1985 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF Ixo - MOC208 (diecast)
Published 08/20/21
The career of Akira Nakai started around 1980. At the time, he was a member of the Rough World drifting group, driving a Toyota Trueno AE86. Working at a body shop, he eventually managed to buy a banged-up Porsche 930, and started to modify it. Around 1997 he founded RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF, in Chiba, a small town close to Tokyo. If you are wondering, the name translates to “rough world concept” in English. RAUH-Welt works only with Porsches, and mostly does body work. All RAUH-Welt cars have massively wide wheel arches, especially on the rear, and fender skirts. Nakai still has that first 930 (called “Stella Artois”), and it was the test bed for all his kits. He is a drifter at heart; consequently, his cars are for the track and the street.
Despite the looks of a RAUH-Welt Porsche being unorthodox, the brand became a cultural phenomenon. They now have shops all over the world, though only Akira Nakai works on the cars. Thus, their business model is unique. A customer buys a body kit (up to US$ 30k!) and schedules the installation. At the appointed date, Nakai flies in and the client brings his car to the local shop. He does all the necessary modifications to install the body kit, yet mechanical upgrades are the client’s responsibility. In Japan, however, Nakai-san founded RAUH-Welt Republik, which handles the mechanical part. In fact, thrice a year RAUH-Welt sponsors the Idlers Games, a kind of track day for their cars. The events happen at Motegi and Tsukuba, and are open to all RAUH-Welt cars.
For this car, Nakai’s canvas was a 1985 911 Turbo (930). The stock 930 came with a flat-6 3299 cm³ boxer engine, rated at almost 300 hp. With a single turbo, the engine had a lot of turbo lag, making it quite unforgiving coming out of corners. If you add a short wheelbase and a tendency to oversteer due to the rear engine, things could get hairy. Nonetheless, the owner of this 930 wanted a RAUH-Welt special. Allegedly, he wanted a red car, but Nakai-san thought the car would look better in lime green… 🤣 Since the customer wanted the car only for the street, the engine did not receive any performance upgrades. Same goes for the interior, that despite the Recaro seats is basically stock, with no roll cage. The client may not have received a faster car, but he sure received a looker.
As you can see from my collection, I’m no great fan of the “toonerz” scene. Nevertheless, Akira Nakai’s creations caught my eye. I don’t think you can get any wilder with a Porsche. Maybe not a car that I would choose to buy, nonetheless it sure grabs your attention. In scale Ixo did a fairly competent job to recreate the real thing. However, those canards on the front fender should have been green, and not black. And of course, the dead-eye-headlights are not exactly charming. In spite of that, it is a very decent model, and if found for a good price it may be a nice acquisition. Well, for the Porsche fan boy. Perhaps.