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Magnus Walker in the garage for Off The Clock with Watch Gang

Episode 1: Magnus Walker - Welcome To The Garage

Episode 0141 min
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About this episode

Magnus Walker joins Blake Rea and Chad Tsagris inside his Los Angeles garage for an Off The Clock conversation about cars, watches, old things, and the kind of collecting that only makes sense when it feels personal.

The episode moves from childhood car obsession and Sheffield roots to LA reinvention, vintage Porsches, Omega Speedmasters, Porsche Design chronographs, no-reserve auctions, and the first time Magnus tries on a Rolex.

At the center is a simple collecting philosophy: buy what you love, use what you own, and let the objects earn their stories over time.

I like old things: old cars, old clothing, old buildings.

Key Takeaways

  • The best collections are built from feeling, use, and story rather than perfection.
  • Old cars, watches, clothing, and buildings carry character because no two age the same way.
  • A collector eventually has to learn what to keep, what to release, and what still earns attention.
  • Buy what you love and what you can afford instead of chasing the perfect investment object.
  • Watches have to feel right on the wrist before they belong in the collection.

Who is Magnus Walker

Magnus Walker joins Watch Gang for a conversation about collecting with emotion, craftsmanship, and a strong point of view.

"Just feels right. That is it. It is pretty simple."

From the blog

Inside Magnus Walker’s garage, the conversation starts with timing and quickly opens into the larger world behind his collections: cars, watches, guitars, buildings, clothing, and the stories that make old things feel alive.

Blake Rea and Chad Tsagris trace the thread from Sheffield to Los Angeles, from a $200 Toyota Corolla to Porsche 911s, from flea market watches to the Toledano & Chan B1 on Magnus’s wrist.

This episode is less about owning rare things and more about knowing when something belongs.

Key Moments

Welcome to the garage

Blake and Chad introduce Magnus Walker from inside his LA garage and ease into the rhythm of Off The Clock.

Cars, games, and childhood obsession

Magnus traces the car obsession back to a Porsche poster, Hot Wheels, and growing up around British motorsport culture.

Sheffield roots, LA reinvention

The conversation turns to Los Angeles, creative neighborhoods, street-smart entrepreneurship, and building a life from passion.

Why vintage feels alive

Magnus explains old cars, first cars, mileage, patina, and why no two analog machines feel exactly the same.

Letting go as a collector

Magnus talks about selling watches, preparing to sell cars, and the long process of deciding what still matters.

Buy what you love

The no-reserve auction leads into a broader collecting lesson: buy what you love, not what someone promises will appreciate.

Rolex, Porsche, and grail symbols

Chad and Magnus compare Rolex, Porsche, Omega, and the milestones collectors attach to the things they chase.

First Rolex try-on

Magnus tries on a Rolex and trades wrist time with his heavily worn Toledano & Chan B1.

Full Transcript

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Chad Tsagris

We got a really special podcast today. This is off the clock with Watch Gang. And uh Blake, why don't you let us know who we got here?

Blake Rea

Today we are in LA, and as you can probably see, we are in a garage because we have a very special episode. Not only are we sitting down with the eclectic Porsche Collector, but of course you know because you clicked on this, we are sitting down with Magnus Walker. Magnus, pleasure to be with you, brother.

Magnus Walker

Thanks for stopping on by. Pleasure to have you guys. Timing's everything, right? So uh it's only a matter of time before the watch gang showed up, I think. Yeah.

Blake Rea

We did, we're here. Yes.

Magnus Walker

So uh and you guys were punctual, you're actually early. Well, that that's on time, right?

Chad Tsagris

When you sell watches, you better be early.

Magnus Walker

I mean, come on. Time waits for no one, right? We could do this all day long here. It's like it's like tennis.

Blake Rea

Yeah. Yeah, I was telling Chad too, because um I've been going back and playing the Need for Speed. Oh, okay. Need for Speed. So I I was a little annoyed with you in that game because you're freaking hard to beat.

Magnus Walker

Well, by the end of this, you'll probably be even more annoyed when they sow time will tell.

Blake Rea

Hope not, hope not.

Magnus Walker

Um play Need for Speed. Yes. Have you always been a gamer? Um, every once in a while. Yeah.

Blake Rea

Yeah. Well, I mean, when I went back and I knew we were recording this, I was just doing a bunch of research.

Magnus Walker

What do you like about Need for Speed?

Blake Rea

Uh, I mean, the the graphics are insane. The realism. I mean, the customization of cars, I mean, the stuff that you pretty much live.

Magnus Walker

The sky's the limit.

Blake Rea

Yeah.

Magnus Walker

Alrighty.

Blake Rea

I I do I do play a little bit more for Forza though, as well.

Magnus Walker

So might as well play Gran Turismo, CSL.

Blake Rea

I play all of them. Play them all. Um, so let's start from the the ground. Uh, you know, before you were a Porsche collector, you know, what were you kind of obsessed with as a kid?

Magnus Walker

Well, I'd always been obsessed with cars, you know. I mean, my love affair with cars, I've told this story a few times, but 10-year-old me goes to Little Court Motor Show, sees a white martini turbo on the stand, comes back with a poster, wrote a letter to Porsche. That's a true story. So I think any kid growing up anywhere in the 70s or 80s, choices are, chances are you had a uh Porsche Turbo poster or a Lamborghini Kuntash or probably a Ferrari 512 boxer. So to me, I was no different. You know, we grew up working class Sheffield, north of England, but uh my dad was a car guy. You know, England was and still is the automotive capital of the world, really. I mean, in 76, 77, you know, we had James Hunt Formula One world champion, Barrasheen, two-wheel superbite world champion. You know, motorsports were just all around, car culture was all around. So, you know, it's my story is no different to anyone else's. You know, I see young kids today carrying around Hot Wheels and they start collecting at an early age. I was no different, you know. I've been lucky enough to collaborate with Hot Wheels right over there. Yeah, probably done over 30 of those.

Chad Tsagris

I was gonna say, how many how many Hot Wheels are have you done there?

Magnus Walker

I've done over 30. You know, that sort of uh came to me in 2015 uh when they said, Would you like to design a car? And the very first Hot Wheels I ever did was a 356. Ironically, I haven't owned a 356 yet, but that chapter may come next.

Chad Tsagris

But um And you did the 277 for a Hot Wheel, right?

Magnus Walker

There's eight different variations of 277. So out of the 30 that I've done, probably a year or two in, they said to me, Hot Wheels said to me, Would you be interested in doing an on-Porsche? And I'm like, sure, yeah. So you know, we've got Volkswagens and Minis and muscle cars and pickup trucks. And to me, I'm just about doing cool shit with cool people. And sort of the the thread of my fabric is uh uh the three things that I've done in the 40 years of being in LA, this is my 40th anniversary in LA, is basically clothing design, restoring old buildings, and restoring old cars. So I like old things: old cars, old clothing, old buildings. You know, I started selling second-hand clothing on the boardwalk in Venice, old Levi 501s, you know, and started doing patchwork and what you would now call upcycling. But, you know, humans like to collect. Doesn't matter whether it's cars, guitars, watches, sneakers, baseball caps, stamps, whatever it may be. Humans have a fascination with collecting. And, you know, no two things are ever the same. I'm no different. I don't just have one of something. I'll have two, three, five, pretty much of the same thing, whether it's cars or watches or guitars. You know, I always say, like, and these are broad brush strokes, but you know, in the car world, in my world, you were sort of either a Porsche guy or a Ferrari guy in the guitar world, yet again, broad strokes, but Fender or Gibson, Rolex or Omega, right? These are sort of generic assumptions, but people like to collect. So I was no different, you know. I started collecting vintage Omega Speedmasters, and you know, I'd have like three to five of the same thing, you know, because you'd you know, I like going to flea markets and swamp meets, a Rose Bowl flea market. It used to be great to find watches. Hard to find watches there now. I mean, I still find them Long Beach Swamp Meet. There's always these guys that show up, you know, and it's one of those things where I can't not look. I don't need another watch, just like I don't need another car. And I'm in in my letting things go phase, but you gotta take a look, right? Whether it's signs or memorabilia or furniture or whatever it may be, you know. I I just I have the space, I I have the taste or a certain taste level for a certain era, usually 60s, 70s, and possibly into the 80s. And that's sort of unless it's buildings like the building we're sat in. I've owned this building for 26 years, it's 125 years old.

Chad Tsagris

This neighborhood must have been completely different when you bought this building. Because I like I've lived in LA the last nine years, and where are you from originally? I'm from Toronto originally. Yeah, Canadian. And then I moved down to like like you. I moved to the US, I came here with nothing in my pockets, and I try to make my dreams come in true. And well, that's what's my passion.

Magnus Walker

That's what's great about LA. Whatever you want to do, whether you want to be a movie star, rock star, supermodel, watch guy, candle maker, surfer, there's an opportunity and infrastructure here to do it. They're not gonna give you that career, but the tools to follow your dream and pursue your dream and make your dream a reality, they're here. You know, there's an infrastructure here, there's an industry here. So LA's, well, I'm an LA story. I literally arrived 40 years ago at Union Station, which is less than two miles up the road from where we sat. So, you know, I'm an Angelino. I spent 19 years of my life in England and the past almost 40 years of my life right here in LA. And the majority of it for the past 35 years has been downtown in the arts district, which is his former industrial area, which has been gentrified over the past 20 odd years, and he's now sort of become the new Venice, the new Culver City, the new epicenter of what's cool from a creative, it's a creative neighborhood. Like Spotify is literally 100 yards from where we're sat. Warner Brothers is one block down the road, Soho House is two blocks down the road.

Chad Tsagris

It's amazing.

Magnus Walker

Yeah, I mean, culture is here. If you're into fashion, Dover Street Market's a hundred yards away, the other side of the bridge. If you're into art, Hauser and Worth, one of the greatest gallery museums in the city, is here in the arts district. If you're into fine dining or coffee, it's all here. And it's a place that I've called home. And you just adapt to your environment. And, you know, the environment is important because it's a creative. I take walks all the time. My last name is Walker. I'm always living up to my last name. I average over six miles a day walking. But whenever I get sort of mildly bored, I just go walk around the neighborhood and I'll see something, whether it's some street art or graffiti or a road sign that got cut up or an arrow on the ground which inspires something else. It's just all you gotta do is open your eyes and inspiration's all around.

Blake Rea

Absolutely. Do you always see yourself as like an entrepreneur or do you just kind of like land there?

Magnus Walker

Nah, I mean, I left school at 15 with two O levels. My sister ended up with like 12 O levels and 3A levels and a university degree. So she's what I call book smart. I'm what I call street smart. So for me, uh, when people would say to me at school career meetings, where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 15, 20 years? I had no idea. You know, I've never actually had a proper job since I've been in LA. I've never worked for anyone else. You know, I started I came here in 86. I'd worked on a summer camp uh north of Detroit on Lake Michigan for inner city underprivileged kids in 86, took a trailways bus from Detroit to LA, arrived at Union Station, went straight to Hollywood. It was sex drugs rock and roll for the first couple of years. And then I found something I enjoyed doing, which was selling second-hand clothing, vintage clothing, customizing old Levi's. It was a creative outlet of expressionism of what I was into. And you didn't need to go to school to learn that. You know, I always say the idea is the most important thing. And the idea is not something that's teachable. You can't go to school to learn ideas. You can go to school to learn business and how to run a marketing thing or something like that, or learn a technique. But there is no book of ideas. Here's the A to Z of ideas, right? So the big challenge, really, for people, I believe, is finding something that they're passionate about. That's the hardest thing. But once you find something you're passionate about, before you know it, you sell 100,000 watches a year, and here you are, right?

Chad Tsagris

And boom, boom. You know, we uh earlier this week were with George Gruen, and he he's probably one of the most prolific guitar collectors in the and person who's pretty much created the vintage guitar scene in Nashville earlier this week. And I think it's very interesting because you said I'm a collector of things, and it it's not just one thing, it's every kind of thing, and you go down a rabbit hole. Sure, I'm not just collecting 9-11s, I'm collecting 944s. I'm collecting this, I'm this, and this. Because you want to experience the whole thing of that passion. And I find that really, really interesting. What do you think was the first thing that made you click to buying vintage cars versus new cars?

Magnus Walker

Affordability. You know, when I grew up in England in Sheffield, you know, my dad and I, my brother, we'd go to local tracks, Mallory Park, Donington Park, Cadwell Park. You know, England's just steeped in automotive history going back well over 100 years. So we grew up working class, we didn't have new cars, we had old cars, and old cars just had more soul and character and patina, but I didn't even have a driver's license in England. You know, the first car I ever bought was here in LA in 1988. I was 21 years old, I didn't have a driver's license. I bought a 1977 Toyota Corolla 2TC for 200 bucks, and that was my uh first sense of ultimate freedom, meaning I didn't have to take a bus or get on a bicycle or wait for someone to come and pick me up. I could go wherever I wanted to go when I wanted to go. And I drove that car around without a driver's license for six months and then took my California driver's test in that car at the Santa Monica DMV, and that was the first car I ever acquired. You know, I've actually never owned a new car, even to this day, never owned a new car. The newest car I own is that 12-year-old 991 Turbo S outside that's got all those 206,000 miles on it. Very well. Yeah, I mean, cars are built to be driven. So for me, when people want to flex about the no mileage, paint to sample, whatever, I got no interest in that because there's no story. But you know, the coolest thing I ever drove was Irv Gordon's three million mile Volvo P1800. That's insane. Which is in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's highest mileage single-owner, non-commercial vehicle, meaning it's not a taxi. And Irv Gordon was a school teacher in New York and he commuted, I think, 100 miles a day each way to school to teach. And I got to sadly he passed away, but I met him before he passed away. Ironically, in the Volvo P1800, he was doing a commercial uh for Volvo because it was like the greatest thing for Volvo, single-owner car done three million miles, you know, being repainted a few times, original engine rebuilt a few times. But the stories that guy had, he'd driven all over the country. He'd gone around the world with that car. He became an ambassador for Volvo because nobody had a high-mileage car like that. So for me, old is always gold in the sense of like I like old things, old guitars. It just seem to have more feel and soul, and it's an analog thing. You know, in this digital age of everything's disposable and just built to last 30 seconds, it seemed, or it's an appliance where everything just looks the same. What I like about old things is no two ever do the same thing the same way. You know, I literally had at one point seven three-liter 930 turbos from 75 to 77. No two drove the same, even though they were the same car. Some had been slightly modified more than others, some just felt nippier. So I like experience of variety, and I like what I call smiles per mile and memorable moments. And these are things that are obtained by driving these cars or restoring these cars. Or, you know, I think what brings like-minded car community people together ultimately is the thrill of the chase, the build, the drive, and then the community of the people. It's probably the same with anything, whether cards, guitars, watches, stamps, wheels, steering wheels. You know, people like tactile things. You know, it's like in this digital age where everyone's consuming things on the phone, it's actually nice to sit down and look at a magazine, right? Look at pictures instead of scrolling through stuff.

Blake Rea

When you when you look at a car, like what are you really looking for? And I'm I probably already know the answer to this one, but would you say that you collect with like your heart, your head, or like your gut?

Magnus Walker

Well, I'm a goal-oriented collector. So I collect things I want to experience. Uh, and it's things that I'm interested in. With Porsche, there was a goal set or initially of 64 through 73, one of every uh model of that short wheel-based, long-wheel-based car. Then it was one of every designation of 911, which I still haven't set that goal. I don't have a 997 or a 992 or a 356. So, you know, the goal is continuing, but along the way, things sort of become less relevant than they once were 20 years ago, or tastes sort of change, or things don't mean quite as much, or you simply they tick to box and scratched an itch, and maybe semi-connected more than with others. So, you know, sometimes I'm looking for certain things and sometimes you're not. It's like sometimes you just run into something, right time, right place, right price, whether that's cars, guitars, or watches. You know, I've bought guitars in New York when I wasn't even looking for them and brought them back to LA on the plane because they're a deal.

Blake Rea

How do you know when something like belongs?

Magnus Walker

Just feels right. That's it. It's pretty simple. I get that. It's pretty simple. You can put a watch on, you know, like for a period of time I was chasing this and I forget what it's called now, but it's not the Speedmaster, but it was like this big chunky dive master thing, and it it had a big sort of monolithic case and it was like a little bit of a couple of Alaska Pope. It just looked just looked pretty cool until I tried it on. And then when I tried it on, I'm like, this thing feels horrible. Nope, not mine. It's uh this is why I like to see things before I buy things. It's like never buy a couch that you haven't sat on. Ever. No matter how great it looks online, and no matter what price it is.

Chad Tsagris

I did it, and and you're right. Never buy a couch. Because every time I sit in that couch, I'm like, something's not right.

Magnus Walker

So watchers have to feel right, right? They gotta sit right on the wrist, they gotta sort of flow right, they gotta uh I'm a creature of habit. You know, I'll wear one thing for five years until something else comes up. You know, when Tomir Moscovici's film Urban Outlaw came out, this is gonna be a watch talk in 2012. It was this short documentary film that sort of put me on the map. And there's only three cars in that film. There's two seven seven, my 66 Irish Green Car, and the 68R car. I'm not even thinking about it. I'm wearing this 70, 71, 72, the first Omega Speedmaster I ever bought. And I bought it from Wanna Buy a Watch on Melrose in the 90s. And it's a day-day French Euro, you know, like it's the days are in French, in French for some reason. Anyway, I don't even think about it. A film comes out, and then there's a whole sort of post on some watch thread about what is the watch I'm wearing in the film. And I had to think about where do they even see it? But there's one point where I got my hand on the big wood rim wheel. You're coming around the hollow around the corner and you can see the watch. I know exactly and then everyone's like deep diving. Oh, it's Mark II Speedmaster.

Chad Tsagris

And I go, wow, this is like train spotting for watching. I literally know that exact moment that you're talking about in that film. And it's right when you're coming around the Ben when you're coming around down the hall and come dip right to row one, and it's right there, and you're turning heavy, and you see that perfect shot of the watch with the beautiful background, and you're like, that's that's a nice watch. That's a the to me, that's one of my favorite rides ever. Is there that whole thing?

Magnus Walker

Yeah, so I mean, my watch story is my dad was a watch guy, you know, so we yet again we didn't have fancy watches, there weren't fancy watches in the household, but I was aware of uh horology, right? Which is what you call it, right? The art of keeping time and timing's everything and all that stuff. But I'm in the phase of my life now where I'm letting things go. And before I let the cars go, I had a little litmus test. Okay. I'm the type of guy that how I keep things is not, I'm not the box and papers guy. So these three to five of each model of watch, which pretty much fell into the generic category of Omega Speedmaster, some sort of Hoyer and Porsche design chronograph. But I had to have the first year of the Porsche design, 1972. You know, it doesn't even say Orphina on it. You know, the black P. The original one. Original one from 1972 when Porsche Design was formed. I like the beginning of everything, not the end. The end might be better, more refined, but I like the beginning of it. So for me, I probably had, I don't know, a couple of dozen watches that I never wore that were literally in a big ziploc bag in the bottom of that filing cabinet over there. And you know, one day I literally think, All right, I'm thinking of getting rid of some cars. Let me start with getting rid of some watches. See if I miss these watches. So literally, I had my friend uh over at Craft and Tailored, do a little auction, Cameron, Bar, great guy, great style, taste, cultured. You know, just put them up at market value, shot them really well, and they all sold out in one day, 24 hours.

Blake Rea

I was trying to buy one.

Magnus Walker

But that was the point of the story. That's not the point of the story. The point to the story is I kept my faves, the first speedmaster that I bought, the French Day Date one, the 72 Porsche design, and a Hoyer that my wife had given me, and the rest of them, I didn't even miss them. So it was just letting things go that I didn't necessarily need when I had more than one.

Blake Rea

I think that's the hardest thing as a collector, like getting to a point in your collecting journey where you feel like comfortable enough to kind of like release things. Right. Like, what was that moment for you? Like, did you just have like it takes time, you know?

Magnus Walker

You think about it, you think about it. You know, I'm getting ready to let some cars go. I'm not selling all my cars. So yeah. I'm selling 18, I'm keeping 15, so I'm not letting them all go. Yeah. But it took time, you know. I've let over the past five years, I've let a few go, one here, one there, quietly. But you get to a point, or I got to a point over the past, you know, I've been collect I bought my first Porsche in 1992 when I was 25. So that was 34 years ago. And the majority of what's going up for auction, I've probably owned 15 years minimum. Like a lot of these cars I bought 2008, nine. Timing's everything, because you know, in from 2002 to 2008, I was doing a lot of track days, club racing, spending a lot of time, energy, and money doing amateur track days and club racing. More competitive it became, the less fun it became. And then at the end of that five, six year cycle, I said, hey, I'm gonna sort of switch over into acquiring more cars and building these cars that I really like, these sport purpose treatable track cars. So after the big 2008 market crash, it never actually occurred to me at the time, but Porsches were just really affordable. Unlike Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Aston Martin's and other things, Porsches were really affordable. And LA is the car culture capital of the world, it's the Porsche capital of the world. There's been a lot of affluent people here who, you know, have great taste in cars, and there's just a lot of Porsches here. And Porsches were built to be driven, they were well engineered. So I just started acquiring a lot of these cars in that period of time between 2008 and probably 2012. You know, I haven't bought an air-cooled 9-11 in 12 years. 12 years.

Chad Tsagris

You're lucky.

Magnus Walker

I've been looking for one, and it's not a happy uh timing's everything because you know I was acquiring them when they were really, really affordable. And then prices doubled, tripled, doubled again. So here's the long answer to your question. You acquire these things because you're a goal-oriented collector. You know, as I've said a few times, I had multiples of the same thing. I had five of the first 1,000 cars, and these at the time were significant. 20 years later, they're not quite as significant as they are. But the answer to your question is this is not a I woke up one day and decided I'm gonna let some cars go. Over the past maybe five years minimum, you know, I've been traveling a lot, and when I travel, I have no keys in my pocket. I'm not necessarily rushing back to go drive one of these cars. Some of them I am, but not all of them. So I'm just in this letting things go phase. And it's a little bit like if you've ever had this uh thing where you want to clean out. Closet or your garage, and you put it off and put it off for a long, long time. And then one day, maybe on a Sunday morning, you walk into the closet or the garage and you just start going like this. And you're throwing stuff out behind you, and you have a big pile. And part of you is tempted to look at that big pile and go, let me go through it one more time. But then you go, No, I'm gonna throw it in a big black bag, and then all that stuff's gonna the goodwill, right? That's kind of where I'm at. I'm letting things go. You have to let things go for other things to come in. Yeah, yeah. This is a lesson I've learned. You know, I've worn a lot of hats in my 40 years in LA. You know, I formed this clothing brand, as we spoke about a little bit, on the boardwalk in Venice, and that led to this crazy hat company I had. And people knew me as, oh, you're that crazy hat guy from Venice. You make those big whimsical hats. Then in the mid-90s, early 2000s, I guess it was uh the joke was, hey, aren't you Rob Zombie? You know, I used to get that all the time. Uh I go, no, I'm his bigger brother, Bob. You know, Bob's my little brother. I'm Bob Zombie, Bob Zombie. You know, and I actually knew Rob Zombie, so you know that was kind of an in-house joke. And then probably over the past 12, 15 years, hey, you're that Porsche guy, right? Everywhere. I'm all of those things, but I'm not just singly one of those things. Yeah. You know, so I'm at the point where I closed serious clothing down 15 years ago, and that opened up the door to everything I've done in the past 15 years. I'm entering the next cycle of my life, next year I turn 60. This is a pivotal point for me. You know, what do I want to be doing and what do I want to be maintaining? And the more things you have, the more weight it is on your shoulders in a way to maintain them, to take care of them. And sometimes you just reach a point where you go, why do I have this stuff if I'm not really using this stuff? Right. So I'm in a cleansing phase, letting things go. And I think collectors go through that, right?

Blake Rea

Totally.

Magnus Walker

You know, it's like I have a few guitars, you know, and they're literally all Gibsons. You know, they're SGs and Les Pauls and various things like that. But um, I'm just ready for variety.

Chad Tsagris

So you kept very few watches. What are the say three cars that you would keep in your collection? And we you would never consider letting go.

Magnus Walker

Well, I'm keeping 15, but the three I'd never let go. 277, a 76930 turbo, that's the first US production turbo ever sold. Uh maybe the 964 or the 67S hot rod car. Yeah. So, you know, those are the podium 3.4 right there. 277. Do you drive it often? Yeah, I drive it, you know. To me, I'm all about experiences. Anything where I want to go depends on the experience I want to share. You know, like if I want to step back in time, I'll drive a car from the 60s. Yeah. You know, if I'm in bumping a bump of traffic, it's it's the daily driver. You know, 277 is the car I've owned the longest. I acquired that car in 1999 at the Pomona Swamp Meet. That car is a 71T, it's 55 years old, and I've owned it 27 years. I've owned it over at half its life. There's a sneaker, you're wearing it right now. I'm wearing your sneaker. You're wearing the Nike shoe, it's in the Need for Speed video game. You played it, it's in the CSR. There's eight different hot wheels. But that car was built over time with a purpose of being a streetable track car. And I believe my relatability in the car world goes beyond Porsche-centric because everyone's had this dream car that they've chased, or they've got these memorable moments where it was a car they learnt to drive in, met their wife in, had the first kiss in, restored it with the dad, or it was the dad's car. So, you know, I I think the car culture in general is doesn't really matter what you drive. We're all motorheads and gearheads and share that same passion. And you can say that for any group of collectors, right? Yep. You know, watches of wonder, people go geek out about watches, right? And what's the watch of the moment, and you know, blah, blah, blah. I mean, human back to humans like to collect. You know, there's a science to collecting and art to collect, and it's some dopamine thing of the thrill of the chase, I think, and then the art of the deal. I love to haggle it on everything. It doesn't matter what it is, if it's a car, a guitar, a piece of furniture, a watch. If someone's asking$10 for it, I'm gonna offer them five, you know, and it's cash. I got cash in my pocket. It's fun, it's fun, and you, you know, in the end you get a price and you haggle along the way. It's a barter system. And that comes back to my earlier on you asked me about being an entrepreneur. You know, you gotta hustle, you gotta grind away at whatever it is you do. You know, there's a negotiation in everything. It's like buying property. Like, I'm not paying the asking price. No. Why would you do that?

Chad Tsagris

No, especially, especially if if anyone's ever tried to purchase property in LA, better not pay the asking price because you won't like it.

Magnus Walker

I mean, it's one of those things where I'm an old soul, you know. I think back back in the past, you know, my mum's family were market traders and they worked at markets selling everything from paintbrushes to pottery and everything in between. And it's the ability to communicate with people verbally, face to face, eye to eye, and actually make a deal. And that's part of the collecting game.

Chad Tsagris

I think that that makes the journey of collecting a lot more of the experience, right? Because you think I got a good deal, it's mine. One thing I in and I I'd like to get your opinion on this that I struggle with personally is with cars that I get a really emotional attachment, and it's like that 997 is mine, and it's like, okay, maybe I'll sell it. Ugh, I but it hurts a little bit, even though I know I'm just one owner in its whole life of its journey. You're the custodian. I'm the custodian right now, right? And that's a hard thing to let go sometimes, right? So yeah, yeah, well, it comes back to time, you know.

Magnus Walker

There's certain things. Um here's an example. What I'm about to do next week, this auction with RM Sotheby's no reserve auction. So I'm not setting prices. You're gonna determine what you want to pay for that 968. Well, I can't I'm already I'm already having a number in my mind what I want to pay. You kind of already know what the market value is, and we're not gonna negotiate because there's no reserve. No, it's not like saying I'm I'm gonna say it's$20, and you're gonna offer me$15, and you're gonna I'll split it at$17. Or whatever it is. Yeah. So you're gonna be going up, but here's here's my ramble here. I was talking to R.M. Sotheby's about what I'm about to do 18 months ago, and I had the whole deal set up, and then I said, Hey, I'm not ready. And it took me a year, and I go, I got to decide if I'm ready to let these cars go. And the only way I would know would be, am I gonna drive them anymore? Yep. And I didn't. And all of these 18 cars, minus two, I've driven and made little films on. And of course, it's the seller's final drive scenario on am I doing the right thing? You know, am I gonna miss this car? Wow, this car's so great. Why am I selling it? I didn't have though that theory about anything. So I've pulled that band-aid off, hence the no reserve. They're gonna go. That means I'm committed to letting these things go. You put a reserve on something means I'm only gonna sell it if it meets the reserve. No reserve is like, hey, I'm diving in at the deep end here. You're either gonna get a real deal or you're not. But we'll find out.

Chad Tsagris

We'll find out. Time will tell. And and if I win, I'll probably come back and pick it up off you. Even better. Even better.

Blake Rea

It seems like now, like, you know, obviously, as you're auctioning off some of your personal assets, your your collectibles, um, it seems like the spotlight's getting brighter, like on you and on your personal brand. Like, how do you stay authentic in those moments?

Magnus Walker

Well, I'm just doing my thing. You know, if people want to tag along for the journey, right? Either buy or see what's going on, everyone's curious. You know, I'm just doing what I'm doing. You know, this has become sort of a public thing because it's online, right? Right, right, right. You know, if I could have found someone who could have bought everything, that would have been great, but that person doesn't exist, you know. Well, they didn't come knocking on my door. I mean, this is an opportunity for up to this point, this is a hobby. It's an out-of-control hobby. You know, what has separated me from all the other great iconic car builders, you know, whether it's Roof or Tuttle or Singer or Emery or Gunther or whoever it is, right? That's a business. They're building customer cars. Everything that you see here are my own personal cars that I've built for myself. None of it was commissioned, reimagined, or anything. So this is the opportunity for people who approached me in the past. Hey, I'd love to own one of your cars. If you're ever selling one, let me know. Of course, I don't keep track of who might want one. Sure. Or people that want me to build a car, I never did that. So this is an opportunity and no reserve. This is the key for someone to acquire maybe a car they'd always wanted, whether it was my car or not, it's kind of irrelevant. These different cars for different price points here. These entry-level cars, like maybe that one behind us, 944, naturally aspirated. That's an entry-level car. It's black, right? The black GT2 in the garage, that's on the opposite end of the scale. But both of them are no reserve. So this is an opportunity for people to maybe get that first Porsche they'd always dreamed about. Because I'm sure, like in the watch game, it's like people come up to me all the time. First time Porsche on or what should I buy? I go, well, buy what you love, right? First thing. I go, secondly, are you on a budget? Because if you're on a budget, there's a Porsche for every budget. Entry level is probably 10 grand. Yep. That gets you a boxer or 944 or something like that. And then the sky's the limit, right? It goes all the way up. So, you know, I always say to people, I've never bought a car thinking I'm gonna sell it and make money. I'm always like, I'm investing in memorable moments and smiles per mile. So if you're coming to me saying, hey, what's gonna be a good investment? I say this all the time, you're asking the wrong guy. I'm not gonna tell you go buy a XYZ because it's gonna double in value. I'm gonna tell you buy what you want and what you can afford. Because a lot of people are looking for the perfect Porsche, which in my mind doesn't exist. So I have buddies that are looking for the perfect Porsche, and like two, three years later, they're still looking for the perfect Porsche. They haven't found one, and they've spent two, three years not behind the wheel of a Porsche. You should have just gone on board a 996 Carrera 2 when they were like 12 grand, right? And enjoyed that. Yep. And not cared about headlights and IMS bearings and whatever else people bitch about with nine uh 996s. Yeah, when they were really affordable.

Chad Tsagris

Yeah, you used to be able to pick about 15 grand. Yeah. And you could have, and you know what? Maybe it maybe it would have an IMS bearing problem. Maybe you could drive that 200 miles, 200,000 miles, and never have an issue, right? Right? You don't know.

Magnus Walker

It's a one of my favorite car stories involves a$5,000 996 Carrera 2, slate gray, manual running driving car, which I bought for five grand. Here's a pivotal part to the story.

Chad Tsagris

All right.

Magnus Walker

And I traded it into a 1985 Rolls-Royce Spur, which was listed at$17.5. And I worked a deal, back to the deal, where I said to the owner of the car, who's a car dealer, broke uh dealer with a lot of cars, I go, what's your bottom line on the spur? He goes, 15. I go, what will you give me for that 996? He goes, 11.5. I go, so 3,500 bucks in the car and I'm in the spur. But in my mind, I'm 3,500 bucks our cash, and then the five grand 996 I'd own for seven years. But I'm in the car, I'm in the Rolls Royce now for$8,500. Yeah, for$8,500 and do a Rolls Royce. Right. Involving a five grand$996. So it's the out of the deal. I could have bought the Rolls for maybe talked him down a$15 and paid$15, but that wasn't the fun part. The fun part is hey, this is how I got into the Rolls Royce. It's the out of the negotiation and the deal, and it's part of what humans like to do, I think, or entrepreneurs like to do, right?

Chad Tsagris

We always we're always trying to get a deal, right? That's how that's how my customers get good watches, because I'm what is it's never enough.

Magnus Walker

Tell me how you sell a hundred thousand watches a year. This is kind of mind-boggling to him. So you said you sell eight, nine thousand a month. Yeah.

Chad Tsagris

So a hundred thousand a year. 100,000 watches a year. And we sold What is the price point on any anything from$100 to$5,000? Okay. And so it's like a swatch to an entry-level Rolex or something. Yeah. Well, we actually on Fridays, I give away a Rolex. And this week I traveled all across the country giving away Rolexes to our members. Why Rolexes?

Magnus Walker

Is that is Rolex the aspirational symbol of success that you're wearing a Rolex?

Chad Tsagris

I think I think Rolex Rolex really goes to like a 9-11. It's it's it's you made it. Like, you know, the first time.

Magnus Walker

Is it Rolex a 9-11 or is it Rolex a Ferrari?

Chad Tsagris

I think that there is a something above that's and that's the protect Philippe. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Rolex to me is a 9-11. It's in a it's an accessible and it's a uh a point in your life where you say, I made it. And that's kind of what got me into watch collecting, and also got me into Porsche's. Because it's like I was always as a kid, I grew up like you, very blue-collar. My dad worked at General Motors, and owning a Porsche or owning a Rolex wasn't in my vision. But it's like when I was a 20-year-old, I'm like, you know, I if I work hard enough, if I do things, if I flip enough watches, if I if I just go hard, maybe I'll one day be able to own a Rolex. And maybe I'll be able to own a Porsche. And it just it kind of went like this as a motivational thing. So that dream has happened.

Magnus Walker

Like when I acquired my first Porsche, Pomona Swap Me, 1992 out of 25, said it all that. That represented that dream come true and personal achievement and personal goal set. But help me understand why Rolex and not Omega.

Chad Tsagris

I think it's the universal sign because anywhere you get, I call it helicopter money with a Rolex. It doesn't matter where you are in the world. If you get dropped off and you need to get out of there and helicopter Rolex, you can try a Rolex anywhere, right? No, now it it is it a Rolex uh GMT, is it a Submariner? What is it? It's I think it's anything. But then, you know, as I've gone collecting, I've kind of full circled that I still love Rolex. And I but I wear Hueir. I wear Omega. I wear so many other brands. And it's like I'm wearing more vintage watches from the 1960s and 70s nowadays because I just want to be part of its story. Because this has probably had many owners. I'll never see that. I'll never know how many. It's a beautiful coronagraph.

Blake Rea

Yeah. I think I think Rolex is like that. That was a grail for pretty much any watch collector. You know, it's like just an in-game. Um, and so everybody at some point I think has to like like a Porsche. Like everybody at some point has to get behind a wheel of a Porsche to say you've driven a real car, right?

Magnus Walker

I've never owned a Rolex, I will say. I've never even worn a Rolex.

Blake Rea

That that's quite okay. That's quite okay. I'm okay with it. We're we're all on our own adventures. Yeah, yeah. And that that's the cool part about it.

Chad Tsagris

Maybe I'm gonna get into my Rolex phase. Johnny, give me a wash so you can try on a Rolex. What you got there? This is pretty cool. We picked it up from John Buckley, who's basically like one of the goats of uh the watch industry.

Blake Rea

Behind the scenes here.

Magnus Walker

And uh well, hold on. We're gonna trade, but you know, I'm trading something that's pretty special here. Do you know what that is?

Chad Tsagris

Yeah, this is very rare. Super cool. So this has a Tiffany and Coast stamp on it. So it makes it a little bit of elite. Pretty light.

Blake Rea

This is like like the first time Magnus has wore a Rolex here on our first.

Magnus Walker

First time.

Blake Rea

First time.

Magnus Walker

My uncle growing up, Uncle David, he was a cool uncle that had a Ferrari and he had a Rolex, Submariner, GMT. But Mr. Toledano, Toledano and Shan, Phil, my buddy. Wow. Mr. Enthusiast, the B1.

Chad Tsagris

Yeah, this wow. With that lapis loose, this is like incredible. I've actually never seen this in person. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. Is it feels good? The titanium, it's very nice.

Magnus Walker

Well, it's not the titanium. The titanium is a new B3. This is the B1 stainless. Oh, really? The the third version that he just dropped and sold out, the gold one, it's got a different that's the titanium. Yeah. Slightly smaller case, slightly different bezel, but that's the OG, the B1.

Chad Tsagris

And and it looks like you've worn this quite a lot.

Magnus Walker

Yeah, it's been banged around a few guys. That is like my 991, you know. It's perhaps the most worn uh Taledano Chan B1 out there. I'm gonna give that to you. Yeah, yeah. That just feels right. Like, I like Phil, he's a conceptual artist, great taste in cars, and great, you know, like a lot of people do watches, right? But it's a collab, it's kind of a sticker job. Not Phil, you know, he was inspired by Marcel Brewer, Brutalist Movement, Design the Case. I mean, everything about this cut watch is pretty unique. Obviously, 70s inspired, but I was always about chronographs, and it went in this order. It was like the Speedmaster for years, then it was the Porsche Design Watch for years, then it was a Hoya, then it was back to Porsche Design. Then my wife for my birthday bought me the Swatch Omega Moonwatch. Super cool to wear. And I took off the Omega Speedmaster, put on the Moon Watch, and never put the Omega back on until I got this. And this just kind of feels right. The way, you know, the ergonomics to it, it's it's it just feels right.

Chad Tsagris

But it's also something where it's very you never get you're never gonna see many people wearing this ever in the world. No, so you gotta you gotta be in the it know right how cool it is, right?

Magnus Walker

Which is and that's kind of what I like about it, but supporting my body, but ultimately I just like the way it looked, and it was pretty unusual.

Blake Rea

Seems like you wear that one a lot.

Magnus Walker

Like, I mean in the recent times that I've I mean I literally got it when they first came out, which was probably coming up on two years ago. I think it debuted uh like April 2024.

Blake Rea

And now you live in it?

Magnus Walker

I haven't taken it off. Well, like I say, when I get into a watch, I'll probably wear this for the next five years until I, you know, go down my Rolex slippery slope and then I become Mr. Rolex.

Chad Tsagris

Don't don't uh don't see it. I think stay where you are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was such a pleasure to have you onto our podcast, right? I mean, time flies when you're having fun with watch, guys. Watch guys, time flies. You know, I'd like you if you could show me around some of those collections that you got, and then uh sure. Thank you guys. No worries, let's take a look.

Magnus Walker

Thanks for the opportunity and thank you for your time.

Chad Tsagris

Yeah, guys, check us out on Watch Gang. This is our uh podcast off the clock, and we'll be having a lot more interesting guests like Magnus here. And uh thanks for listening. Thanks, thanks. I gotta tell ya, I've enjoyed my time with you guys.

Magnus Walker

Thank you. We got a little bit more time to go. Time keeps on ticking.

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