Bill Gates wanted Porsche 959 so much he paid $28 fine every day for 13 years

Back in the 1980s, Bill Gates spent a fortune to buy a Porsche 959, but unfortunately for him, this supercar ended up costing him an extra $130,000 due to an annoying bureaucratic hurdle.

Gates was already a millionaire back then and so he decided to simply pay up while working on a solution.

Amazingly, his persistence led to a major legal change in the United States.

The new law ended up making a significant difference to a lot of people, not just him.

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How Bill Gates shaped the ‘show and display’ rule

When Gates imported his Porsche 959 from Europe, his car was impounded because, according to US customs, it failed to meet federal safety and emission rules.

Gates refused to send the car back, never gave up, and simply decided to pay to keep the car in the US.

The US government eventually relented, and Gates’ case created the foundation for the so-called Show and Display rule, which mustn’t be confused with a similar rule known as the 25-year import rule.

With the Show and Display rule, you’re allowed to import vehicles in the US as long as you agree to use them sparingly – for example for a classic car meetup.

The Show and Display has a mileage limit – only 2,500 miles per year, per vehicle – and it only applies to vehicles, old or new, that are deemed historically or technologically significant.

Obviously, the definition is a bit loose and subjective but, generally speaking, it’s easy to see how Gates’ Porsche 959 could be considered historically significant.

As for the 25-year import rule, that’s a different story.

The 25-year import rule allows you to import basically any car you want – from iconic classics like the Lotus Exige to unusual Japanese minivans – and you can drive it as much as you want, with no mileage limit.

He won, but it cost him a pretty penny

Until the car was released, US Customs simply ‘parked’ it in a storage unit in Seattle, and left it there for 13 years.

Gates didn’t give up, even though that meant paying $28 every day the car was ‘in custody’, plus a $500 annual bond, to keep the car alive and well, and on U.S. soil.

That doesn’t sound like a lot but he had to do it for 4,745 days (!), so basically over 13 years.

About $133,000 later, Congress listened to Bill Gates and decided to create the ‘Show and Display’ clause.

The clause allows collectors to import basically any car they want and make it street-legal as long it is deemed ‘historically and technologically significant’, which the 959 definitely was.