a year for Nakai to reach your car, and longer for some owners.

Bodywork and paint before Nakai arrives can add a lot. The 360 hours of prep on Ashworth's car is a reminder that the kit price is not the build price.

Resale is mixed. A 1988 Carrera with an RWB kit was bid to $115,000 on Bring a Trailer while still live (Carscoops). For comparison, a Singer starts above $475,000 (Wikipedia). An RWB car is a statement, not a hedge.

The Idlers 12 Hour

RWB isn't just for show, and the Idlers race is the proof. The Idlers Club runs a 12-hour endurance race at Twin Ring Motegi, now called Mobility Resort Motegi, in Tochigi prefecture (Sabukaru).

Nakai's team is a fixture. He usually brings his own Porsche and a fleet of customers' RWB cars from around the world. The "idlers" stencil you see sprayed on RWB tires comes from this event (Jalopnik, Sabukaru).

Speedhunters raced with the team in 2016. Nakai prepped seven Porsches, six started, and four finished. The cars were limited to 5,800 rpm, drivers came from 13 countries, and the day began with a 4:00am team meeting. One car, "Adriana," was wrecked after being hit from behind.

That's the culture in miniature. The cars get driven hard, damaged and fixed.

Why it divides people

RWB cuts original metal on air-cooled 911s, which are now expensive and finite. For a lot of Porsche owners, that's the whole objection. Once the fenders are cut, you can't go back to stock.

Supporters see it the other way. Nakai builds the cars he likes and expects them to be used. Speedhunters' writer put it as building "for the sole joy of using them and seeing them used on track."

The look also borrows from Japanese drift and touring car styling more than German factory design. That's why RWB sits with the JDM crowd as much as the Porsche one.

Getting started

1. Watch a build first. Some of Nakai's tour builds are run as public events, like the one Motor1 covered, and that write-up shows what two days in a garage looks like.
2. Pick the donor carefully. A clean, mechanically sound 964 or 993 matters more than a perfect paint job, since the body will be cut (Logi-Net).
3. Budget for prep. Rust repair, panel work and paint matching happen before Nakai shows up.
4. Expect to wait. A year is normal and several years has happened.
5. If you'd rather buy finished, check Bring a Trailer and Japanese auction listings, and get an inspection before you bid.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Akira Nakai / RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF
• Jalopnik: RWB Porsche 911, what's the hype and why does it cost more than your house
• Motor1: RWB Porsche build with Akira Nakai
• Sabukaru: Idlers 12 Hour race, the premier league of amateur racing
• Speedhunters: Rough World Racing, the Idlers 12 Hour
• Carscoops: RWB 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera on Bring a Trailer
• Wikipedia: Singer Vehicle Design
• Logi-Net: How to buy an RWB Porsche from Japan

Featured image: RWB 911 filtered by Despite707, CC BY 2.0. Source