Bill Gates: America’s Richest and his Porsche 959...

Scooter

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Basically how Bill Gates paid some money to change the law so he can import his 959 . lol


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Gates first purchased a Porsche 911 Turbo in 1979 and rumor has it that he was pulled over quite a few times in the blue sports car. This 911 has since been auctioned off for $80,000. However, we aren’t here to talk about a 911, but instead a car that proved Porsche was capable of much more than an air-cooled 911: the 959. And it was this car that Gates fought for for years.

The Porsche 959 was the most impressive car to come out of the German automaker’s doors, and quite possibly the greatest car of the 80’s. This twin-turbo supercar came equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission, instead of the normal 5-speed. It was capable of completing a 0 to 60 run in just 3 seconds and hit upwards of 195 mph for its top speed. These are incredible numbers, not only for a car released in 1986, but also for cars released nowadays. It’s no wonder Gates had such an affinity for this car.

With Gates anxious to get his hands on his Porsche 959, he worked together with others to get the “Show and Display” law passed. This law would allow privately imported vehicles to be exempt from the Federal Motor Safety Standards (FMVSS) if the car met a standard of “historical or technological significance.” Another way for cars to be exempt from the FMVSS is if the model in question had less than 500 models produced. This was good news for Gates, as the Porsche 959 was only produced 337 times.

The passing of the “Show and Display” law allowed Gates to get his hands on his 959 and experience true Porsche power. He can even be seen today driving his car around occasionally, making sure he does not reach the annual mileage limitation of 2,500 on-road miles that came with the passing of the “Show and Display” law.



http://blog.dupontregistry.com/celebrity-cars/bill-gates-americas-richest-porsche-959/

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Paul Allen had one as well. Rumor is they sat at the CBP warehouse for years but was maintained in running order
 
Paul Allen had one as well. Rumor is they sat at the CBP warehouse for years but was maintained in running order

While most Porsches can import quite easily from Europe to the USA, the 959 had complications abound, making it impossible for US citizens to get their hands on one of these supercars. One of the citizens was Gates, who ordered a 959 from Porsche, only to have it impounded at customs. The reasoning provided to justify the impounding was that the 959 had not yet cleared crash-testing requirements and did not meet EPA standards. Gates’ German supercar sat idly by for over a decade.
 
Gates’ German supercar sat idly by for over a decade.

Holy sh!t. *td*

So...can't you just import it as a showroom piece with no intent on driving it? Like, you don't plate it or register it, and it's imported like a giant sculpture.

And then while it sits in your garage (or living room) you can work out the fine print to make it road worthy. I wouldn't let a car of half this stature be left in an impound for ten years accumulating dust.
 
Holy sh!t. *td*

So...can't you just import it as a showroom piece with no intent on driving it? Like, you don't plate it or register it, and it's imported like a giant sculpture.

And then while it sits in your garage (or living room) you can work out the fine print to make it road worthy. I wouldn't let a car of half this stature be left in an impound for ten years accumulating dust.

But some will make them collect dust and make them gain value.

Like here in Quebec, you can own a car for off-road purpose, no need to plate it, just get a trailer and tow it to the track near you. You can get whatever your wallet allow, but will it be road legal that's another case, there is no restriction for whatever you get in your driveway.

That 959 is amazing and a masterpiece considering the year. I too, wasn't aware of such a unicorn.
 
Theres an old guy on youtube that has two McLaren P1, a "normal" one and a GTR one, and while he shows them off, you can see 3 of his 959 in the back LOL

Edit : This guy :
 
Holy sh!t. *td*

So...can't you just import it as a showroom piece with no intent on driving it? Like, you don't plate it or register it, and it's imported like a giant sculpture.

And then while it sits in your garage (or living room) you can work out the fine print to make it road worthy. I wouldn't let a car of half this stature be left in an impound for ten years accumulating dust.



I guess the customs wont allow any car for any reason to prevent fraud and make things more simple. Anyways, for historic cars you can always wait 25 years (15 here) and it's easy.
 
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I guess the customs wont allow any car for any reason to allow fraud and make things more simple. Anyways, for historic cars you can always wait 25 years (15 here) and it's easy.

Unless it's CA. CA has a different set of rules with imports
 
ca pris 10 ans avant de loader qu'il pouvais importer avec show and display??

en principe si le char a 25 ans il est libre de toute contrainte....il avait une 92-93?
 
I knew about it because it was a "poster boy dream car" and I actually had a poster of it in my room.

It is badass.
 
ca pris 10 ans avant de loader qu'il pouvais importer avec show and display??

en principe si le char a 25 ans il est libre de toute contrainte....il avait une 92-93?

Tu manque le point.
C'est lui a "fabriquee" cette loi, pour pouvoir l'importer. Et oui, ca lui a pris dix ans...et surement un couple des millions si non plus .
 
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