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Among tuners Rauh-Welt Begriff occupies a somewhat unique space. The works of Akira Nakai are polarizing due to their very unique looks, but what sets them apart from most tuners is that they largely consist of cosmetic modifications. Not all fall into that category – as evidenced by one of the cars we see here – but by and large when we come across a RWB modified 911 the suspension and engine work is minor relative to the complete change these cars undergo in their appearance. Not everyone loves them; in fact I’d say the vast majority find them distasteful. Yet, there is serious attention to detail in these builds and for those that are fans they make for some of the most jaw-dropping 911s you’re ever likely to come across. The work is done by hand and Nakai-san is known to work tirelessly from arrival until the work is completed. While the appearance may be polarizing, we do have to admit that they mimic the wild creations of Porsche itself. And I think that is where much of their appeal lies: they are very unique yet maintain their connection with the marque from which they came.
The two we have here display those polarizing looks quite well along with showcasing the sort of design RWB has applied to the respective models upon which the builds were based – in this case the 964 and the 993. The first began as a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and unlike many RWB builds has plenty of power to go along with its aggressive looks:
Porsche design can be funny sometimes. Generally, their designs are modern and purposeful, yet understated. This is something that I think has become especially true with their modern cars as they’ve established themselves as a luxury brand. Porsche even could be said to be a fairly staid company catering to an equally staid clientele. Yet, that is all a mask of sorts. Porsche is, as much as any other company, one built off of its racing history and successes. The designs of their racing cars are about as preposterous as they can get filled with huge wings and impossibly wide rear fenders, though all were built to a specific purpose and as wild as they might look they were functional. Of course, plenty of their road cars followed suit, if in much more reserved fashion. Within this over-the-top world exist a variety of tuners and few tend to take the design aesthetic of Porsche’s racers and run with it better than Akira Nakai and Rauh-Welt Begriff. The one we see here, in Guards Red and using a 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe as its base, is even over the top by RWB’s standards. The double-decker wing has the look of a dragon’s tail and stretches your gaze in a manner perpendicular to the stretch of the rear fenders. Some RWB cars can look very squat; this one does not. Not at all.
As Rob said in his recent 964 Carrera 4 Widebody post, the flared variants of the middle generation 911 can be polarizing. Even more polarizing are the extra-widebody Nakai-san Rauh-Welt Begriff creations. That Akira Nakai is an artist is unquestioned, but whether his creations are genius or blasphemous depend on your definition of art I would suppose. Nakai takes the stock 911 and turns it up to 11, with custom molded, hand crafted flares and widening the lines of the 911 to outrageous proportions. Fitted with giant wheels, lowered suspensions and custom front and rear bumpers, they are the embodiment of the Japanese tuning scene but with a decidedly European feel. Indeed, you don’t need to look far into Porsche’s own developments to find the inspiration for these models from Stuttgart’s own work. Indeed, many of Nakai’s works look a lot like the 964 Turbo S Le Mans racer and later 993 GT2 race car, with their giant gold BBS wheels, huge spoiler, vents and wide flares. Personally, I think that Nakai does an exceptional job mimicking the best of the 911 race car design whilst simultaneously introducing his own style. That becomes more obvious when you see a non-Coupe RWB such as today’s Targa model – I believe the first open-air RWB I’ve seen:
The sudden impact and influence of Nakai-san’s hand-crafted Porsche creations is both impressive and perhaps unprecedented. In part, that’s thanks to the proliferation of new media sources; go back to the 1980s, and no matter how cool his cars were it would have been much more difficult for him to become a name that most enthusiasts seem to know these days. We also live in a world which both is losing hand-crafted expertise but also celebrates it as the incredible skill it is. The cars he creates are racing inspired – a whole culture that exists in Japan but is undoubtedly taken to a much higher level by RWB. Stretched and slammed, the RWB cars are each unique but share heritage that resembles the racing 911 Turbo and GT2 models. They’re beyond replicas of race cars, though, defining their own unique identity. Not everyone likes the look, but nearly all can appreciate the attention to detail and incredible craftsmanship that goes into these cars:
Few tuners have popped into the Porsche scene with as much of a splash as Rauh-WELT Begriff. Starting with basically stock bodied 911s, Nakai-san hand…
