Akira Nakai (Japanese: 中井 啓, Hepburn: Nakai Akira) is a Japanese automotive tuner, founder of Porsche aftermarket tuning company RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB), who specializes in the design and installation of custom wide-body kits for classic and modern Porsche models. Earlier examples sported a sticker German: "Sekund Entwicklung" on the back which was later changed to German: "Zweite Entwicklung", lit. '"second development"' to fix a German language mistake.
Life and career
Early life
Born on October 19, 1970, in Chiba, Japan, Akira Nakai became attracted to cars at a young age. He was inspired by American race car movies such as Gone in 60 Seconds and The Cannonball Run which influenced him to take up an automotive career.
Spark of interest
Nakai started his career with a drift crew called Rough World, working on a Trueno AE86, stretching the limits of what the car could bear, whilst drinking his preferred beer, Stella Artois. He started to work on Porsches while employed by a body shop when he came across a damaged Porsche 911 Turbo, which he bought off its original owner, with it later becoming the first RWB Porsche, named 'Stella Artois' after his preferred beer in the late 90s. This spark of interest, along with a little personal touch, is what led Nakai to create his Stella Artois inspired Porsche and many similar projects.
Company
Nakai later started his own company called RAUH Welt BEGRIFF (which means Rough World Concept) and eventually became known for modifying Porsches, giving them oftentimes extreme body alterations. His usual modifications include a new front bumper, rear bumper, side skirts, wheel arches and spoilers. In addition, he offers several options such as new fenders of various widths, suspension adjustments and smaller aesthetic additions, like canards and special rivets. The track width of the "RWB" Porsches is particularly widened. Nakai's and his company's modifications are said to have reached a "cult status" and his aesthetics are described as "singular".
Tribute
People who admire both cars and video games were pleased when Nakai was featured as the "Build Icon", appearing as himself in the 2015 video game Need for Speed. The widebody kits designed by him were available for players to use on select Porsche models, and his "Stella Artois" custom Porsche 911 Turbo could be earned in-game.
References
