In a time when the industry, be it stock or aftermarket it working on fast-forward, with social media always being hungry for the next big thing, seeing a man like Rauh-Welt Begriff's Akira Nakai sticking to his traditional ways is downright amazing.
The freshest RWB built happens to be Philadelphia's first and we're here to share the building documentary with you. Heck, since Nakai-san has transformed these projects into art forms, you don't even need to be a car aficionado to enjoy watching the man at work.
The Philadelphia build, which received the "Prince" nickname, brings a bit of a surprise, though. You see, the Japanese artisan (think fiberglass creations) usually likes to play the lone wolf game, flying all over the world and building these Porsche-destined kits all by himself.
We rarely see the man allowing members of his team back home, or locals, join the process. Nevertheless, when it came to Prince, things were different and you'll get to see that in the piece of footage at the bottom of the page.
The owner of the now-RWB air-cooled Neunelfer is called Ben Harmony and happens to run a car shop in the area. We're talking about a youngster who enjoyed his family and friends watching Akira Nakai build the car in the family garage.
It's no wonder, then, that the whole process was documented in 4K resolution, which is how we ended up with the documentary below. Once again, spending almost 20 minutes watching such a piece might seem like a lot nowadays, but the RWB magic is worth every second.
P.S.: If you're among those who would like to see what happens when Akira Nakai builds the first RWB machine of a country, you should check out this adventure coming from New Zealand and involving a local police officer test driving the rear-engined beast.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News