We’ve always wondered why Steve Jobs’ Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG didn’t have a licence plate. Did he think he was above the law? Was he doing it to be different? Maybe! But how did he get away with it? Easy. His cars were leased.
According to Jon Callas, CTO of Entrust, and someone who has worked senior security detail for Apple before, Steve Jobs found a loophole of sorts in California licence plate laws. If you had a new car, you could drive plateless for six months (of course, you still had to register). So Jobs, being rich beyond belief, decided he would just lease a new car every six months. He came to terms with a leasing company and switched out his ‘old’ Mercedes SL55 AMG for a ‘new’ Mercedes SL55 AMG twice a year. New car, no plates.
It’s a hilariously logical rich man way of thinking to side step the law. Or a crazily convoluted way to stay different. [iTWire via Jalopnik]
Dan Warne
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 9:42 AMWhat I don’t understand is how California can enforce traffic laws for such drivers of new cars. Being able to drive a new car for six hours or six days without plates might be reasonable, but six months..?
attila
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 9:42 AMOther people were presumably getting great deals on six month old Mercs as well. Almost brand new, but couldn’t be sold as demo stock – bargain!
JF2
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:17 AMUnlikely, as Steve Jobs had touched it, it would be classified as an Apple product and a premium be placed on the car.
Fitzy
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:05 PMAnd if bought by an Australian it would have cost $2000-$4000 dollars more than if it was bought by an American.
jj
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 9:50 AMyeah I have been to california heaps of times and noticed that alot of cars only have one Licence plate and the other is missing or the Dealers Logo Plate. Job’s Merc might have had a front plate. Anyway it’s all rather silly considering the stupid ( probably archaic) Law that lets them do this. There arent any speed camera’s .You can pretty much speed +20% on the highways there as long as you dont drive eratic and change too many lanes whilst doing so. I guess the underpaid cops have better things to do .
Jester
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 9:59 AMWhy drive around without a licence plate in the first place? Does it really make you feel special, particularly to go to such lengths to achieve it? One word, wierd.
Jordaan Mylonas
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 3:26 PMyou spelled your ‘one word’ incorrectly. “Weird”
Paulo
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 8:18 PMYou are an absolute hero Jordaan. I would have had absolutely no idea what Jester was trying to say if it weren’t for you. You sir deserve a medal.
olearymo
Monday, October 31, 2011 at 11:40 AMJust goes to show you missed Jester’s point. He meant the state of having been turned into a wier. ‘Wierd’.
Marty McFly
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 12:17 PMOne of the possible reasons is security.
Ben
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:34 AMone word you spelled wrong Jester.
Que
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:51 AMWhat a dick.
This guy was a complete narcissistic socio-path.
lolwut
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 11:18 AMi’m more concerned about the laws that enabled him to do just that
it become a news just because the one who discovered it is jobs
brent3000
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 11:22 AM….
All cuz he didnt want to have plates??
Did he think it would make his car less obvious?
Single Malt
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 11:31 AMJust got back from the US a few weeks ago and saw a *lot* of cars in LA without plates due to this law. The locals think its ridiculous as well – “how do you ID a car leaving the scene of an accident” was a common comment.
Steve
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 3:41 PMI’m pretty shocked by this as well. You can basically pull hit and runs with impunity.
But hey, if you’re rich enough to constantly lease brand new Mercedes every half year, I’m sure you’d be able to weasel out of these anyway.
Antipodean
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:31 PMWouldn’t he be constantly pulled over by the cops, for not having plates? No doubt he was on some kind of VIP list (Very important prick)
Quin
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 1:31 PMAnyone from middle income upwards could probably manage this. It’s not like he’s buying a new car every six months. It’s clever really.
Titsnass
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 1:43 PMFe fi fo fum, I smell the blood of a fanboy hohum
Steve
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 3:39 PMI don’t think you appreciate just how much it costs to leases a brand new, top of the line Mercedes for six months costs. And at the end, you don’t have a car to resell to recoup your losses either.
Only the very rich can afford this.
david
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 2:16 PMI guess you would not be pulled over very often, especially if it is a well known law to locals, it would definately be known to cops.
Mark
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 4:57 PMDoes California not have speed cameras or something?
James
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 4:14 AMNo, California does not have speed cameras. Most US cities do not have them. As a matter of fact, the ones that have had them are dumping them.
Terry
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 5:50 PMThe more I read about this bloke now that he’s dead, the more I’m thinking he was a total dick!
What an arrogant knob this bloke is turning out to have been.
I’m betting the tech world is going to finally start to improve now that he’s out of the picture.
Que
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:04 PMDick? I was thinking more of a dildo.
Jonathan
Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 2:13 AMCould not agree more…