Magnus Walker at Minneapolis.

Walkers should avoid speeding Porsches through office parks

Sky_Render wrote: I think it's cool that he's a "self-made man" and started with nothing, but I really don't understand what's so cool about him. He just seems like an old hippie who buys old 911s and does a few barely-noticeable mods to them. Now RWB Porsches I can understand!

To me, that's a bit meh.

It's nice and everything, but it's too modern for my taste (much prefer the "original" body style) and the tires/wheels are a bit much for a street car (fine for the track I am sure)

They are also the ones that do those super double triple wings. I think they look pretty absurd. I MUCH prefer Magnus's styling.

I think his are a bit more of elegant simplicity. Have to say though, not a huge fan of the tail lights.

I was at the Pebble Beach Concours a few years ago. The show fills up quickly, so by the time we arrived we had to park out by the ocean and take the shuttle bus in. We were on the bus, when Magnus walked up and tried to board. The bus driver tried to keep him off the bus---- thinking he was a homeless guy.

One of the other riders recognized him, and let the bus driver know he was mistaken. Ah--- the price of "fashion"!

By all accounts he's a nice guy who makes cool cars. Hopefully he'll be more careful on public roads---- as he was extremely lucky no one was seriously hurt by his indiscretion. This could have been the end of him, and his career. Hopefully he recognizes that.

Kreb wrote: How much money is Tiger Woods paying his ex-wife?

Not enough.

aircooled wrote: They are also the ones that do those super double triple wings. I think they look pretty absurd.

The big wings were big on club racing and hill climb Porsches for many years:

I think they look functional, not absurd.

I think his are a bit more of elegant simplicity. Have to say though, not a huge fan of the tail lights.

While they may not be your cup of tea, they do depict early 911 lightweight taillights, as seen on many early 911 race cars:

SlickDizzy wrote: In reply to Wally: You will find mixed opinions of his builds anywhere, but that's beside the point. Love his work or hate it, driving like an asshat in traffic on public roads deserves nothing but condemnation.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Most car enthusaists have driven rather rapidly on the street (including professional racers) and have had close calls or worse while doing so. It's way hypocritical of any of us to condemn him in the manner that tends to happen on the internet with some seriously holier-than-thou E36 M3 spewed.

Chris_V wrote:

SlickDizzy wrote: In reply to Wally: You will find mixed opinions of his builds anywhere, but that's beside the point. Love his work or hate it, driving like an asshat in traffic on public roads deserves nothing but condemnation.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Most car enthusaists have driven rather rapidly on the street (including professional racers) and have had close calls or worse while doing so. It's way hypocritical of any of us to condemn him in the manner that tends to happen on the internet with some seriously holier-than-thou E36 M3 spewed.

preach!

guy was just trying to have some fun, it went wrong, E36 M3 happens. If you've ever broken the tires loose on a public road then your not any different then him

edizzle89 wrote:

Chris_V wrote:

SlickDizzy wrote: In reply to Wally: You will find mixed opinions of his builds anywhere, but that's beside the point. Love his work or hate it, driving like an asshat in traffic on public roads deserves nothing but condemnation.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Most car enthusaists have driven rather rapidly on the street (including professional racers) and have had close calls or worse while doing so. It's way hypocritical of any of us to condemn him in the manner that tends to happen on the internet with some seriously holier-than-thou E36 M3 spewed.

preach! guy was just trying to have some fun, it went wrong, E36 M3 happens. If you've ever broken the tires loose on a public road then your not any different then him

So that I don't get the messages wrong - you guys seem to imply that since we are all sinners, that it's kind of ok to drive like that.

Just because we are stupid and do stupid things, that does not make it good. Just that we are all stupid.

One other thing- it's one thing to endanger ourselves by being stupid, but another to do that to others, who are totally innocent.

alfadriver wrote: One other thing- it's one thing to endanger ourselves by being stupid, but another to do that to others, who are totally innocent.

THIS is what I'm getting at that nobody else seems to get. Driving like an asshat, alone in the car on a backroad isn't very responsible...but doing it IN TRAFFIC with a PASSENGER is effing INSANE. I did that E36 M3 as a 16-year old in a Mk2 Supra, and somehow I got lucky and didn't hurt myself or anyone else. As an adult there is no berking way I'd pull some E36 M3 like that!!! Call me holier-than-thou for calling a spade a spade, I'm A-OK with it.

jsquared wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: People get SERIOUSLY bent about not putting the uh on the end of Porsh.

How would you feel if people pronounced your name wrong for 67 years

I think it's dumb. I have owned at least one Porsche, currently four, over the last couple of decades and the way people get bent about the pronunciation is very annoying to me. It reeks of elitism in a way, like "look at the simpleton that doesn't know how to pronounce Porsche, we are so superior". My 8 yeah nephew pronounced it "Portuguese" when he looked at my 993. Now some owners would have administered a beatdown right there, but I thought it was funny....reminded me of the first time I tried to pronounce Peugeot.

I like standing out on my Porch looking at Porch'es drive by.

Chris_V wrote: ...While they may not be your cup of tea, they do depict early 911 lightweight taillights, as seen on many early 911 race cars:...

Interesting. I did not know that.

Still not a huge fan though, they look a bit too much like cheap trailer lights you might buy at AutoZone or something. But they certainly are more "justified" knowing what you noted.

When I was young I used to say Porsh ah. Now I don't. It saves time.

"P" Car????

alfadriver wrote: So that I don't get the messages wrong - you guys seem to imply that since we are all sinners, that it's kind of ok to drive like that.

I'm not saying its ok but I get the impression from many of the posts that there are a number of people here who have never done anything dumb in a car. I spend enough time on the road to know that's not the case. Be it getting in over you head with speed, rolling through stop signs, or fiddling with a radio or a phone most people have done something unsafe and some have ended up in a crash because of it. To chastise one person as though they were an ax murderer is a bit silly.

spitfirebill wrote: When I was young I used to say Porsh ah. Now I don't. It saves time.

I was taught it was pronounced "Beetle"

SlickDizzy wrote:

alfadriver wrote: One other thing- it's one thing to endanger ourselves by being stupid, but another to do that to others, who are totally innocent.

THIS is what I'm getting at that nobody else seems to get. Driving like an asshat, alone in the car on a backroad isn't very responsible...but doing it IN TRAFFIC with a PASSENGER is effing INSANE.

what if there was a car coming around a blind corner you cant see and your going a little too fast and there's loose gravel in the corner? or someone on a bicycle over a crest? backroads are a more "contained" environment but you can still impose danger to other people.

all im getting at is there are some people pointing fingers saying "shame" but given the chance to throttle though a corner in a nice sports car they wouldnt bat an eye. hooning on public streets is always dangerous, just some places more then others.

and dont take this as me saying i dont ever do dumb E36 M3 on public roads on occasion. im just as guilty as the next guy

Wally wrote:

alfadriver wrote: So that I don't get the messages wrong - you guys seem to imply that since we are all sinners, that it's kind of ok to drive like that.

I'm not saying its ok but I get the impression from many of the posts that there are a number of people here who have never done anything dumb in a car. I spend enough time on the road to know that's not the case. Be it getting in over you head with speed, rolling through stop signs, or fiddling with a radio or a phone most people have done something unsafe and some have ended up in a crash because of it. To chastise one person as though they were an ax murderer is a bit silly.

damn you beat me to it

Foolishly fast on cold track tires, lift in the corner with expected results. Lucky no one got hurt, due to his automotive ass hattery.

What the guy in the Mercedes had to say about it.

Lucky Mercedes Pilot said: What does the cowboy in The Big Lebowski say? “Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you”. The Pagoda abides.

Oh, and you guys saying that anyone who ever did anything dangerous in a car on the street have no business commenting, is this your first day on the internet or what?

edizzle89 wrote:

SlickDizzy wrote:

alfadriver wrote: One other thing- it's one thing to endanger ourselves by being stupid, but another to do that to others, who are totally innocent.

THIS is what I'm getting at that nobody else seems to get. Driving like an asshat, alone in the car on a backroad isn't very responsible...but doing it IN TRAFFIC with a PASSENGER is effing INSANE.

what if there was a car coming around a blind corner you cant see and your going a little too fast and there's loose gravel in the corner? or someone on a bicycle over a crest? backroads are a more "contained" environment but you can still impose danger to other people. all im getting at is there are some people pointing fingers saying "shame" but given the chance to throttle though a corner in a nice sports car they wouldnt bat an eye. hooning on public streets is always dangerous, just some places more then others. and dont take this as me saying i dont ever do dumb E36 M3 on public roads on occasion. im just as guilty as the next guy

You missed his point. It's about levels of risk. There are some behaviors that are very likely to end up in a disaster. Other behaviors might not be risk-free, but they are far less risky. Shades of grey, not black and white. This isn't politics

Driving a fast car on cold tires in traffic and near obstacles with a passenger on board? Very high risk. Driving quickly on a back road with little traffic, solo, lower risk. Sitting on the couch, lowest.

Even during each of those activities, you can mitigate risk. Worried about cyclists over a crest? Then you leave yourself some margin when you crest it, then get back on the gas. Is there a transporter parked beside the road that would make an excellent thing to crash into? Well, perhaps you decide to nail the throttle at a different time and place.

Magnus made very poor choices here and someone else got to pay the price. Luckily, it wasn't as high as it could have been. But it's not black and white here. We as a community might drive more aggressively than a new mother coming home from hospital, but we can still hold up the outliers as taking more risks than we feel is smart.

What I think of his cars is immaterial. What I think of his worth is immaterial. It could have been the guys from Gas Monkey Garage having this accident. Or it could have been a 16 year old. The difference is that the 16 year old doesn't yet have the maturity or experience to evaluate those risk levels. Walker should have known better.

Obviously, Magnus trusted his gut and it led him wrong this time

I once saw a video where he talked about how he built his business, it was basically a story of amazing opportunities falling directly into his lap like manna from heaven over and over again, so in conclusion his advice was to "go with your gut" because that worked for him.

Fun fact: If he'd told one guy the truth about the clothes he was wearing - that he bought them at Target, rather than saying that he sold them - he'd be some unknown guy driving a Geo Prizm or something today.

Agreed Keith--- I know I've done some seriously stupid things behind the wheel of a car. A trip through the mountains in my 240z comes to mind--- I took a chance, passed a car with another oncoming. No runoff-- only a cliff leading to a river far below. I made it...by the skin of my teeth. I also scared the Hell out of a friend of mine....for good reason. It was dumb....really, really dumb.

I look back on that day often. My friend now has 2 beautiful kids, a wife and a very happy existence. All of that could have been snuffed out because of my stupidity and recklessness. It still bothers me, I'm just grateful I was so lucky.

The point isn't about making bad choices, it's about learning from them. Magnus is old enough to know better. I don't hate the guy for making a mistake--- but that was a pretty large one that put people's lives in danger. Judging by how well he's liked..... he'll probably think of this accident in the future with regret.....just like I do. Hopefully he'll learn from it too.

Wally wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: When I was young I used to say Porsh ah. Now I don't. It saves time.

I was taught it was pronounced "Beetle"

The first Karman Ghia I ever saw I thought was a Porsh ah.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Very well put, Keith.

The other thing to consider here is that even though Magnus is at a different place in life than we are, what happened to him reflects poorly on car enthusiasts in general. Most of the people watching that newscast can't distinguish a Porsche from a lesser, er...other car, and aside from the dreadlocks, they can't distinguish between Magnus and the rest of us either, so car guys in general come off looking bad here. It will make it harder the next time that someone tries to get permission to hold an event in a public place.

dyintorace wrote: Kind of like the Ken Block hate I think. Self-made men who also happen to like cars. Both living the life most, if not all of us, would live, given the resources. Are there things each does that may be different than we'd do? Sure, but that's life. In this instance, it seems like Walker messed up. In the video going around, as he pulls out of the dealership, the hauler is sitting there already. Not sure how long he was gone, but he had to know it was there.

Wally wrote:

alfadriver wrote: So that I don't get the messages wrong - you guys seem to imply that since we are all sinners, that it's kind of ok to drive like that.

I'm not saying its ok but I get the impression from many of the posts that there are a number of people here who have never done anything dumb in a car.

I'm not crucifying the guy because he's likeable. It's not jealousy, and I'm certainly not without sin. I'm just confused that with all the resources at his disposal he chooses to go to great lengths to document and publicize risky street driving. Seems out of step with his character. I suspect it may be a calculated PR. People love the outlaw style badassery , but I've never heard an ounce of that come through during interviews with the guy. He seems humble and unassuming.

My first reaction was empathy because I've stuffed a car doing stupid E36 M3 on the road before. It sucks to tear up your toy. It sucks more to do it in the public eye. It sucks the most when someone else gets hurt.