For three days I was allowed both the privilege and the pleasure to witness Akira Nakai-san apply one of his his famed body kits to Australia’s first RWB car, a salmon pink 930 later named “Southern Cross”. Unfortunately, working around a university schedule and eight hour night shifts at work, I was not able to see the entire build. As such, this feature will not be on the “Southern Cross” herself, so much as a spotlight on Nakai-san and his craft. If you would like a more in-depth look at the car, have a read of Jamine’s stellar feature here!
Nakai-san’s builds have become something mythic and revered in contemporary late-model tuner culture. His eyes and hands are focused and deliberate. He works like an artist. And many would say he is.
I can’t quite remember my first exposure to the Rough World. I simply have an ingrained photo of a Porsche 930 and an S15 parked next to each other outside of a Japanese parking garage- both matte black, both on matching sets of SSR SP1’s, and both with bronze windshield banners with words I’d never seen before: “Rauh-Welt”. Some further internet searches of course lead me to his world of crazy Porsches.
Not once did I think that years later I would be watching Nakai himself building a car in front of my eyes in my hometown.
Yet there I was, on a Thursday morning at Auto Racing Technik in North Melbourne, with a disassembled 930, some MASSIVE three-piece Work wheels, and a handful of Stella Artois slabs. Yes, Nakai-san was near!
It was a quiet morning, people standing around, with hushed conversation. But the moment Nakai-san entered through a side door in the garage, is one of the few times in my life I’d been anything close to ‘starstruck’.
Even though he’d come straight from the airport, after an international flight, he wasted no time changing and making introductions with Chern, head of RWB Australia and fortunate owner of “Southern Cross”.
Shortly after unpacking his travel tool kit, he went straight to work on the car.
Nakai-san was absolutely fascinating to watch work. As mentioned before, he truly works like an artist. Completely focused and dedicated. He is unfazed by the cameras, and the crowd that came to watch. Every action, every movement around the garage is purposeful and directly towards furthering the build.
There is however a dichotomy to Nakai’s character. Though quiet and focused; he is infinitely humble, happy to exchange words and even take a few photos during his short smoke breaks. Even those lucky enough to get a signature are treated with a polite head bow and a thanks. He truly loves what he does, and his immense passion can truly be seen in his work.
Though to be honest, the magic of Nakai-san and RWB, is not that of the cars. It’s the people. The same reason I’ve always been in love with car culture. Yes, the cars are great, and I’d never give them up. But the solidarity we all share through these machines is the heart of it all. It’s what I truly wanted to convey when I joined the Zen Garage team. Nakai-san has brought together people all over the world through his creations, and you could see it here in Melbourne. Cars constantly coming and going throughout the three days of building, people taking their lunch breaks from work to come be a part of the build. On the final Saturday, the street was filled with cars. New and old Porsches alike, classic Datsuns, high-powered GTR’s and RX7’s, even the odd Ferrari and Lamborghini.
The fellowship that Nakai-san creates along with his cars, is the true magic of what he does.
Of all the people who took time out of their day to go visit and watch the build, none were simply there just to see a pink Porsche being put together. They were there to be a part of something, to be a part of the RWB family.
Congratulations to Chern on your masterpiece, can’t wait to see the car again at 100mm later this year.
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Enjoy some extra photos below!
