MAGNUS WALKER / Man with a beard

b500 magazine

MAGNUS WALKER

Man with a beard

Man with a Beard Builder, Collector, Driver Born in Sheffield -1967 Wrote a letter to Porsche as a 10 year old wanting to be a car Designer Lives in Los Angeles since 1987 Car Enthusiast

Random Thoughts

Isuppose I’ve become known as a Porsche guy. But it didn’t start out that way. The very first car I bought was back in 1987. I paid $200 for a 1977 Toyota Corolla 2TC. I drove it around for a few months without a drivers’ license and eventually passed my California drivers test in this car at age 21 in 1988. I loved that little thing. It represented my first taste of freedom. No longer would I have to wait for a ride home at night or for someone to pick me up in the morning. I was free to go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and that to me was worth way more than the $200 I paid for it.

A few years later, I bought my second car: A 1988 Saab 900 SPG Turbo. This car was quirky. But for some reason it resonated with what I was into at that time. The third car I ever bought was the most important one at that time. It was a 1974 Porsche 911 Slant nose conversion that I paid $7,500 for at the Pomona Swap Meet. This bright red Porsche represented a dream come true and a sense of personal achievement. I had achieved a goal that I never thought possible. A mere 15 years earlier as a 10 year old I had the poster on the wall and wrote a letter to Porsche – believe it or not, they even wrote me back.

Fast-forward 23 years and countless Porsche later, I’m now on a slightly different quest. For some reason I got it in my mind that I needed a Ferrari 308 GT4. Perhaps the little Bertone fourseater could be one of Ferrari’s leastloved and desired marques. But for some reason that didn’t stop me going to see one advertised for sale a mere five miles from where I live in east Los Angeles. I was excited to see the silver car when I walked into the cool brick warehouse but for some strange reason what really caught my eye was a rusty ‘patina’d’ 2+2 V12 E-Type Jaguar. As a former 1967 Series 1 FHC E-Type Jag owner, I was very familiar with the model but hadn’t actually thought until this precise moment about how cool a patina’d, beatup, distressed, hot-rod Jag would be. The idea of taking the unloved 2+2 model and making it into an outlaw hot-rod was something that was very appealing to me and started a rapid slide down the slippery slope of online E-Type Jaguar hunting. A “wanted” post on my Instagram account led to lots of response, enthusiastic support, and several deadend leads. At this exact moment, I received a text from an acquaintance named Fraser who 18 months earlier had sold me a 1979 928 Porsche. This time his text was asking me whether I knew anyone who would be interested in his 1975 AMC Hornet and provided a photo that piqued my interest enough to request a few more images. Within five minutes of receiving the photos, I was on my way to Santa Monica to look at the car. It wasn’t quite love at first sight— but the faded original orange paint, original bill of sale and ID card, and pure ‘70s nostalgia and character were all it took for me to work a deal and buy the car within an hour of that first text.

The sweet little AMC Hornet was not a car on my wish list, and maybe I bought it to scratch an itch whilst I sought an E-Type, but the first time I drove it around my beloved downtown LA, I was starting to fall in love with American cars all over again. Only time will tell what memorable moments will be made with this car.

MOSS AUTOMOTIVE

Storage / Detailing / Transport / Finance

Moss Automotive was established to create the perfect discreet and secure environment to store cars within 30 minutes of Central London. The founder of the business, a keen car collector, had demanding criteria for his storage needs and decided to create a state of the art facility, at where he deemed to be the ideal location. Situated 2 minutes from an M25 junction, 30 minutes from central London 10 minutes from Elstree Aerodrome and 30 minutes from Heathrow. The building is ideally positioned to provide clients with access to their cars with minimal traffic and logistical challenges.

The Perfect Environment. Following meticulous planning and a very significant investment, the building itself presents the perfect car storage environment with 55% relative humidity, a constant 15°C temperature maintained, air filtration to remove dust and other contaminants from the air with a capacity for 300 cars.

Moss Automotive also provide a range of complementary services in addition to their London car storage offering. You can have your car looked after by their in-house detailer, who operates from the brand new bespoke detailing building.

Moss can also provide valeting, paint correction, ceramic paint protection coatings or paint protection film and mobile services, on request. They will clean all incoming cars before arrival into their storage building and can help to maintain and enhance the condition of customer cars. BSM Car Transport are their chosen in-house partners for all transportation requirements and can provide covered transport to and from the Moss storage building to any location within mainland Europe. Additionally, they can co-ordinate transportation to and from major ports and airports for cars arriving or departing from further afield and provide a transport solution tailored to a client’s needs. They have the experience and range of vehicles at their disposal to accommodate any logistical challenge, from transporting Race Cars with minimal ground clearance, moving large vehicles, to simply delivering a car to and from its annual service location. The BSM fleet comprises a modern and diverse range of transporters.

Join us in each issue of b500 where we will be writing in detail about each aspect of the Moss Automotive Group.