Akira Nakai took on the challenge of building three RWB’s in only six days, and we were there to witness his art.
I’ll just start with the assumption that you know who Akira Nakai is, and what is Rauh-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB). For those who don’t know, then you could read more about the previous builds he has done in Dubai back in 2012 (993) and 2013 (964).
The story started with Abdulla Al-Awadhi as a Porsche fan, when he first got introduced to RWB back in 2006, seeing one of Nakai’s work on a Porsche 964 in Tokyo, and ever since, he got hooked. 11 years later, decided to take that final step with a couple of friends, and they leaped into the Rough World, starting RWB Emirates, officially working closely with Nakai-San and his team to spread his art through the UAE.
After months of planning and getting the base cars ready, the build started on a Saturday at the Dubai Autodrome pit garage, which I think was an awesome location giving the race-car build feel, specially when you could hear the sounds of the live track every now and then. Abdulla and Sheikh Khalifa both went with 993’s – Blue and White respectively, while Marwan decided to go for a viper green 964.
The sequence of the tri-build started with Khalifa’s satin white on black 993, which we found out on site that it’ll be labeled as RWB Qatar’s No.1 but built in the Emirates. Started as a standard Carrera with the RS Bodykit, but Khalifa was always keen on having his own RWB aggressive look. I personally loved the satin white finish, and as a color, it stands out the most after Marwan’s 964.
Abdulla’s blue 993 was somewhat different in terms of body styling, where it received bolts all around the side skirts, and the roof (which is carbon fiber by the way), and a fender width spoiler.
Marwan’s 964 was my absolute favorite, where it was finished in Viper Green, and had black hardware all around including the wheels and headlights, giving it an evil look.
All three cars had their major installation part first in sequence, which include the bumpers fitment, fender cutting, over fender installation and engine cover, finishing with the sickaflex sealant and grilles. and later on, again, all three cars got their minor modifications as the finishing touches on the final day with suspension set up, spoiler installation, wheels installation, and decals.
So why is this a big challenge?
Well, Nakai-san works alone by himself on the cars, from cutting to fitment to adjustment and finishing. and it used to take him four days to finish one car, then later he was able to do it in only three, and now down to two, but the maximum number of cars is two at one go.
What surprised me was that Nakai-san did not use any templates to work with (Maybe because he has been doing this for over 20 years now), and none of the pieces that were shipped were installed as is. Every piece had alterations and modifications done to them to make sure they fit perfectly up to Nakai’s standards. Which makes it clear that, noone other than Nakai-San can do this job.
Away from cars..
this is the first time for me to attend an RWB build, and when I got there I realized that it wasn’t only about these cars, but it was more of a community. We had people who traveled all the way from Poland, Australia, Germany, US, Japan, Thailand and more just to share with us the experience and also to witness the biggest ever build in RWB history. Every person had different experiences and they were like a single crew rather than individuals. The chemistry these guys had, gave the whole build a different path.
In the end..
A round of applause from everyone once the cars were taken off the stands, and sat on the ground for the first time. The cars looked absolutely stunning once the final touches were made, and you couldn’t miss the look on the owner’s everyone’s face. Nakai has done it, he made RWB history with this milestone. It was a very emotional experience, being there every day from noon till midnight and sometimes later than that.
Now the cars went back to the mechanical garage just to get the final touch ups done mechanically and some interior work, and later on for paint correction and protection.
Our main car porn video will drop in the next few weeks, so keep an eye!
