Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fixer
To be perfectly honest I am sure he's an alright guy. Most guys are.
What bugs a lot of guys that restore Porsches about Magnus Walker is that there's a ton of talented guys doing the same great work with a little budget or not but they aren't recognized by the greater Porsche community. People today fall for style over substance. Not to say Mr. Walker has no substance, i have never met him but I do agree his cars are very well done.
But..
It's easy to throw a lot of money at a 911 and have it turn out nice.
Many here have mouths to feed, kids to spend quality time with and college to pay for (like myself) so we can't dump our extra time and money into our cars like we once could. That does create a bitterness especially among Artist types.
I studied fine arts and design and know this to be true.
Anyway, imo the talent come into play when you don't have a big budget to work with and you REALLY paint and restore your entire Porsche yourself.
Those of us with the rusty metal embedded in our eyes, burns, scars and short grey hair (a must while working in a garage) tend to get annoyed by guys that seem to be creating the illusion of being a truly hands on artist. I work in sneakers when appropriate (to relieve fatigue) and real work boots.. but definitely not designer boots and I don't have the work recorded to video to post.
This may sound like bitterness to many here. But for me, it's more annoyance because I have the battle scars.
Smart car guys notice this kind of stuff and it bugs them, period.
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I'm not as far into that stage of emotional thought as you, but I get it for sure.
I don't know what he does or doesn't actually do to his cars, but I can't see how what he's got didn't involve a considerable staff. It just has to. And thats fine. Personally...read that first word again, I think the people who helped you create whatever thing you've created need to get some credit, whether they are paid or otherwise.
Now I haven't gone and read every single word he's written on himself, so I can't say that he's taken all the credit or not, but of the stuff I've read, credit to others hasn't been significant.
And in the early days, he might briefly describe a technique or method, but he's been asked hundreds of questions that he hasn't responded to. I get it, he doesn't have the time for that. But he has had the time to got out, drive like a pseudo race car driver on public roads, edit and prep the video, then post it on numerous social network channels.
Which is his choice, of course. And he's been shrewd and successful in earning his income, so credit to him there.
But I do understand where people are coming from where they say he's not really a member of the community here, in the footsteps of the Tyson Schmidt, or the Grady Clays of the forum, who were all about sharing information. (Sorry to leave out the thousands of you others in that example, EarlySMan, JohnWalkersWorkshop, ROninLB, etc etc etc)
What he's done is great when it comes to the celebration of longhoods, older 911s and the 911 in general. But early on, I wondered of the hoopla merited the product? His cars were great, but they seemed to be in line with dozens of cars that we've watched being built here, by guys in their garages in SoCal, Germany, Holland, Nor Cal, CT, the Carolinas, Washington State, (Or wherever Chris Neilson lives*) and so on.
He's just done the same kinda stuff, but bigger, flashier and more of it. And kudos to him for that!!!
I just don't think of him in the same way as I do a Grady Clay, or a Chris Neilsen, or a Jack Olsen, who took the time to share their exploits with us one on one, having actual on line conversations, rather than allowing us to get first looks at their promotional material.
*So, sorry if I've butchered your name, Chris. I starred(*) Chris, because to me, he's been a great example of a cool board member. He has worn out his knees crawling around his car, cutting out rust and welding hand fabbed panels himself. He's built his own spray booth, and painted his cars. TWICE in one case, because the color was just not quite right. And he's taken us for photo tours of his upholstery shop, and told us the guys names who did the work. All the while he's run a dental firm, maintained a social life and done family things, from all appearances.
To me, (Read again, just to ME) thats admirable and great for our little cyber part of the world.
The joy of this board is the mixing pot of personalities. So MW certainly has a place. But I'd take 10 meetings with a Chris Neilsen (Don't worry Chris, I'm too busy to be a stalker!) over a MW. YMMV, and thats fine.