Among the many mysteries surrounding Steve Jobs is the question of why his Mercedes SL55 AMG never had a license plate. The car was photographed numerous times over the years, and no license plate was ever present. MacRumors points out a report from ITWire that reveals the answer.
According to ITWire, the answer is quite simple – Steve Jobs was taking advantage of a loophole in the California vehicle laws:
Steve (or someone close to him) spotted a loophole in the California vehicle laws. Anyone with a brand new car had a maximum of six months to affix the issued number plate to the vehicle.
So Jobs made an arrangement with the leasing company; he would always change cars during the sixth month of the lease, exchanging one silver Mercedes SL55 AMG for another identical one. At no time would he ever be in a car as old as six months; and thus there was no legal requirement to have the number plates fitted.
The leasing company surely must have appreciated Steve Jobs’ business on this, and of course Steve Jobs didn’t have to deal with the aesthetic nightmare of placing a license plate on his Mercedes – I’d call that a win-win situation for sure.
