@Kuro Neko 's post inspired me to do something similar. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Last year, I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with Akira Nakai while he finished his first 997 builds and thought I'd share how it was. Peep his painter Nojima-san's stanced Kei van. Some guys really can't just leave things stock no matter what it is lol.


You may not realize it, but the shop is on google maps and anyone can go. Whether or not he's there or busy, though that's another matter I suppose.



He was finishing his first 997s at the time. This was his second and third renditions.




His famous Rotana race car. A 993 turbo pushing about 600hp.

I was there to film a friend's 964 C2's transformation before he left Japan, so he'd have a nice memory. But one of the days we went to see the work, Nakai wasn't working on his car at all we found out. He was finishing off a few 997s. I ended up in the red 997 with Nakai driving while we filmed rollers of the other two, one driven by his girlfriend/assistant and one by my friend. It's interesting how the RWB cars are so expensive but the owners seem to let each other drive them without much concern.










We ended up cruising the tollways around Chiba, a city within the Tokyo metropolis on the southeast side until the early morning hours. I gotta say, Nakai is definitely a man of few words. He has this rough quiet about him that feels like he's the kind of introvert who doesn't need human interaction for relaxing. I very much got the impression he was the wrench behind RWB, but not the one who made it the name it is today. Toshi-san, his de-facto manager is definitely the man who saw the business potential and ushered Nakai to the world stage. As for Nakai, I think his fame has very little to do with his personal happiness.










We ended up having some ramen at a rest stop, which was aesthetic in it's own right as it was this massive food court area with most of the shops closed and just us four sitting quietly in the middle.

I'm going to the RWB new year's party in a couple weeks. Hopefully I'll have some more photos to post from that. I hope you guys enjoyed these!

 

Absolutely Insane! Please grab more pictures!

 

Great shots and great stories. Thank you very much for sharing.

 

If I'm ever in Tokyo, will definitely swing by the place.

I can see 5x 997 cars in this Google Street View photo - https://goo.gl/maps/BJa76N7LWnkfv5dU6

Some years ago, I went out to the old Singer location in the LA area, on a street with loads of other auto body shops, pick-n-pulls, etc. Super cool, but absolutely no pictures allowed.

They've since moved to a more swanky location.

 

That's awesome and interesting to see him shifting towards 997's now. Every pic I see of him, he's smoking. Maybe he's just occupied with finishing all of his customer's cars and bottling his work all in his head.

 

Amazing write up, pics and cars.

 

And of course there’s a vending machine ....

I’ve got a couple of his, in 1/18th scale unfortunately.

 

he’s definitely a chain smoker. But interesting fact he doesn’t drink alcohol even though his most famous car is called Stella. And he has a wall of Stella Artois

 

Very cool! Thanks for Sharing.

 

Looks like a cool place to hang!

 

Bet that was an awesome experience. Though I don't like the overall look of the design, I certainly appreciate the quality of the work and the people that establish themselves into a mature industry with something different that's done well.

 

Great story, thank you for sharing!

 

I definitely can relate when wrenching on cars, hitting snags and smoking a cigarette to clear the mind of frustration during my younger days. My aunt used to live in Okinawa. I would love to get my hands on a R34 GTR but prices are insane now that's it's nearing the 25 yr mark. I bet you see those all of the time over there.

 

Thanks for sharing. Not into the extra-wide tacked-on bodywork, but can respect the effort put in. He and the likes of Magnus Walker have almost a cult-like following. If only social media was as prevalent back in the days of ANDIAL Racing, Alan Johnson Racing (aftermaket slantnoses), and even Alois Ruf's shop.

 

i like his 997 aesthetic more so than the air cooled cars