Flat in, flat out

Behind a hangar door downtown, the whiff of oil and gasoline mixes with the familiar smells of another warm Los Angeles afternoon. When the lights flicker on overhead, the sight of Magnus Walker’s incredible car collection still takes your breath away. Wall-to-wall Porsche, a sea of original and highly modified air-cooled 911 and turbocharged transaxles. But front and centre today is something altogether new, a car with a special place even in this elite company.

After months of searching, Magnus has found himself a slantnose 911, this one a wild homage to the Group 5 racers of the late 1970s. It’s the latest blank canvas for the Urban Outlaw, with the potential to become the most outrageous car in his garage. Which is saying something.

“I’d been looking for a slantnose on and off for almost a year,” Magnus explains. “I’d driven all the way to Miami to look at one, and travelled as far afield as Europe. I’d posted on Instagram and Facebook that I was looking and naturally I got a lot of responses with all types of cars from factory originals to aftermarket kits. Even race cars from the likes of DP Motorsport and Kremer. But none of them felt right for various reasons.”

“In the end the car found me” Magnus Walker

The original slantnose or ‘Flachbau’ 911 was a rare factory option provided by Porsche in the 1980s as a cost option for the flagship 911 Turbo. Its aerodynamic styling was derived from the 935s that had dominated endurance racing for years and was applied to a little over 900 cars from the factory. Even accounting for aftermarket kits, the number of slantnose cars on the road today is diminishingly small. So Magnus’s quest was sure to be a long one. “In the end the car found me,” he reveals. “The one I ended up buying was actually in LA all along. A global search ended up less than ten miles from my door.”

Fans of the Urban Outlaw brand might be surprised to find Magnus hunting down something so obscure, but as is so often the case with the British-born designer, his motives are rooted in his past. “I always loved the 935 styling,” he explains, “and the first Porsche I ever bought, back in 1992, was a ‘74 Red steel body with a slantnose conversion. The car’s looks are very ‘Miami Vice’ and people tend to love them or hate them. I’ve always loved them.”

The plan at the moment is a 277-inspired livery

Magnus’s car is more Don Whittington than Don Johnson, however, with oversized Group 5-style headlamps in the front air dam and the giant rear air scoops and aero from the 935 racers. The original car beneath is a US-market 1974 Carrera, currently running a 2.7-litre boxer built to RS spec with mechanical fuel injection and mated to a stock 915 transmission.

So what does Magnus have in store for this latest member of the Outlaw stable? “It’s a little bit ‘all show no go’ at the moment,” he admits, “as the motor doesn’t quite match the car’s appearance. But my goal will be to install a Turbo motor with at least 500 hp. That should be enough performance to match the looks, especially as this is a street car and not a race car. It’s already a great starting point for me to add my touches to and also to drive as is, while I figure out the next few steps down what I call the slippery slope of modification and performance upgrades.”

And when it comes to finishing a car like this with the right Outlaw aesthetic, it seems there is only one way to go: “Some people have suggested the iconic racing liveries of the late 70s and early 80s such as Coca-Cola , Hawaiian Tropic and MOMO liveries,  but these are a little too obvious for me. My plan at the moment is a 277-inspired livery, but time will tell.”

Whatever happens, Magnus is famously committed to driving rather than polishing his cars, so you can be sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of this one in the coming months. “When I sold my first slantnose back in 2000 I always missed it,” he explains. “It was the first Porsche that I ever bought and owned and back then it represented a dream come true and a sense of personal freedom. And the same is still true today. The new car is on the front row in the garage - ready to be driven. I’ve already had one adventure in it, shooting the new Night Rider film, and a road trip from LA to New York is definitely on the list.”