With the rubber lower side skirts now in place, all that remains is to put the enormous Kumho Ecsta V700 tyres on – the rear 335/30 R18s, Dave mentions, are so large that his regular supplier in America just laughed when the request was sent through – before adjusting the alignment. With a volunteer from his ever-growing entourage at Living Classics, Nakai slips a tape-measure between the wheels, moving back and forth adjusting this and that before he’s happy with the 65.5” spacing.
It’s taken four days of almost solid work, but it’s now time for the Idlers – a nod to the amateur racing Idlers Club in Japan which is spray-painted in white on the sidewalls – to hit the deck for the first time.
There’s just a couple of last minute bits and pieces to finish off. One is the traditional RAUH-Welt stickers across the rear bumper and the sunstrip across the top of the windscreen. The other is the inclusion of Sekund Entwicklung across the front rubber runner in, what turns out to be, BMW gold spraypaint.
Nakai-san rarely choses a name for his RWB projects until he has met the owner, something which time constraints mean is impossible during his short stay this time. Still, RAUH-Welt MK.II has an identity, albeit temporarily: Sekund Entwicklung, which (very) loosely translated means ‘Secondary Development’. For the second Dubai RWB car, it’s certainly appropriate.
Following a quick hoon up and down the road by Nakai to make sure everything is a-okay, flashes from Canons, iPhones and Blackberries alike swarm Sekund Entwicklung outside Living Classics on its grand unveil: even the man himself is snapping a few pictures on his phone. I ask him if he’s happy with the end result after hours of work and days of tireless effort.
“Yes, no problem”. I should have known.
– FULL GALLERY OF IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE – CLICK – Shots courtesy of David Benson.
