The World is Rough - The Japanese Porsches that took over the Internet - Part 2

By Taylor Shinobu Williams

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

Cars have given me so much of my life. They have been able to help me fulfill my dreams, gain every friend that I have today, and I like to think they’re the reason I’m writing today. The opportunities and connections, the experiences and interactions that my passion for cars has given me is beyond measure. Like most gearheads growing up, I just wanted a cool car and to have a job related to cars. I got the car that I thought was cool, and met plenty of friends because of this machine. Through one of those friendships, I was given the opportunity to work for a clothing company called Fatlace, which at the time was on the forefront of the new generation of car culture, especially Japanese car culture. It was also the official headquarters of Rauh Welt USA. 

At any given time, the Fatlace warehouse would hold a wild collection of cars, from 1st and 2nd generation Nissan Skylines, built drift cars, slammed Volkswagens, Porsches, and so much more. I would walk by these cars so often that they started to lose their wow factor. Imagine being a huge Japanese car guy and having it be just another day at work as you walk by a 1st gen Hakosuka Skyline. That would be wild to most people not to mention the people who actually brought their cars to show off.

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

Only one car truly caught my attention everyday, the one car I wished I could truly drive there, a very special one named Pandora One. It started life as a normal 964 C4S that Fatlace founder and owner Mark Arcenal bought. Its other claim to fame? Being the very first Rauh Welt car in the US. 

Featuring the signature widebody fenders and massive wing, but with a 450hp turbocharged 3.6L flat 6 as its heart. Originally painted flat green and fitted with Rotiform wheels, but when I fell in love, it had black paint and Work wheels. It was the perfect race car for the street for me, and caught my attention every single day.

How did Nakai come up with the name? He was listening to the Pandora One radio station on the Pandora app while building this car. Simple as that.

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

Being in the amazing position I was in, it gave me an opportunity to meet the incredible man. Nakai is a quiet, humble man who truly enjoys and prides himself in his craft. Whenever he travels to build one of the cars, he brings two suitcases, both full of tools and one change of clothes added in. From start to finish, he builds for 36 hours straight -  only stopping to eat, smoke, and drink a can of Coke. During these small breaks, he sits in silence, staring at the car, planning the next steps of each creation. He doesn’t use a tape measure - or take any measurements for that matter - just freehanding it, taking a cutoff wheel to brand new paint. 

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

I mean, even just being able to work in the proximity of the man himself does something to you. At the time, Nakai was building a different Rauh Welt car while I helped my good friend Lorenze Torres build his Nissan S13 into a drift/street car (man, I miss that car) in the same shop space. Although we were just installing coilovers and basic suspension pieces on Lorenze’s $2000 car, we felt the motivation and creativity in the air. Having a small bento box lunch with him was also pretty cool, even though we knew very little Japanese and he knew just as little English. 

Via Sam Molakidies @yungsalad_

In the 3 years I was at Fatlace, I probably watched Nakai put his hands on ten cars. Everything from 993’s built for Porsche Cup drivers to demo Gbodies painted in Rubystone Red (or also known as pink.) His style never left my mind, making every effort I could to watch him perform his magic. He is a very quiet man, of very few words, and a very reserved demeanor. I never had a real conversation with him, but it gave me more chances to just sit back, admire, and dream.

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

Nakai’s reputation and fame grew exponentially during this, continuing to be featured all over the internet, gracing magazine covers and even becoming the title character in the 2015 video game “Need For Speed.” Like I mentioned previously, you could drive one of his builds in a previous game, but this was the first time he was majorly featured, and the first time you could build your own version of a RWB. Of course, I chose the Gbody based car as my go to, built my own version of “Stella Artois,” and raced it around all while dreaming heavily about what I wished to have one day. And I wasn’t alone, as Nakai became global, everybody wanted a car built by him, he estimates that he has built over 1,300 Porsches by now, having just completed his latest creation, a kit for the 997.

Even a certain Grammy award winning artist, Frank Ocean, featured a couple on his album Blonde.

EA

After those 1,300 cars, where is Nakai now? Still working out of his small shop in the Tokyo area, but traveling all across the world to build cars. He no longer has Stella much to my dismay, which resides in Poland currently, but he does take his 993 Rotana to the track religiously, racing the Idlers’s Games quite often, (the videos by SPOCON-P on youtube of him and Nakai battling are incredible.) Pandora One was backdated to look like a RSR 911 of the early 70s and was sold, now residing in Texas. 

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

Like you’ve probably heard before about customized Porsches, many people thought what Nakai did was sacrilegious. But what Nakai, in part with Emory and Magnus Walker did, was bring Porsches into the eyes of the next generation, where we like our stuff to be custom. Who knows what would've happened without them, but I know for a fact that they are the reason classic air cooled Porsches are in the limelight again. 

Via Lorenze Torres of @loveshopauto

But what’s it like getting the opportunity to own and drive a car that Nakai has been fortunate enough to put his hands on? That may be something none of us can ever experience. But, I got fortunate enough to meet with someone who has, stay tuned for part 3!