2004 Porsche Boxster S on 2040-cars

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

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.

Next Porsche Cayman and Boxster to be called 718?

Porsche has spent a few years sorting out its strategy away from the 911 and its crossovers, among the moving targets being the now-moribund Ferrari-fighting 960, the still-very-much-alive variant(s) coming with the next-generation Panamera, and what appears to be a puissant Cayman that could be called the GT4. Earlier this year there were rumors that a flat-four engine would join the Stuttgart maker's lineup, and that it could go into a roadster called the 718 that would undercut the current $51,400 price of the Boxster, and the Boxster would go upscale, leapfrogging the $52,600 price of the Cayman. Then Porsche turned out the lights on the 718 project, its R&D head telling Autocar, "We have a very good entry point to the range with the Boxster, and we see no reason to go below that." But Automobile reports that while the 718 roadster is dead, the 718 name will live: a la the 911, a new 718 range will encompass coupes and convertibles spanning a wide performance envelope. The suggestion is that the Boxster and Cayman names will be retired. According to Automobile, this will give Porsche a place to put its flat-four engine, into entry level models that – countering Porsche's earlier statement – "come in at a significantly lower price than" the present Boxster. Two displacements are expected, in three outputs: a 2.0-liter with 285 horsepower, a 2.5-liter with 360 hp and a turbocharged version with 400 hp. It's also been speculated that the engine could power an entry-level Macan. It's been reported before that Porsche wants to make use of the 718 name to promote its motorsport heritage, that model having carried Stirling Moss to victory among its many racing triumphs. If it happens, even though Automobile calls it part of "a slight perspective shift," we think it'll be a big shift for the two popular models, but it's not like we haven't had time to get ready. We're told the new moniker will be introduced in 2016 as a 2017 model. News Source: Automobile via World Car Fans Porsche Convertible Coupe porsche 718

Porsche suspends ties with Maria Sharapova after drug test

Porsche has reportedly suspended ties with Maria Sharapova after the Russian tennis star failed a drug test. The German automaker stopped short of terminating its relationship with the athlete altogether as it awaits the results of a deeper investigation. The issue emerged at the Australian Open, where Sharapova reportedly tested positive for use of a drug called meldonium. Manufactured in Latvia and prescribed in many former Soviet Bloc countries, meldonium is used to treat heart conditions and improve cardiac circulation. It is not approved by the FDA for use in the United States, and the World Anti-Doping Agency added it to its list of prohibited substances at the start of this year. Sharapova admitted that she's been taking the medication for ten years now but that she did not keep up to date on the WADA's list. Since it is considered a prohibited substance, she's been excluded from participating in the Australian Open this year, and suspended from competition as of March 12. She was also scheduled to take part in the Porsche Grand Prix, a tennis event sponsored by the carmaker in Stuttgart next month which she will now apparently have to miss. One of the top-rated female tennis players in the world, Sharapova has served as a brand ambassador for Porsche since 2013. Other sponsors including TAG Heuer and Nike have also reportedly suspended their relationships with the athlete pending further investigation by the International Tennis Federation. Related Video: