Rauh-Welt Begriff (RWB) founder and renowned Japanese automotive tuner Akira Nakai once again paid a visit to the Philippines recently to build a few RWB 911s at Karrera Showroom in Alabang. Last among the four builds from this trip was another one from none other than Angie Mead King.
This is now her fifth RWB, and it’s easily one of her wildest RWBs to date. Heck, it’s one of the wildest ones we’ve seen ever. It’s a lifted Safari-style widebody 997 that’s the first of its kind among all RWBs around the world.
Nakai himself named this RWB Murasaki Shikibu, which means “Lady of Purple.” The name in itself is quite the story.
“It’s actually a fairy tale in Japan about this girl who joined a high-ranking male society and made it up the ranks,” Angie said. “So there’s a backstory to it. And I think it fits the backstory quite nicely.”
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Angie says she pitched the idea of building an off-road RWB to Nakai about a year prior to the build. And just months before the actual build, she had to deal with so many problems with the car itself.
It was already a widebody car which she had reverted to a 997 because she “wasn’t so in love with it.” And along the way, so many parts were lost. She had to recycle the wing and the fenders from her old GT3, and had to order all sorts of small bits like the bumper brackets. She dug out the brakes from her scrapyard of parts because the bigger brakes in the original car wouldn’t fit the new 18-inch wheels.
“The car actually has a lot of Christmas lights at the moment, which means after all this, I’ll begin to solve all of that. But in general, it is running,” she shared. “It’s got Elephant Racing long-travel suspension: Von Shocks, longer castor rods, subframe bushings—the complete setup. We’re running all-terrain Toyo Tires and it’s a thin setup because the four-wheel-drive system has this specific ratio that we’re working with. For my spare tire, I wanted to be able to run it on all sides, so I ended up doing a very skinny setup. Besides, it’s lighter and easy to throw around.
“I’ll feel it out and see if that’s a good combination.”
The engine has an Alpha turbo kit from AMS Performance, and it’s said to churn out 600hp at the wheel. Angie said that with flex-fuel, they could push it up to 800-something, but she sees no point.
The interior is clad in full custom carbon built by one of her old shops. Up top is a Porsche roof cage with a roof rack system, and she says eventually, they’ll put a front winch with front and rear brush guards and steel side steps.
“We wanted to make sure we put on the finishing touches after the fact because we honestly didn’t know how it was gonna look,” Angie added. “In my brain, there was the idea, and Nakai saw the idea and he translated it into this work, and I love it.”
Angie also shared that it seemed as if Nakai was rushing the build because he finished the body installation so quickly, and that was because he didn’t like the line of the car. “When we drop the wheel out of the fender radius, it changes the shape. He says ‘I don’t like that it closes in because the tire is so big.’ They compared it to the stock tire and it’s almost five inches taller,” said Angie.
Worries aside, it turned out quite nicely. Angie even had a tow hitch installed at the back not just for the look but because she plans to use this RWB to tow a trailer with another RWB on it. So it’s functional, and it was built properly, with reinforced steel at the rear. There’s a trailer socket, and they’re also going to build chain mounts.
“Wait for that, it’s going to be fun. I’m building a time-attack RWB, so we’re going to tow that with this racecar. It should be a good laugh.”
Angie also added how she liked how she was able to challenge Nakai with this build, someone who’s been doing this for over 30 years. “I explained to him that for people who have multiple RWBs, all of a sudden they can have a go-anywhere RWB. It opens up [the possibilities for] the Philippine market which loves 4x4s, SUVs, and lifted things. I think this fits the bill.”
“I guarantee you, down the road, someone around the world’s going to build one, too,” she quipped.
Frankly, that’s hard not to believe. Regardless of whether or not you like RWBs, you have to admit that Murasaki Shikibu looks pretty cool, right?
