Noted Porsche collector Magnus Walker learns what a TED Talk is firsthand

Wed, 23 Jul 2014

Porsche collector Magnus Walker has the name and looks of a Viking, but once he starts talking about his life story and what drives him, he's an absolutely fascinating guy. Walker recently gave a Ted Talk at a Tedx conference at UCLA and claimed he didn't really understand the idea behind the speeches. You would never know it, though. Walker is as gifted a speaker as he is a talented restorer of some seriously cool Porsches.

Walker's talk is titled "Go with Your Gut Feeling," and it amounts to his autobiography. He recounts his birth in England, dropping out of school at 15 and moving to the US at 19. Once in Los Angeles, he started selling second-hand clothes and grew it into a fashion business.

Of course, what makes him interesting to us is his passion for Porsches. He fell in love with them when he saw a white 911 as a child at the Earl's Court Motor Show in England, but Walker waited until the '90s to buy his first one. From there he started racing and eventually restoring them. Since the documentary Urban Outlaw about him was released, Magnus has become famous for the love of the brand.

The crux of his talk is telling people to follow what they want to do and be willing to take a leap of faith, occasionally. He didn't know anything about fashion or restoring cars when he started doing them, but "passion goes a long way," he says. Scroll down to hear an eloquent speech about living life happily from someone who is practicing what he's preaching.

By Chris Bruce