Magnus Walker explains why he's selling 18 of his 30 Porsches to chase a dream he's not ready to reveal

Magnus Walker is a man ‘with the beard’ – as he often calls himself – a serious Porsche collection, and an incredible story.

Hollywood screenwriters couldn’t come up with a better plot for his life.

We recently had a chat with the fashion entrepreneur-turned car collector, as he explained why he made a key decision about his Porsches.

And he also revealed something most people may have missed.

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Magnus Walker is known as the ‘Porsche guy’, but how many Porsches does he actually own?

“Well, the answer is a few,” he joked.

“I’ve owned a hundred. The current number is around 30.”

At this point, we should probably give some context, because by the time you read this, that number will have gone down as Walker auctioned off 18 of those 30 cars.

“Eight of them are 911s, ranging from a 1965 model, which is the oldest one, to the newest one – a 2004 911 996 GT3,” he explained.

“So 18 cars [are about to go]. There are 10 911s in total, and eight of them are water-cooled,” he said.

This gave us the perfect opportunity to satisfy our curiosity about the amazing home/workshop/garage he owns in LA.

Speaking of auctions, is the warehouse in LA still on the market?

“I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 40 years, and no, I still own the building,” he revealed.

“This is a 26,000-square-foot, two-story, former industrial building that I converted into a living space and also a workplace. I ran my clothing business out of it, and lived in it. And it also houses my Porsche collection.”

Walker also wanted to make it clear that this is a passion, not a business idea.

“To clarify, my Porsche collection is a hobby, not a business. I don’t build custom cars. It’s just my own passion, my own expression, my own art form,” he explained.

He also revealed why the building is no longer available.

“The building is currently not for sale. I took it off the market. I’m going to let go of some cars and then re-establish what I’m doing with the building.”

Does Magnus Walker also collect other cars or just Porsches?

Apparently, that’s a common misconception, because Walker does own several other vehicles.

“Now we’re in our vintage Rolls-Royce era. For example, today I drove from Hollywood to Downtown in my ‘pre-Corniche’ 1969 Rolls-Royce Shadow coupe,” he noted.

“We actually own four vintage Rolls-Royces from the 60s and 70s. [Partly] because, to me, the Rolls-Royce Shadow, especially from the 70s, just represents great value.”

He also added that he owns a 1977 Corvette C3.

“I bought my first Porsche in 1992, and I’m known as a Porsche guy, but along the way, I’ve owned other things: Dodge, Lotus Esprits, Lotus Europas, and even Ferraris.”

How he decides what cars to buy

“I never follow trends. When I bought my first Porsche 32 years ago, it was just almost like a used VW Beetle in a sense,” he said.

“It’s only over the past 10 years that Porsches have become this commodity from an investment point of view. [But] I’ve never bought cars as an investment. I’ve bought things that I want to experience.”

But also admitted that timing is everything.

“I bought these cars when they were, let’s say, $10 and now they might be worth $100,” he said.

What was the cheapest Porsche he bought?

“The cheapest project car I bought was probably 500 bucks. The cheapest running 911 that didn’t really need any work [to run] was 4,500 bucks,” he said.

“I bought a lot of 911s for under $10,000. I bought 3-liter turbos for 20 grand. Now they’re worth $200,000.”

He pointed out that the market was generally uninterested in these cars in the past.

“Anything that was air-cooled was really affordable 20 years ago because no one wanted them. I was able to acquire a lot of cars because I wasn’t buying them at today’s price points.”

“But my whole thing is I invest in memorable moments and smiles per mile,” he reiterated.

A recurring theme in his viral TED Talks video

“Just do what you love. There’s a common bond for me in my life. You know, I left school when I was 15. I’m now 58. I had no real education. But I was passionate about certain things, especially things that centered around design, whether it was clothing, old properties or old cars.

“Generally, I like old things,” he said.

“They have character and soul and patina. I’m not a fan of bright, shiny new things, which tend to fall more into the category of an appliance,” Walker admitted.

He also joined the growing number of people who believe this crazy horsepower race is a bit meaningless.

“Modern day stuff with 2,000 horsepower is irrelevant because the road ultimately determines the speed. A car with 2,000 horsepower is not going 10 times quicker than a car with 200 horsepower on the same road,” he pointed out.

“And you’re not getting 10 times the driving experience just because it’s 10 times more expensive.”

Why he bought the warehouse

“I bought it when no one really wanted to be in that area of Los Angeles, and now [the area] is growing,” he confirmed.

“It’s all about doing things that resonate internally, not caring about what other people think, what other people think you should do. It either feels right or it doesn’t. Hence go with your gut feeling, which was the name of my TED Talk.”

“We never bought it as a financial investment. It just made sense to invest in ourselves, not invest in someone else. Before I bought this building, we’d rented a warehouse and rented another loft and we were paying someone else’s mortgage. So it made sense.”

Magnus Walker also revealed that the building played a huge role in his Porsche collection simply because it almost ‘accidentally’ gave him a new business.

“If hadn’t bought the building, I wouldn’t have landed in the film location business, which allowed me to get out of the clothing business, and also allowed me financially to own more cars than I ever thought I would own, all under one roof in a very creative space,” he said.

“It’s all about doing whatever you like and following your gut feeling. A spreadsheet can only get you so far.”

How often does he add to his Porsche collection?

“Ironically, I haven’t bought a Porsche in quite some time. The bulk of my buying period was probably 15 years ago,” Walker revealed.

“My first Porsche represented a personal sense of accomplishment, a dream come true, and freedom. Then I bought my second Porsche, the car that became 277, in 1999. I’ve owned most of these cars for 10-15 years, or even longer.”

“Now I’m selling some of them because I’m chasing a new dream. Selling some of these cars is more of a cleansing, letting things go, lightening my load. But anyway, the long answer to your question is I actually haven’t added a new vehicle to my Porsche collection in quite while,” he said.

At this point we have to ask: what’s the new dream for Magnus Walker?

“I’m not ready to share the new dream yet,” he said.

“I have my eyes set on something, and time will tell once that goal is achieved. So that is one of those ‘stay tuned’ things. When it comes true, I’ll let you know,” he concluded.

We’re certainly looking forward to that.

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