One of the coolest upcoming debuts at the 2022 SEMA Show is this, the purple Porsche Cayman equipped with a Karma widebody kit by Tyler Cordura. In one opinion, it’s the sickest car at Battle of the Builds Young Guns, at least from what we’ve seen thus far.
If you just enjoy SEMA at a glance, you missing out. Each year, the media just focuses on PR-released stories of the latest sports car, truck or SUV to come out that year. In 2022, it’s obviously going to be about the Nissan Z.
But as nice as the “400Z” may be, and as excited as we are for Tj’s StreetHunter kit, if you want a perfect sports car… it’s got to be a Porsche. And nobody has “ruined” the old Porsche Cayman quite like this Karma widebody build. It’s probably less enjoyable to hoon at the Tail of the Dragon, but it’s an Instagram superstar in the making.
It’s all about the widebody
RAUH-Welt Begriff, or RWB for short, is Akira Nakai’s gift to the world, an extreme combination of Euro and Japanese tuning styles that completely transforms the look of a Porsche 911.
Specifically, the RWB kits target the air-cooled models of yesterday. Many people have wondered what other Porsche models would look like in this style, and the Karma widebody kit achieves this for the Porsche Cayman.
The Karma Cayman kit has been getting notoriety all over Asia, but this was the first build on American soil. The package is quite affordable at just $4,000 and includes the usual widebody fenders that attach to the body.
But the Indonesian company which developed the Karma kit also created all-new bumpers with F1-style blades. There are fins, skirts, spoilers, and a massive wing at the back, similar to the RWB 911.
It took Tyler Cordura about a year to get the car finished. It’s not a question of bolting on some parts and calling it a day; he wanted it perfect, so a lot of body shop work was carried out, smoothing every imperfection.
Because #paintisdead, a purple wrap has been used to give this Cayman a unique, unmistakable appearance. It’s very GT3-like, which works great because the large wing at the back also has that racing look and is done in carbon fiber.
There are smaller upgrades as well. For the seats, this has the 2001-series from Cipher Euro Racing in mocha brown. A full roll cage was installed, and custom Ronan taillights were done by NTXglow in the modern Porsche style. For the wheels, it looks like the build sports 3-piece WORK Meister S1s, similar to some RWB 911 builds.
The 987.2 Cayman, one of the best Porsches
I’m not the resident Porsche expert; Andrei is. But from our discussions in the past, I gather the modern 911 is the one that goes fast and the Cayman is the one you buy for engagement. Obviously, there are exceptions like the GT3, but who can say no to an affordable mid-engined, reliable German sports car?
This is the second generation of the Cayman, launched in 2005, and the “987.2” name tells you it’s a facelift model from 2009-2012. These came out right in the middle of the financial crisis, so not many were sold, but it’s one of the best Porsches of the modern era. The main reason: a new generation of engines with direct fuel injection that virtually eliminated older reliability issues like bore scoring and IMS.
