R-W-B. To the uninitiated, in the world of cars, that means Rauh Welt Begriff. Simply put, an RWB is a custom widebody Porsche 911 built by Japanese automotive legend Akira Nakai. To those who know, RWB is a cult.
For decades, Nakai has traveled around the world building one bespoke RWB after another, continuously amassing a following wherever he goes. These live RWB builds—or RW-builds, as I call them—draw huge crowds day in and day out, no matter the country.
But the big question a lot of you probably have is…why?
What gives that every single time Nakai pulls up—iconic suitcase in tow—an audience always shows up?
Recently, Nakai made his way back to the Philippines yet again. This time, the task was to assemble four RWBs in eight days, which means the rough (pun intended) estimate was each car would take two days to build.
Pretty crazy if you think about it, but it’s something they actually pulled off, and that’s with the last of the four builds being a first-of-its-kind in Angie Mead King’s off-road-ready RWB. As impressive as that is, though, what really impressed me more was just the sheer amount of people that showed up.
Throughout the week, people from different demographics and from all walks of life dropped by. Some bought merch, some came for selfies and autographs, while others simply came to see a master at work. There were men, women, and even children accompanied by their parents—it was almost like a limited-run tourist attraction on a small scale. The weekend and the last day was packed, and it was incredible to see.
I didn’t get to interview Nakai, so I went for the next best thing—the owners. I went around and talked to the people partially responsible for these RWBs, and I got to chat with Drew and Alphonse of the Peralta family. They’re the proud owners of multiple RWBs: Tubero, Haikankou, and now Tubero 2.0 in the Philippines, as well as Adamae in Canada. I asked Drew how important they think these RWB builds and visits from Nakai are to the local car community.
“I think it inspires [the people] and it shows them appreciation and gives them motivation. Even me, I’m still inspired by how Angie and Nakai work,” Drew said. “As a car guy, seeing that live and in person shows what it takes to make a car like that, you know? And like I said, when I watched Nakai for the first time, it was very mesmerizing. I felt so drawn to it, like I was watching an artist make art in front of me.
“And even if I’m just sitting there the whole day watching him, I don’t get bored because of the way he does it. Aligning the wheels and the tires by eye, marking it with tape and whatever. It just means that he’s been doing it that long for him to actually know how to align a car by eye, you know?” he added. “It’s what RWB is—rough world. Super raw and super bold, and that’s what RWB is. And for the people, it’s really art, you know? Art happening in front of them. And same with me. I still feel the same way. No matter how many builds I've been to, it’s still just as amazing as it was the first time.”
As for Alphonse, he’s Drew’s cousin, and he owns Adamae in Toronto. He says he’s been to about 10 live builds across the world, and this recent one was his second in the Philippines. He said the atmosphere here is crazy.
“There’s such an outpouring of support. They want to witness something that’s very bespoke,” Alphonse said. “And it’s a gathering of like-minded people. So, I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone to understand what RWB is. You literally see the car transform before your eyes in a couple of days.”
Alphonse also thinks that these live builds are massive for the local car culture. “I think it’s crucial to get people aware of what we represent—that we’re not taking away anything from Porsche.”
“We’re simply trying to make the car more us, but still carry the Porsche heritage. If that makes any sense,” he said. “With any social media outlet, you'll get both pros and cons of why we do this. But at the end of the day, it’s something that we love to do.”
He also shared how the people in the RWB community have become his family, having gone to multiple builds around the world with some of the people from the same circle.
“‘RW1Love’ is a very big slogan we say a lot within our group chats, and I think that’s what it is. Regardless of what you're building and who you are, we’re in this with the same passion and the same goal. And Nakai is here to facilitate all of that, which is outstanding.”
I also got the chance to talk to Angie herself, a legend in the local automotive scene and the person responsible for these live RWB builds in Manila. As I mentioned, she recently had another RWB finished, and this one easily being the wildest of the five she now owns.
For her, the art of building these RWBs is about expressing one’s personality. “Each car, at least in our generation, is really an extension of who we are. And for the younger generation, which we've seen come in droves over the last eight days, it’s been an interesting thing to see because boys, girls, and their parents—they're all here appreciating Nakai's art. Even if it’s the same rhythm day in and day out, people love it.”
“The camaraderie, the support from the fans, the support from the family members, the international RWB communities here—it’s just crazy. I’m blown away, Nakai is also blown away.”
Angie also recalled how RWB died down at a certain point and how there weren’t any builds in Manila anymore. That was when she built the GT3 and the Turbo herself, and she thinks it also helped spark a renewed interest.
“When we built the 997s last year, that was it,” she said. “Everyone was like: I want one. And then now with something groundbreaking as this (her Safari 911 RWB), I think we’re going to see them again. Everyone’s already trying to book slots for next year, so we'll see where it goes.
“But I’m just happy that there’s an appreciation for the work that we’re doing, and for people to get the experience also that modifying your car isn’t a secret, and we like to show everyone how we do it in this public space.”
All that should put things in perspective. We Filipinos are an expressive bunch, especially when it comes to our cars, and these RWBs—regardless of whether you like them or hate them—are a way for these 911 owners to further express themselves. If you think about it, it’s not much different from someone building a bedazzled economy car or a beefy-looking, big-ass mall crawler that never makes it to any trail, right?
Personally, I have a great appreciation for the work put into each RWB build. The craftsmanship, the expertise, and the rawness of how it’s done—it’s hard not to respect all that. At the end of the day, it’s art, and each form of art doesn’t always resonate with everybody. And that’s perfectly fine.
Besides, I don’t think it matters whether you like these RWBs or not, because they’re here to stay. As Angie mentioned, people are already lining up for the next builds. We’ll be seeing more and more of these heavily modified widebody 911s, and I believe in the future, they’ll become important parts of the local car culture. Let’s wait and see what the next RWBs will turn out—we’ll all see each other in the next build.
