Come to think about it, the RWB 993 Porsche 911 we have here, which is officially debuting later today at the 2022 SEMA, is all about nature. No, really, it’s got a naturally-aspirated flat-six, the color of gold and, more importantly, a composite transparent roof that means the custom interior gets all the light the sky will allow. On a more serious note, welcome to the V2.0 iteration of RWB Yoshiwara Yukaku, a 993-generation mix between a 911 Targa and a track toy like the GT2.
Back in 1967, Porsche introduced the original 911 Targa to ensure that the ever-stricter American roll protection legislation wouldn’t outlaw its cabriolets (no spoiler alert: that never happened). Named in honor of the carmaker’s victories in the Targa Florio road race, the model sat halfway between a convertible and a coupe, mixing the former’s soft top with a roll hoop that promised to offer the protection of the latter body style.
That Targa bar stayed in place until 1993, when Porsche released the 993-generation Targa. Based on the final air-cooled iteration of the German sportscar, this introduced skipped the roll hoop in favor of two longitudinally-running protection elements. These supported a glass structure spanning from the windshield to the rear-mounted engine of the Neunelfer, with a power-operated top segment that could be stored behind the rear window—the layout remained in place for the 996 and 997 generations.
And yes, the 993 we have here used to be one of the world’s RWB Targa builds. Rauh-Welt Begriff creator Akira-Nakai installed the widebody kit on the machine back in 2017, when this became known as RWB Yoshiwara Yukaku, a nod the red-light district of Tokyo, which operated back in the days when the city was called Edo.
Commissioned by Californian builder Riko Gutierrez, this American RWB build was a masterpiece. For one, if we look past the meaty overfenders and the microscopic ground clearance, we find a front fascia and a rear wing inspired from the GT2 Evo, an uber-rare homologation special that used the GT2 Cup racer shell and a machine that sells for seven figures nowadays.
RWB Yoshiwara Yukaku 2.0
However, for SEMA 2022, Riko revamped the machine, which is why we’re looking at RWB Yoshiwara Yukaku 2.0 (lens tip to media creator @Krispy for the SEMA images in the gallery below—however, the first pic comes from Riko and was taken before the Las Vegas show arrival).
Even after so many builds scattered across the world—and united via social media—it’s hard for a Porsche 911 wearing a Rauh-Welt Begriff kit to not be completely dominated by its Japanese widebody. And while the super-sized aero bits introduced by RWB founder Akira Nakai shine as strong as they usually do, the new custom roof of this Neunelfer is just as worthy of attention, to say the least.
Taking the vehicle further down the track special path, Riko removed the heavy glass panels of the 993 Targa roof (for the record, the Targa is the heaviest 911 derivative). These were replaced with a single piece of composite, whose visible rivets fall in line with how Akira Nakai attaches his overfenders.
The interior is also track-focused
Gazing through the now-fixed, but still transparent roof, we notice an extensive roll cage has made its way into the cabin. And the interior is now even further stripped than before, while the extra bars allowed for the installation of multi-point Takata harnesses to go with the refreshed bucket seats.
The N/A flat-six, whose displacement used to sit at 3.6L (we’re not sure if this has changed) also received a host of mods, chief among which is a Motec ECU and harness. The standalone engine management system gets a digital display flanked by just two of the five factory dials—hey, keep in mind that the upcoming 2024 992.2 mid-cycle revamp is switching to an all-digital dash.
In fact, in the second Insta post below, which comes from Marcus Fry Racing, the specialist that oversaw the engine revamp, you can listen to the boxer waking up to fetish life—there’s also a quick SEMA parking lot drive in Riko’s vid.
And the not-so-quick Tiptronic automatic (this was before the PDK era) has been replaced by a sequential setup-would you look at the clutch pedal and the balsa wood shifter, which reminds us of infamous Porsche racers like the 908 and the 917. Plus, the thing now has new shoes, supplied by Work Wheels.
As for the golden paint, which covers way more than just the exterior, this is part of Riko’s M.O., as also highlighted by his IMSA racecar-inspired widebody Nissan 240Z.
