Mat Canyon: Make Your Heart Break

For anyone, they can remember so far to a time where they see something that moves them on the inside. It moves a person up to the point where they could even stop whatever they were doing initially to just take a look. For me personally, I am no stranger to that feeling. There was many times where my opinion on something was changed when I see something different. This kind of occasion happens regardless if it concerns about food, a place, or even a particular car.

Apparently that was the case when I first encountered the name ‘Rauh Welt Begriff’ from a magazine article on Super Street back in 2011 when they featured Nakai-san’s personal Porsche 930 known as Stella Artois. I was never really a fan of Porsches, probably because of how round the front lights look. But after reading that particular article in my college classroom, I started look up more on classic Porsches with the RWB kit.

Around August this year, the build icon himself, Akira Nakai, was flown in to Kuala Lumpur to build the very first RWB Porsche based out of this lovely city. By this time, RWB has already had a strong base in Johor, Malaysia with four complete RWBs based there. Largely thanks to the person who brought RWB into Malaysia, Christian Coujin. But for this particular car, it was sort of a personal project for one of the owners of the car. For making that dream into a reality, he gathered a couple of his friends together to pitch in and share the car with.

The owner I got contact with, Teoh, started to approach Nakai-san for the build when he was building a car in Bangkok. For those who don’t know, Nakai-san is not the type of person that will simply go somewhere and build some person’s car. It doesn’t work like that for him. Prior to building the car, Nakai-san wants to get to know his client well first. So he and Teoh got to know each other as friends first prior to the build. For that time being, that’s when Nakai-san studies the client’s character in order to imagine the perfect car for the client. In a way, the finished car is like a gift from Nakai-san to a dear friend.

After a few meetings between Nakai-san and Teoh, the build date was finally decided during the RWB build in Indonesia. Therefore, Nakai-san was schedule to come in on the second weekend of August at The Garage KL, a café and garage located on the east side of Kuala Lumpur. The car chosen for the build is a 1990 Porsche 964 Cabriolet. Prior to the build date, the car already has its engine fully refurbished and freshly painted in Riviera Blue. The name that was given to this car was Miyabi, which means “elegance”, “refinement” or “courtliness” in modern Japanese. But it can also be referred to a “heart-breaker”.

Life after completion, the setup of the 964 was dialed in so that the car can be very drivable, especially for less perfect roads that Malaysia has. For the ideal ride and handling feel, the 964 got a set of KW Variant 3 coilovers. Judging on how faded the tire stencils are, one can tell that this 964 have been driven a lot. Exactly how a car like this should be enjoyed. For me, the RWB was only something I see on magazines and the internet. To finally see the car, what more to shoot and write about it, is just shear enjoyment.