The star collector of the Porsche world at this very moment is Magnus Walker, a 45-year-old… well, what is he exactly? It’s almost impossible to categorize the man into anything as constraining as a single profession. After all, he left formal schooling at age 15, doesn’t hold a degree in any of the jobs he’s excelled at in life, and juggles enough endeavors to make the junior traders at Goldman Sachs seem like a herd of utter slackers.
A short list of things Walker has accomplished includes making Alice Cooper look scary, schooling creatives at Nike on thinking outside the box, and launching a clothing line sold in every shopping mall in America. His office is so interesting that TV shows and music videos are filmed inside it. He creates incredible artwork, has a movie coming out, and oh yeah, amassed an assembly of early 911s most Porschephiles would sell their trustafaraian kids for.
It’s that last bit you’re probably most concerned about. In an online video called Urban Outlaw that went bonkers viral earlier this year, Walker talks about the goal of acquiring one 911 from each year, starting with the model’s inception in 1964 to the discontinuation of the 2.4 liter thin-bumpered cars in 1973.
At first blush that may seem like some kind of Peter Max-level hoarding compulsion, but the truth is that Walker’s Porsches are far more compelling. To the untrained eye it’s a dozen German sports cars painted different colors — and for Walker the fact that the 911’s shape has remained largely unchanged for decades is a huge part of the appeal — but each 911 has been customized in some unique way, modified to serve a dedicated purpose, or is just plain rare.
For example, the silver and black-striped 1965 is what Walker calls a sport purpose, trim deleted Monte Carlo Rally interpretation. It also happens to be the 310th 911 ever built. Add subtle custom handiwork like the polished-lip Fuchs wheels and you’ve got a winning formula that looks just as natural carving LA’s concrete canyons as it might buzzing through the hills of Monaco.
The Polo Red 1966 is a complete, numbers matching car with a sleeper twist. The original 2.0-liter, 130hp motor has been bumped up to 2.2 liters and 160 horses thanks to upgraded internals, but you’d never know from looking at it. The typical Excellence reader might be quite happy with a car just like that, but Walker’s style is more the hot rod beside it. The white 1972 is still a work in progress, but it’s already taking shape with patented Magnus Walker touches like a bumper drilled with speed holes and smoothed-out widebody flares.
Walker has also informally trademarked calling cards like louvered engine covers and a center-fill stovepipe fuel cell. Perhaps the most brilliant strokes are his integrated turn signal and taillights that give the cars the look of an RS/ST, but totally with no gap for the lens bezels. Walker’s garnered such a cult following that fans are now asking him to build them Magnus-style 911s.
Another favorite of Walker’s is his Irish Green 1966. Unlike the Polo Red cherry, it’s completely unrestored and wears a patina that can only come with age. Pairing it with custom powdercoated steelies only adds to its rawness. Walker loves it because its imperfections give it character that can’t be built or restored into a car.
So how exactly did a lad from Sheffield, England start a life-long Porsche obsession? At the age of 10 Walker first laid eyes on a 911 at the Earl’s Court Motor Show. He was so enthralled by the Martini-liveried race car that he was inspired to write a letter to the company asking if they’d hire him. To young Magnus’s surprise, Porsche wrote back.
The reply said something to the effect of, “Sure, look us up when you’ve finished school.” Well, that never happened. By age 15, Walker had found his second love – rock and roll. He promptly left home, USA-bound with nothing but his British bulldog spirit. He traveled from Detroit to Los Angeles, diving head first into the epicenters of America’s rock culture.
Walker always had an sharp eye for art as well. When he first arrived in Los Angeles he made ends meet by acquiring cool looking vintage clothes to sell on Venice Beach’s famed boardwalk. Soon he began designing clothes of his own, and when his line got picked up by a major clothing chain the rest became history.
Passion for American rockers like Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue and showmen like Evel Knievel is why the semi-streetable race car Walker’s most known for is painted in red, white and blue. Since its purchase in 1994 and subsequent build-up, the 180-horsepower beast has been tracked at Laguna Seca and run on Mulholland Drive alike. It’s the least pristine of all his 911s but Walker likes it better that way, battle scars and all. The more beat up the better, like a comfortable pair of well-worn sneakers.
Over the years Walker’s owned a variety of cars, from a Lotus Europa to a 1969 Dodge Super Bee, but he always came back to his true love, the 911. In all, about 40 Porsches have passed through Walker’s ownership. To be honest the whole thing about owning one 911 from each year of the first three generations has been blown out of proportion since Urban Outlaw went viral. He’s already gotten them all except the easiest one, the 1973. He could get five of those today if he so desired, but he’s since expanded his focus to 3.0 liter Turbos.
Walker now owns three 930s and in true Magnus fashion they’re each in some way unique. In order of appearance, the closest 1976 with the chocolate interior is the second oldest 930 to touch US shores. The Minerva Blue ’76 is a rare European-spec car that found its way here from across the Atlantic. Behind that is a numbers matching 1976 Carrera 2.7 RS MFI, a factory homologated special of which there were only 113 built. Walker’s is the thirteenth.
The hard part’s done. The most difficult 911 to find sits right there in the back room of Walker’s massive warehouse amid a treasure trove of parts. Only 232 first-year 911s have been accounted for in the 1964 registry. Of those, only 49 are documented and only 36 have the original motor and transmission. Walker’s is one of them. Ever the showman, he won’t unveil the car to the public just yet, instead keeping a cover on it to keep his rabid fans guessing. In the eight months since Walker first posted his collection on the internet he’s received worldwide adoration and respect. He’s gotten endorsement contracts, calls from magazines, and potentially a TV deal. The thing about the Urban Outlaw video is that it’s actually a trailer, for a documentary to debut at the Sundance Film Festival next year.
With all the newfound attention you know our rock and roll Porsche collector won’t be content to let sleeping dogs lie. He lives by the motto, “He who dares, wins,” and Magnus Walker is just getting started. -Ben Hsu
Keyword: Magnus Walker, Urban Outlaw Porschephile