Bill Gates, Microsoft’s co -founder is, in addition to one of the richest men in the worlda passionate about Supercars that Porsche manufactures. So much so that he even had to fight for more than a decade for the US government to change a law that would allow him to drive his Porsche through the streets of Seattle.
Thanks to your perseverance, today Millionaires lovers of supercarlike Elon Musk or Larry Ellison, they can have their garages full of limited editing exotic hypercoches and drive them.
The story of a Porsche 959 parked in customs
Bill Gates is a great passionate about technology and engineering, so in 1987, he commissioned a brand new Porsche 959 that has just been presented. At that time, 959 was one of the most advanced supercarincluding one of the first biturbo engines with total traction and an electronic toe.
The six -cylinder and 2.8 -liter engine of 959 delivered 450 horsepower and was able to reach 317 km/h. A prodigy of technology that the young and already millionaire Bill Gates did not resist driving.
However, when his Porsche 959 arrived in the United States, he was held at Seattle Customs. The reason: the strict shock test imposed by US laws had not passed, and that prevented him from being able to circulate on public roads.
The Porsche 959 was A technological revolution By the end of the 80s, a supercar that Porsche had developed with a huge expenditure that would never recover For direct sale. Due to the high cost that would add to the list of development expenses that they were not going to recover with sales, the German brand refused to perform the shock tests required by the United States.
This left the Porsche 959 in anyone’s land and could not legally circulate in the country, and Porsche did not want to adapt it to comply with the regulations. Bill Gates then found an important problem, since his precious Porsche of the only 337 units were manufactured, he was CUSTOMS IN CUSTOMS of Seattle.
Bill Gates’s obsession for that particular model led the millionaire to an unpublished situation that forced his brand new car to remain retained in Seattle customs for no less than 13 years. To ensure that he remained there, the millionaire paid throughout that time the $ 28 per day required by the Port Authority for keep the car parked In your deposit, adding a total of more than $ 138,000 for this concept for more than a decade.
The Law “Show and Display”
Bill Gates’ tenacity was essential to change this situation. Not satisfied with accepting that his car was confiscated in customs, the billionaire gathered the best lawyers and undertook a legal battle against US authorities to ensure that his Porsche 959 could legally circulate.
For more than seven years, Gates pressed Washington to change the legislation and allow an exemption For importation and the use of certain rare and collectible cars that are not officially sold in the United States. In this way, the door opened to them US Millionaires and Collectors They can buy these exotic units and limited editions, although they do not meet certain legal traffic demands.
Bill Gates’ perseverance was fruit and, in 1999, President Bill Clinton signed the Law “Show and Display” which allows certain historical or technologically relevant vehicles to be imported and driven under special conditions.
This law only affects cars with less than 500 manufactured units and special editions, and limited its driving to no more than 2,500 miles per year (about 4,023 kilometers). These limits emphasized the orientation of the law to allow entry to collection pieces and rare units, not to regular use cars. Thanks to this law, the Porsche 959 of Gates was finally able to leave his captivity in the Customs of Seattle and circulate through the streets of the US.
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Image | Porsche, Flickr (Government Tom Wolf)
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