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Films:
Magnus Walker’s 1980 Porsche 924 Carrera GT: The Unloved Outlaw
The reference is to Rod Emory of Emory Motorsports who has been modifying Porsches his entire life. The Emorys go back 3 generations in body work & custom cars. And at a time when it was thought to be in very poor taste to customize a Porsche, Rod and his dad with doing it with emphasize. These ‘incorrect’ Porsches were called ‘outlaws’. Their work is quite astonishing. They work with the kind of care on the 356 cars that the Singer folks lavish on their reimagining of the 911. https://www.emorymotorsports.com/outlaws
As an old guy with an 87 911 (in truth, my wife’s baby), who loves track time, I can say you can have a great drive with a fun car on the Crest or Mulholland or Ortega, etc. without going anywhere near the limit. I don’t mind Magnus or anyone risking their life on the road, but I’d rather they not take me with them!
Magnus likes to make historical references in the way that he modifies and ornaments his cars. These include sponsor logos of the past, and a few of the present. For instance he will also use rubber hood tie downs of a type that Porsche used in the 60s or so. These are no longer legal for most competition, but make a reference to Porsche’s storied past. Magnus is exceedingly knowledgeable about Porsche history, and so would be able to tell you exactly where and when these references to prior Porsche practices apply.
I like the style of the guy, and it is a delight to see someone being so “alternative” but still both passionate and knowledgeable about Porsches among all the straight and boring and overpaid P-owners.
But, I am less impressed with the content of those vids posted by others here – driving fast in fairly dense traffic is one thing, most of us do it occasionally or frequently, but those inside overtaking maneuvers are just plain lame.
Take it to the track.
Mangus has done what so many Gear Heads dream of with their automotive passions and has gotten Famous for it.
Not everyone is going to like the man who has fashioned himself as an “Outlaw” of the Porsche “rules” and regulations that (unwittingly) have governed the marque.
I see the myriad of videos (like this one) done on him driving around public roads like a dread-locked madman and I do worry about his fate…
I hate to see him end up like Jimmy Dean did.
Who was just as passionate about his “Little Bastard” 505 Porsche Spyder at the time of his legendary death.
http://video.startribune.com/porsche-crashes-during-twin-cities-media-event-with-our-reporter-inside/323095071/
(the attached photos & video link shows Mangus has come close to the edge himself)
I just hope and pray he doesn’t get himself or others killed the way that he drives.
Many have had a litany of negative comments about this self-promoting stylized “Urban Outlaw” over the years and I’m sure that will continue about his butchering up Porsche cars in the manner that suits him personally best.
Nevertheless, Magnus continues to expand his scholarship and passionate driving experiences on the Porsche culture as one of its most fascinating Loved & “Unloved” characters among its varied ranks.
There is another problem here and that has to do with a fragile balance between the community and law enforcement. Drivers up on on the Crest are mostly hobbyists. They are also professionals. We drive up on the Crest Road for enjoyment or to tune and test suspension settings, tires, or the cars themselves. Car videos are made there. To this point in time, the Highway Patrol has been understanding about the fact that we do this. They keep a lid on things without getting petty about minor infractions. When someone drives as Magnus suggests, ‘flat out in fourth gear’, if the CHP is around, they impound the car, and take it away on a flat bed. Should driving track prepared cars to their full potential becomes more popular up on the Crest all of us are going to get shut down for good. And that will be very unfortunate.
Lets be honest…..Magnus is a lightening rod for many. He’s talented for sure, passionate about the P-car range (as is clear in this video) and has done a marketing job of himself that can only be matched by the horribly untalented Kardashian family. (Their fame still baffles me!) But anyone of us who loves cars has driven over the speed limit and probably does it every day of our lives. I know I do. Yes, some of the attached clips are not what anyone of us would condone but we’ve all done it at some time….maybe not for as long as he did it but we’ve done it. In this great country of ours its our constitutional right to drive like idiots on our highways and by-ways just as its the right of the local law enforcement agency to arrest us and impound our cars for doing it. Most of us can recall at least one time in our driving life where we’ve tempted fate and survived. Lets not forget many of the videos on Petrolicious show vehicles doing naughty things but I for one could care less. Keep ’em coming!
The 924 has the transaxle in back for better weight distribution. So it does have a unique balance. Porsche suspension designers were so steeped in building rear suspensions around transaxles at the time, that it was a natural kind of thing for them to do. One of the first times that was done, for better weight distribution, was the Lancia Aurelia starting in 1950 or so. That was front V6 and rear transaxle. Were there some intermediate examples? You would think that there must have been, but none come to mind. On the 924 the clutch is in the front, and there is a healthy torque tube, tying front engine and rear transaxle together into a single structure. Torque tubes are common now, but were new at the time.
@ Robert in LA. Ferrari’s 275GTB and the Daytona both have a transaxle setup. Early 275’s did not have torque tube but Ferrari found there were lots of vibration problems unless everything was perfectly aligned so added them on the later long nose cars. Incidentally Ferrari used Porsche Syncros in the gearboxes for these!
@Matthew Lange Interesting what you say about Ferrari using the Porsche synchros in a rear mounted transaxle. If the clutch is in front, and the transaxle is in back the WHOLE drive line becomes the transmission input shaft. Getting the input shaft and counter shaft up to speed then takes really big synchros or heavy double clutching. This is a fundamental limit of the configuration. A second limit is that the drive line turns at engine speed, and not at transmission output speed. And this creates potential for vibration, unless balance is very, very good. So it is interesting what you say. If both Porsche and then Ferrari couldn’t make it work well, it wasn’t worth further investment.
Another thought – Thanks to Magnus Walker for his evaluation to one of the all-time great Porsches – the 924. I agree with Magnus totally about the handling, balance and feel of the 924 which I prefer to the 911. Perhaps, I am a bit of an outlaw, because I tend to prefer the front-engined Porsches to the 911, and the mid-engine ones, as well. I have owned two 911s as well as other Porsches, and my next one might be a Macan or a 924 Carrera.
You walk the cars at any vintage Porsche event and you’ll hear the easily thrown out comments and criticism about configuration and performance choices made an owner, yet the final baseline is affinity for the marque. It’s similarly easy to find issue with anyone, and easier still with someone as high profile as Magnus, but stop for a second and appreciate his passion for the marque. Did he use certain words too much? Yes, and so did I in my Smoking Tire interview (I may never say “right?” again) – is that a crime? Did he include every model Porsche ever made in his list? No. However, he’s owned some he didn’t list, and are we really going to audit some thematic statement and miss the bigger point? Did he get out of control and crash? It’s time to move on and see this for what it is – great passion, great Porsche content.
While Magnus Walker always delivers a fascinating load of insights into Porsche as well as his own ideas and attitude, I would find life very boring to drive over the same road over and over again and again – even in his breathtaking array of Porsches. Magnus, you ought to do more long distance driving in the grandeur of the American West. The roads and highways offer majestic scenery and unforgettable experiences. Why not cruise up to Big Sur? Black Rock? Death Valley? Grand Canyon? Monument Valley? Yellowstone? Why remain fixated on one road like a hamster on a wheel?
The Crest is a pretty amazing road. BMW tests a lot of their mules up there. I see them all the time. If you are tuning a suspension, the road is very useful because it has some of everything. Switch backs. Broad sweepers. Declining radius turns. Rapid changes in elevation. And the Crest is very lightly policed. Arizona is different deal. When I am over there I drive with a GPS speedometer on the dash in front of me. If our friend Magnus drove the way he does on the Crest in Arizona he would be at risk of having his car impounded.
I couldn’t wait to finish the video so I could see the Magnus haters come out to play! I wasn’t disappointed thanks to Robert in LA.
There is some backlash against him as there might be against anyone or anything that becomes very popular quickly. I was aware of and respected him years ago when he started his mega-thread on the Early S registry and I really have not every stopped appreciating what and who he is. For me, he is an extremely enthusiastic p-car owner who has inspired many and deserves any and all respect that he can get. His marketing of himself can get a little much at times, but I really don’t care about that. Also, props to him because he has been tracking his cars forever and is not just a poser on the road —
I had a feeling that this is going to be contentious. No question that he’s a great collector. And he is a self made man. Came to these shores with a duffle bag which had all his worldly belongings. That and a will to work. Who doesn’t admire that? A lot of whether you or not you find Magnus to be amusing depends on how often you have shared the road with him. Here he is street racing on the Pasadena Freeway in mid-day traffic. Now, truly, is this an intelligent thing to do? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXdq3lGwrCk
At 7:11 regarding Route 2, The Angeles Crest Road, Magnus says: “you can go flat out in fourth or fifth gear”, yet this is the kind of thing that happens when Magnus goes flat out on secondary roads.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/videos/a26511/magnus-walker-porsche-crash/
