WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 Imagine, just for a second, that you just bought 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:06.099 an absolute masterpiece of modern engineering. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:08.119 Okay, I like where this is going. Right. You 00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:10.640 track down this incredibly rare piece of technology, 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.240 you transfer a small fortune to secure it, and 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.320 you arrange to have it shipped all the way to 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:18.460 your home in the United States. Sounds like a 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:21.239 dream come true, honestly. Exactly. But instead 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:24.280 of the thrill of finally turning the key, you 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:28.710 just watch helplessly. as U .S. Customs seizes 00:00:28.710 --> 00:00:31.570 your property right at the Port of San Francisco. 00:00:31.710 --> 00:00:33.969 Oh, wow. Yeah, they impound it, they lock it 00:00:33.969 --> 00:00:36.429 in a warehouse facility, and they leave it sitting 00:00:36.429 --> 00:00:39.329 there, literally gathering dust behind a chain 00:00:39.329 --> 00:00:42.549 -link fence for 13 long years. I mean, that sounds 00:00:42.549 --> 00:00:45.250 less like a standard importing delay and more 00:00:45.250 --> 00:00:47.869 like the inciting incident for, I don't know, 00:00:48.030 --> 00:00:50.329 an international art heist movie. It really does. 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:53.450 Because... Confiscating a privately owned asset 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:56.729 for over a decade? That is a staggering exercise 00:00:56.729 --> 00:00:59.810 of bureaucrating power. It is. And the most surprising 00:00:59.810 --> 00:01:02.729 part is actually who this happened to. Oh. Yeah, 00:01:02.729 --> 00:01:04.489 the buyer wasn't some international smuggler 00:01:04.489 --> 00:01:06.829 or anything. It was Microsoft founder Bill Gates. 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:09.969 Wait, really? Bill Gates? Bill Gates. And the 00:01:09.969 --> 00:01:12.709 contraband in question wasn't like a piece of 00:01:12.709 --> 00:01:15.530 stolen software or classified documents or restricted 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:17.769 computer chips. It was a car. OK, that makes 00:01:17.769 --> 00:01:21.799 sense. Specifically. a hyper -rare, high -performance 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:25.079 Porsche 959. Because it lacked the proper Department 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:27.219 of Transportation and Environmental Protection 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:30.280 Agency certifications, the federal government 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.299 effectively treated this incredible machine as 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:36.939 illegal contraband. Oh, man. The Porsche 959 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:39.780 is the perfect vehicle to trigger this kind of 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:43.370 showdown to. How so? Well, in the late 1980s, 00:01:43.390 --> 00:01:45.450 I mean, it was practically an alien spaceship 00:01:45.450 --> 00:01:47.489 on wheels. Right. It was way ahead of its time. 00:01:47.689 --> 00:01:51.010 Exactly. It featured a Kevlar composite body, 00:01:51.230 --> 00:01:53.730 this highly advanced sequential twin turbo flat 00:01:53.730 --> 00:01:56.349 six engine and an all wheel drive system that 00:01:56.349 --> 00:01:58.129 was just light years ahead of what anyone else 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:00.069 was doing. But none of that matter. No, none 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:02.010 of it mattered to U .S. regulators because Porsche 00:02:02.010 --> 00:02:04.310 simply never certified the car for the American 00:02:04.310 --> 00:02:06.890 market. Which brings us to the core mission of 00:02:06.890 --> 00:02:09.840 today's deep dive. We are looking at a really 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.139 fascinating stack of sources today, mostly anchored 00:02:13.139 --> 00:02:16.780 by a highly detailed Wikipedia article all about 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:20.219 a piece of legislation known as the show or display 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:22.520 rule. It's a great topic. It is. We are going 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:26.639 to figure out exactly how ultra rare Non -compliant 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:28.699 vehicle, you know, vehicles that break all the 00:02:28.699 --> 00:02:31.460 normal federal safety standards eventually find 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:34.240 a legal pathway onto United States roads. It 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:37.039 is a remarkable piece of legislative maneuvering. 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:40.379 Yeah. You have this rigid. completely uncompromising 00:02:40.379 --> 00:02:42.939 framework of national safety regulations designed 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:45.219 to protect hundreds of millions of commuters, 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:47.620 right? And then right in the middle of it, you 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:50.060 have this hyper -specific escape hatch built 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:52.719 entirely to rescue automotive history from the 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.960 crusher. OK, let's unpack this. Because to understand 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:56.759 how Bill Gates finally got his Porsche out of 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.259 federal lockup, we first have to understand why 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:01.599 it was locked up to begin with. Right. The Shower 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.939 Display Rule is essentially a 1999 statutory 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:06.860 amendment to the U .S. Federal Motor Vehicle 00:03:06.860 --> 00:03:08.960 Safety Standards. which is commonly referred 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.310 to as the FMVSS. It acts as a sort of get out 00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:15.110 of jail free card, provided the car is deemed 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.870 to have, and I'm quoting here, historical or 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.789 technological significance. Yeah, and that phrase 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:23.389 historical or technological significance does 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:25.789 a massive amount of heavy lifting in the legal 00:03:25.789 --> 00:03:28.409 code. Not bad. But before we can appreciate how 00:03:28.409 --> 00:03:31.830 this specific loophole operates, we really have 00:03:31.830 --> 00:03:34.990 to examine the massive regulatory wall that makes 00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:37.409 the loophole necessary in the first place. The 00:03:37.409 --> 00:03:39.689 background context. Right, because the United 00:03:39.689 --> 00:03:42.610 States treats its roads as a highly regulated, 00:03:43.009 --> 00:03:45.550 very exclusive jurisdiction. I was reading through 00:03:45.550 --> 00:03:47.409 the background section of our sources, and I 00:03:47.409 --> 00:03:49.610 kept thinking of it as the walled garden of US 00:03:49.610 --> 00:03:52.110 roads. That's a great way to put it. Yeah. The 00:03:52.110 --> 00:03:54.569 US automotive market operates a lot like a closed 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:57.789 tech ecosystem. It is the physical equivalent 00:03:57.789 --> 00:04:00.629 of forcing a European appliance into an American 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:03.530 electrical outlet. The fundamental architectures 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:05.509 just don't match. And the historical context 00:04:05.509 --> 00:04:08.090 for that incompatibility goes back. decades. 00:04:08.110 --> 00:04:10.990 Yeah, to post -World War II, right? Exactly. 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:14.129 Following World War II, as international trade 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:17.529 started expanding, there was a global push to 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:20.129 standardize how cars were actually built. Makes 00:04:20.129 --> 00:04:22.649 sense. This led to the creation of the United 00:04:22.649 --> 00:04:25.509 Nations World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:28.529 Regulations. Most of the industrialized world 00:04:28.529 --> 00:04:32.430 signed on to this forum to create a unified global 00:04:32.430 --> 00:04:35.620 standard for automotive safety and design. But 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:38.000 not the United States? No. The United States 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.680 opted out entirely. They completely passed on 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.259 the global standard. Looking at the engineering 00:04:43.259 --> 00:04:46.920 history, it wasn't just pure stubbornness. There 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.220 was a fundamental philosophical difference in 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:51.680 how the U .S. and Europe approached highway safety. 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:54.720 That philosophical divide is so critical to understanding 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:57.540 the ban. European regulators historically focused 00:04:57.540 --> 00:05:00.560 on crash avoidance. dodging the accident before 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.459 it happened. Exactly. Their standards prioritize 00:05:03.459 --> 00:05:06.019 stricter braking performance, precise steering 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:08.639 column placement, and suspension handling to 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.199 help drivers literally steer out of danger. OK. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:13.500 And what about the US? The United States, which 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:15.660 was overseen by the National Highway Traffic 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:18.860 Safety Administration, or NHTSA, took a completely 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:21.319 different approach. They assumed crashes were 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:23.480 inevitable. So they just prepared for the impact. 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:26.279 Right. They focused almost entirely on occupant 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:29.310 survival during an impact. Which is why? historically, 00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:33.069 American safety standards mandated those massive 00:05:33.069 --> 00:05:36.790 heavy five mile per hour impact bumpers, extensive 00:05:36.790 --> 00:05:39.449 passive restraint systems, and specific headlight 00:05:39.449 --> 00:05:42.329 orientations. Yes. The U .S. essentially required 00:05:42.329 --> 00:05:45.170 manufacturers to build a rolling fortress. But 00:05:45.170 --> 00:05:46.930 the sources show this wasn't always a problem 00:05:46.930 --> 00:05:50.189 for consumers. Up until 1967, if you lived in 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:52.129 the U .S., you could just buy a car overseas 00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:54.470 and bring it home. Zero restrictions. It was 00:05:54.470 --> 00:05:57.250 the Wild West. Really, you see a cool car in 00:05:57.250 --> 00:05:58.910 Europe, you buy it, you ship it, you drive it. 00:05:59.069 --> 00:06:01.930 But that era of open automotive borders closed 00:06:01.930 --> 00:06:04.990 rapidly as highway speeds increased and, you 00:06:04.990 --> 00:06:07.050 know, environmental concerns gave rise to the 00:06:07.050 --> 00:06:09.680 Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA. Right. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:12.899 By 1968, the U .S. began strictly enforcing its 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.600 unique safety and emission standards, but they 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.319 didn't ban foreign cars entirely just yet. Right. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:20.560 There was a grace period of sorts. Yeah. It created 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.459 a transitional period from roughly 1968 to 1988, 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:27.060 which is known as the era of the gray market. 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.279 And the gray market wasn't just a matter of filing 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.060 some extra import paperwork, was it? Oh, no, 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:35.540 not at all. It spawned a massive cottage industry. 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:38.420 If you brought over a European car during those 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:41.470 two decades, you are legally required to pay 00:06:41.470 --> 00:06:44.569 independent mechanic shops to physically translate 00:06:44.569 --> 00:06:46.769 the vehicle into the US regulatory language. 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.430 Literally translating it. Yeah. You were paying 00:06:49.430 --> 00:06:51.730 them to physically rip out the vocabulary of 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:54.089 the car. And translating a car physically is 00:06:54.089 --> 00:06:56.649 an incredibly invasive process. What did they 00:06:56.649 --> 00:06:58.490 actually have to do? Well, these gray market 00:06:58.490 --> 00:07:01.509 shops were removing flush European glass and 00:07:01.509 --> 00:07:04.730 replacing it with DOT stamped glass. They were 00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:07.250 ripping out aerodynamic European headlights and 00:07:07.250 --> 00:07:09.910 cutting the bodywork to install U .S. mandated 00:07:09.910 --> 00:07:12.470 sealed beam lamps. Cutting the bodywork. That's 00:07:12.470 --> 00:07:15.370 brutal. It gets worse. They were retrofitting 00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:18.540 rudimentary catalytic converters to meet emissions 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:22.000 and welding heavy steel reinforcement bars inside 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.399 the doors just to pass US site impact standards. 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:27.879 So you get your foreign dream car, but you have 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.660 to pay the toll to butcher it slightly to satisfy 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:35.420 the government. Exactly. But then in 1988, the 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:38.620 timeline shifts drastically. The door just slams 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:41.980 shut. individually imported vehicles were largely 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:44.980 forbidden. A total regulatory blockade. Yep. 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:47.899 Unless the manufacturer explicitly designed, 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.459 crash tested, and certified the car for the U 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:52.779 .S. market at the factory level, an individual 00:07:52.779 --> 00:07:55.199 consumer could no longer legally bring it in, 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:57.019 even if they were willing to modify it themselves. 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.000 See, I have to push back on the logic of that 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.519 1988 ban. Oh. Yeah, because if individual consumers 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:04.740 were willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:07.459 out of their own pockets to translate these cars, 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:09.839 to add the steel bar, and the emissions equipment, 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:12.540 so they met the U .S. standards. Why shut down 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:14.620 the training press entirely? I see what you're 00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:16.100 saying. It just feels like the government was 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.600 punishing the consumer just to maintain absolute 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.199 control over its unique regulatory island. Well, 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:24.000 the motivation was logistical control, not punishment. 00:08:24.339 --> 00:08:27.160 Okay, explain that. If we look at it from NHTSA's 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:30.639 perspective, verifying that thousands of individually 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:33.840 modified gray market cars are genuinely compliant 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.519 is a bureaucratic nightmare. Oh, I guess checking 00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:38.840 every single car would be impossible. Right. 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:42.240 Every custom modification job done by an independent 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.539 shop introduces a terrifying variable. A bad 00:08:46.539 --> 00:08:49.879 weld on a door bar or a poorly installed seatbelt 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.580 anchor could literally be fatal. Okay, that makes 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:55.220 sense. By forcing manufacturers to certify the 00:08:55.220 --> 00:08:58.519 vehicles at the factory level, NHTSA guarantees 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:01.320 a uniform, predictable standard of crash protection 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:04.019 and emissions across the board. The priority 00:09:04.019 --> 00:09:06.419 shifted heavily from allowing enthusiast freedom 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:09.320 to ensuring strict, easily verifiable public 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.679 safety. So predictability and mass safety win 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.279 out over individual passion, and the border is 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:16.779 sealed. Exactly. Which brings us right back to 00:09:16.779 --> 00:09:19.940 Bill Gates in the late 80s and 90s, staring at 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:22.820 a port facility holding his prized Porsche 959 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:25.019 hostage. Because Porsche knew they would never 00:09:25.019 --> 00:09:28.080 sell enough 959s in the U .S. to justify the 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.179 factory certification costs, so they never bothered 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:33.399 to make it compliant. So if the 1988 ban created 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.539 an absolute blockade for automotive history, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.460 how did enthusiasts manage to pry the door back 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:40.960 open? Well, they realized they couldn't fight 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.399 the safety standards directly, so they lobbied 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:46.070 Congress. to create a hyper -specific exception. 00:09:46.250 --> 00:09:49.230 And that worked. It did. That effort culminated 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:53.029 in the August 13, 1999 statutory amendment that 00:09:53.029 --> 00:09:55.769 birthed the show or display rule. Here's where 00:09:55.769 --> 00:09:59.250 it gets really interesting. Because the criteria 00:09:59.250 --> 00:10:03.230 to get a car through this new loophole are incredibly 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:05.169 strict. Oh, absolutely. You can't just show up 00:10:05.169 --> 00:10:07.049 at the border and say, hey, I have a lot of money 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:09.809 and I want this car. Right. No. First, as we 00:10:09.809 --> 00:10:12.559 establish, The prospective importer has to formally 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:15.460 prove the car has profound historical or technological 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:18.299 significance. Second, it has to be produced in 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:20.980 limited numbers. The absolute threshold value 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:23.879 the government uses is under 500 units produced 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:26.340 globally. Which is a very small number for cars. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:29.460 It is. And third, there cannot be a similar make 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:31.740 or model already certified for sale in the U 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:34.220 .S. market. And the most crucial mechanical benefit 00:10:34.220 --> 00:10:36.799 of securing this exemption is what it excuses 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.840 the manufacturer from doing. Right. It exempts 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.299 these specific cars from destructive testing. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.370 Which is exactly what it sounds like. When you 00:10:45.370 --> 00:10:48.210 or I buy a normal sedan, we know it's safe because 00:10:48.210 --> 00:10:51.330 NHTSA required the manufacturer to literally 00:10:51.330 --> 00:10:54.289 smash several of those sedans into concrete barriers. 00:10:55.129 --> 00:10:57.389 They require frontal impacts at 35 miles per 00:10:57.389 --> 00:11:00.610 hour, side pole impacts to test the doors, and 00:11:00.610 --> 00:11:03.129 hydraulic presses to crush the roof. And the 00:11:03.129 --> 00:11:05.669 mathematics of destructive testing simply do 00:11:05.669 --> 00:11:07.789 not work for rare artifacts. How do you mean? 00:11:07.909 --> 00:11:10.350 Well, imagine you are a boutique manufacturer 00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:12.909 who has only built a hundred units of a multi 00:11:12.909 --> 00:11:15.980 -million dollar hypercar. Or imagine you are 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:19.240 a museum curator trying to import a one -of -a 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:22.419 -kind historical vehicle. Okay. You cannot feasibly 00:11:22.419 --> 00:11:25.100 surrender three or four of these irreplaceable 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:28.279 chassis to a crash test facility to be deliberately 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:30.740 obliterated. That'd be tragic. It would. The 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.139 show or display rule recognizes that forcing 00:11:33.139 --> 00:11:35.860 destructive testing on a technologically significant 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.980 sub -500 production vehicle essentially demands 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:41.600 the erasure of automotive history. This raises 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:43.299 an important question, though, and I have to 00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:45.159 be kind of skeptical here. Go for it. Looking 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:47.559 at these criteria, specifically the threshold 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:51.580 of less than 500 produced globally and the explicit 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:54.940 waiver for crashing them. Isn't this just a highly 00:11:54.940 --> 00:11:57.620 convenient loophole designed specifically so 00:11:57.620 --> 00:12:00.139 billionaires don't have to crash test their million 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:02.840 dollar tools? I mean, it's a fair question. Right. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.039 Because who else on earth is importing a car 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:08.820 with a total production run of 150? You're not 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:11.789 wrong. The source material explicitly notes that 00:12:11.789 --> 00:12:13.909 the permitted vehicle list is almost entirely 00:12:13.909 --> 00:12:16.490 restricted to extremely expensive sports and 00:12:16.490 --> 00:12:19.470 touring automobiles. Ah, so it is a rich person's 00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:22.070 game. The sheer financial cost and legal effort 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:24.389 required to navigate this importation process 00:12:24.389 --> 00:12:27.309 inherently limits it to the ultra wealthy. However. 00:12:27.570 --> 00:12:30.090 However. The regulatory intent isn't explicitly 00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:32.690 about protecting wealth. It is about recognizing 00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:35.210 the limits of mass market rules. OK, I'm listening. 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:37.870 A mass produced commuter car does not represent 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:40.929 a unique technological leap in the same way a 00:12:40.929 --> 00:12:42.950 limited run prototype pushing the boundaries 00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:45.850 of aerodynamics or metallurgy does. The law accepts 00:12:45.850 --> 00:12:48.110 that billionaires are often the only ones funding 00:12:48.110 --> 00:12:50.649 or preserving these fringe engineering experiments. 00:12:50.889 --> 00:12:53.909 Fair enough. But because NHTSA knew they were 00:12:53.909 --> 00:12:56.149 letting uncrashed tested engineering experiments 00:12:56.149 --> 00:12:59.950 onto public roads, A massive battle erupted over 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:01.889 how much these cars could actually be driven. 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:04.269 Oh, the mileage debate. Yeah. If they aren't 00:13:04.269 --> 00:13:07.450 proven safe in a crash, NHKSA naturally doesn't 00:13:07.450 --> 00:13:09.570 want them doing the daily commute on Interstate 00:13:09.570 --> 00:13:12.950 95. Definitely not. So originally, regulators 00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:15.690 proposed an incredibly strict annual mileage 00:13:15.690 --> 00:13:19.409 limitation of just 500 on -road miles. And they 00:13:19.409 --> 00:13:21.549 wanted a certified mileage statement submitted 00:13:21.549 --> 00:13:25.139 under penalty of perjury. every single year for 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:27.500 the first five years. They were treating them 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:30.059 quite literally as static museum pieces. Yeah, 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:32.460 500 miles is nothing. I mean, the name of the 00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:35.440 rule is show or display, implying the vehicle 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.379 is a visual artifact. 500 miles is barely enough 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:40.480 to drive the vehicle onto a trailer, take it 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:42.440 to a car show and drive it back to a climate 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:44.720 controlled garage a few times a year. But the 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:47.159 enthusiasts and collectors fought back fiercely. 00:13:47.389 --> 00:13:50.149 During a comment period in May 1999, a group 00:13:50.149 --> 00:13:52.629 called the Special Vehicles Coalition lobbied 00:13:52.629 --> 00:13:55.309 hard against that 500 -mile limit, and their 00:13:55.309 --> 00:13:58.570 argument was rooted in pure mechanical reality. 00:13:59.250 --> 00:14:00.970 High -performance engines are essentially like 00:14:00.970 --> 00:14:03.230 professional athletes. If you leave them sitting 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:06.549 on the couch for months at a time, they physically 00:14:06.549 --> 00:14:09.460 deteriorate. A stagnant engine is a dying engine. 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.039 Yes. If a complex vehicle isn't brought up to 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:14.379 operating temperature regularly, the internal 00:14:14.379 --> 00:14:17.360 rubber seals dry out and shrink, causing massive 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.299 oil leaks. Oh, wow. The fluids separate and turn 00:14:20.299 --> 00:14:23.360 to sludge. Condensation builds up inside the 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.679 engine block, leading to internal rust. The special 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.940 vehicles coalition successfully argued that restricting 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:32.740 these cars to 500 miles would guarantee their 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:35.139 mechanical destruction. So they pushed to increase 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:38.179 the limit to 2 ,500 miles annually. And they 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:40.399 didn't just pick that number out of a hat to 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:42.039 see what they could get away with. No, it's very 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:44.980 calculated. 2 ,500 miles was already a standardized 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:47.580 figure utilized by the automotive insurance industry 00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:50.740 as a threshold to classify a limited -use vehicle. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:53.399 It aligned perfectly with existing actuarial 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:56.039 risk assessment models. What's fascinating here 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.899 is how the final wording of the statute attempts 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:02.179 to strike a very fragile, highly negotiated compromise. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.539 It really is a balancing act. On one side of 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:06.960 the scale, you have the preservation of technological 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:09.340 artifacts and the mechanical requirements of 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:11.759 complex engines. Right. On the other side, you 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.460 have a federal agency whose entire mandate is 00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:18.320 maintaining public safety on public roads. And 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:21.000 NHTSA made sure to keep a very tight grip on 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:23.850 the leash. to maintain that safety. Oh, absolutely. 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:26.929 Even with the 2500 mile allowance, the law states 00:15:26.929 --> 00:15:31.070 NHTSA retains the absolute right to inspect any 00:15:31.070 --> 00:15:34.309 imported vehicle simply to verify the odometer. 00:15:34.470 --> 00:15:37.289 They didn't completely let go. No. The coalition 00:15:37.289 --> 00:15:39.629 actually managed to kill the mandatory annual 00:15:39.629 --> 00:15:42.090 reporting requirement, arguing the tracking mileage 00:15:42.090 --> 00:15:44.590 was pointless since these cars are often driven 00:15:44.590 --> 00:15:47.470 off road on private tracks. Right. But NHTSA 00:15:47.470 --> 00:15:50.289 can still knock on your door. And NHTSA also 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:53.590 explicitly cites unspecified concerns about public 00:15:53.590 --> 00:15:56.309 safety to reserve the right to approve a vehicle 00:15:56.309 --> 00:15:59.490 for show or display importation, but simultaneously 00:15:59.490 --> 00:16:01.429 ban it from ever being registered for use on 00:16:01.429 --> 00:16:03.809 public roads entirely. Wait, so they can let 00:16:03.809 --> 00:16:05.990 it in but forbid you from driving it on the street? 00:16:06.389 --> 00:16:09.590 Yes. They can impose arbitrary restrictions at 00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:13.019 the time of import. Furthermore, we cannot overlook 00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:15.539 the environmental jurisdiction. Ah, the EPA. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:19.059 Exactly. Regardless of whether NHTSA grants a 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:22.100 safety exemption, the imported vehicle must still 00:16:22.100 --> 00:16:24.620 meet the strict import restrictions defined by 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:26.879 the EPA. Because the atmosphere doesn't care 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.240 if the car is a historical artifact. Exactly. 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.379 You still have to save the ozone, which means 00:16:31.379 --> 00:16:35.240 even under show or display, the car often needs 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.600 expensive emissions tuning to pass the EPA standard. 00:16:38.750 --> 00:16:41.629 It's a lot of hoops to jump through. It is. So... 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:43.259 If you manage to jump through all these regulatory 00:16:43.259 --> 00:16:45.899 hoops, if you formally prove historical significance, 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.879 keep it under 500 units, secure the crash test 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:51.840 waiver, pass EPA emissions, and agree to the 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:54.179 2 ,500 mile limit, what kinds of cars actually 00:16:54.179 --> 00:16:56.460 make the list? Oh, looking at the eligible vehicles 00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:59.200 in our sources is just mind blowing. It's wild. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:03.039 The VIP roster is a surreal, highly curated mix 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.299 of the absolute peak of automotive engineering 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:07.640 and geopolitical history. It really is. Let me 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:09.599 read a few of these because the exclusivity is 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.180 almost absurd. We have the McLaren F1, famously 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:15.440 one of the greatest naturally aspirated supercars 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.599 ever built, featuring a center seat driving position 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:21.519 and an engine bay lined with real gold for heat 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.160 reflection. Incredible car. Then you have the 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.599 Aston Martin Valkyrie, a modern $4 .5 million 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.619 dollar hypercar that generates enough aerodynamic 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:33.099 downforce to theoretically drive upside down. 00:17:33.210 --> 00:17:35.609 Which is just crazy to think about. Right. But 00:17:35.609 --> 00:17:38.049 then you get into the deeply specific, almost 00:17:38.049 --> 00:17:41.069 bizarre historical vehicles. Pope John Paul II's 00:17:41.069 --> 00:17:44.210 Ferrari Enzo, specifically Enzo chassis number 00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:47.230 400. Yeah, that one's fascinating. Ferrari originally 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:50.710 only planned to build 399 Enzos. They built the 00:17:50.710 --> 00:17:53.309 400 specifically to gift to the pope who auctioned 00:17:53.309 --> 00:17:55.690 it off for charity. Wow. Its provenance makes 00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:58.230 it an undeniable historical artifact. Contrast 00:17:58.230 --> 00:18:00.990 that with another approved vehicle, the 1991 00:18:00.990 --> 00:18:04.480 Mercedes -Benz 560 SEL armored vehicle that belonged 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:06.759 to Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev's heavily armored 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:08.799 Mercedes capsule. It's completely wild. Right. 00:18:09.059 --> 00:18:11.700 You also have obscure one -off engineering prototypes 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:15.420 like the 1984 BMW Hasak K100 RS prototype motorcycle. 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.380 Which tested a revolutionary new front suspension 00:18:18.380 --> 00:18:21.140 design. Yeah, and highly specialized rally cars 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:24.720 like the Ford RS200 Evolution built solely to 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.640 compete in dangerous off -road racing series. 00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:30.460 If we connect this to the bigger picture. The 00:18:30.460 --> 00:18:32.640 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.140 is effectively acting as a museum curator here. 00:18:35.420 --> 00:18:37.839 They really are. They are an agency of engineers 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.319 forced to evaluate historical applications and 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.960 judge what truly constitutes significance. Does 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.539 a hypercar pushing the boundaries of carbon fiber 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:51.000 manufacturing qualify? Yes. Does an armored head 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:53.759 of state vehicle represent a unique geopolitical 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:57.500 footprint? Yes. Does a bespoke sports car Gifted 00:18:57.500 --> 00:18:59.839 to the Pope count. Apparently, yes. I mean, it 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:01.859 must be an incredibly strange Tuesday at the 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:04.039 office for whoever processes these applications 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.799 at NHTSA. Let's see. Today we are evaluating 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:08.619 the historical impact of the Pope's Ferrari. 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:10.940 Tomorrow we review a rally car. It's quite the 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:13.519 mix. But here's a vital detail about the application 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.299 process. The exemption is granted by a combination 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:19.289 of make, model and production year. Which streamlines 00:19:19.289 --> 00:19:21.849 the bureaucracy significantly. Once a specific 00:19:21.849 --> 00:19:25.890 car type, for example, the 1993 McLaren F1 is 00:19:25.890 --> 00:19:28.250 evaluated and approved for the list, the door 00:19:28.250 --> 00:19:30.609 is permanently unlocked for that exact model. 00:19:30.630 --> 00:19:33.509 Oh, I see. Yeah. Future importers of a 1993 McLaren 00:19:33.509 --> 00:19:37.369 F1 do not have to hire lawyers and reapply from 00:19:37.369 --> 00:19:39.849 scratch to prove its significance. The precedent 00:19:39.849 --> 00:19:42.750 is firmly set. But there is an even bigger escape 00:19:42.750 --> 00:19:44.750 hatch built into the U .S. regulatory system. 00:19:45.289 --> 00:19:48.259 A rule that eventually makes this whole show 00:19:48.259 --> 00:19:51.559 or display headache all the mileage limits and 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:54.410 the strict 500 unit production thresholds. disappear 00:19:54.410 --> 00:19:57.190 entirely. Oh, yes. And that is the 25 -year rule. 00:19:57.490 --> 00:19:59.589 This is a critical piece of the puzzle regarding 00:19:59.589 --> 00:20:01.750 U .S. vehicle importation. Definitely. According 00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:05.109 to the federal regulations, NHTSA does not require 00:20:05.109 --> 00:20:08.150 FMVSS compliance for any imported vehicles that 00:20:08.150 --> 00:20:10.809 are above a certain age. Currently, that rolling 00:20:10.809 --> 00:20:13.690 age threshold is set at 25 years. I find the 00:20:13.690 --> 00:20:16.410 logic of this rule fascinating. It's like the 00:20:16.410 --> 00:20:18.589 declassification of highly sensitive government 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:21.309 documents. That's a good analogy. Thanks. When 00:20:21.309 --> 00:20:23.579 a foreign car is five years old, or 10 years 00:20:23.579 --> 00:20:26.119 old, it is treated as a dangerous mass market 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:28.519 threat that will compromise American safety standards 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:31.839 if led onto the roads. But once it hits exactly 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:35.660 25 years, the threat level drops to zero. After 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:39.140 25 years, the exclusive VIP club just becomes 00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:42.259 public domain. Anyone can import them. And the 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:45.420 actuarial rationale is entirely sound. Tell me 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:47.720 more about that. Well, a 25 -year -old vehicle 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:50.039 is no longer being imported by the hundreds of 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:52.680 thousands for daily mass market commuting. It 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.240 is inherently a classic, a collector car, or 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:58.619 a weekend hoppiest vehicle at that point. That 00:20:58.619 --> 00:21:01.059 makes sense. Its statistical impact on overall 00:21:01.059 --> 00:21:04.380 national highway safety metrics or daily aggregate 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:07.359 emissions becomes entirely negligible. It basically 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:09.660 becomes a statistical ghost on the highway. So 00:21:09.660 --> 00:21:12.539 if you, right now... wanted to go online and 00:21:12.539 --> 00:21:15.180 buy a 1998 Japanese sports car that was never 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:17.059 sold in the U .S., you don't need Bill Gates 00:21:17.059 --> 00:21:19.079 lawyers. You don't need to prove it has historical 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:21.440 significance. Because the 25 -year rule, you 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.900 can just click buy, put it on a boat, and register 00:21:23.900 --> 00:21:26.359 it in your home state. Exactly. And this completely 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:29.119 changes the status of the early show or display 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:32.200 cars. It creates a rolling window of automotive 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:35.779 history. Take Bill Gates' Porsche 959, the vehicle 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:39.200 that started this entire conversation. That specific 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.299 car was manufactured between 1987 and 1988. It 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:46.779 spent 13 years locked in customs purgatory, then 00:21:46.779 --> 00:21:49.599 was finally released under the 2 ,500 -mile show 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.359 or display limit when the law passed in 1999. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:56.119 But once the year 2012 hit, that specific Porsche 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:59.019 turned 25 years old. Exactly. The restrictions 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:02.200 simply vanish. The 2 ,500 -mile limit evaporates. 00:22:02.700 --> 00:22:05.059 The same goes for incredibly iconic cars like 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:08.579 the Nissan Skyline GTR R32. Oh, the Skyline. 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:12.150 Yeah. Some highly limited racing spec Nismo versions 00:22:12.150 --> 00:22:14.170 of the Skyline were originally brought in under 00:22:14.170 --> 00:22:17.390 the strict show or display criteria. But because 00:22:17.390 --> 00:22:19.890 those were built in 1990, they crossed the 25 00:22:19.890 --> 00:22:22.650 -year threshold back in 2015. At which point 00:22:22.650 --> 00:22:25.150 the less limited standard versions of the Skyline, 00:22:25.190 --> 00:22:27.250 the ones that produced well over 500 units and 00:22:27.250 --> 00:22:29.130 never would have passed the show or display test, 00:22:29.349 --> 00:22:31.309 became completely exempt from import restrictions 00:22:31.309 --> 00:22:34.230 anyway. So time naturally erodes the regulatory 00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:36.470 wall. It does. Every single year an entire new 00:22:36.470 --> 00:22:39.089 class of global vehicles graduates from forbidden 00:22:39.089 --> 00:22:41.950 fruit to legally accessible classics. So what 00:22:41.950 --> 00:22:44.170 does this all mean? We started with Bill Gates 00:22:44.170 --> 00:22:46.809 enduring a 13 -year bureaucratic standoff at 00:22:46.809 --> 00:22:49.450 a San Francisco port over a twin turbo Porsche. 00:22:49.609 --> 00:22:52.230 We did. We looked at how the U .S. walled itself 00:22:52.230 --> 00:22:55.009 off from the global car market by prioritizing 00:22:55.009 --> 00:22:58.529 crash survival over crash avoidance. We explored 00:22:58.529 --> 00:23:01.089 the messy physical translations of the gray market, 00:23:01.549 --> 00:23:04.839 the total blockade of 1988. Right. And finally, 00:23:05.259 --> 00:23:08.279 the creation of a hyper -specific, highly lobbied 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:12.039 loophole just to save automotive history from 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:14.500 being systematically crashed into concrete barriers. 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:17.339 It serves as a testament to the sheer persistence 00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:20.299 of enthusiasts. Truly. When faced with a rigid, 00:23:20.619 --> 00:23:23.119 uncompromising system of national safety standards 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.019 designed for hundreds of millions of commuters, 00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:28.200 they systematically negotiated a pathway to preserve 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:30.920 technological and historical artifacts. Yeah, 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.079 they really did. They successfully balanced the 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:35.740 federal need for predictable public safety with 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:38.500 the very human desire to preserve exceptional 00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:40.839 boundary pushing engineering. And I think that's 00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:43.329 the real takeaway here. Why should you, listening 00:23:43.329 --> 00:23:46.490 to this, care about an obscure customs law that 00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:48.730 lets billionaires import Italian supercars and 00:23:48.730 --> 00:23:51.250 armored Mercedes? It's a good question. Because 00:23:51.250 --> 00:23:54.109 it proves that even the most rigid, immovable 00:23:54.109 --> 00:23:56.990 bureaucratic systems eventually have to bend. 00:23:57.529 --> 00:23:59.970 They are forced to accommodate human passion, 00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:03.009 innovation, and our collective desire to preserve 00:24:03.009 --> 00:24:05.680 the physical markers of our history. Rules and 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:08.039 regulations are inevitably built for the masses, 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.700 but human ingenuity always produces brilliant 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.019 exceptions that challenge the boundaries of those 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:17.640 rules. The show or display law is simply the 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:20.500 codified legal recognition of that fact. Which 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:22.660 leaves me with a really provocative thought about 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:25.599 the future. I'm intrigued. Right now, this specific 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.700 rule applies strictly to automobiles. But look 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:30.880 at the breathtaking pace of modern technology. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.660 Think about early military drones, experimental 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:37.380 robotics, or the first truly autonomous AI devices 00:24:37.380 --> 00:24:39.660 that are currently heavily regulated or outright 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:42.559 banned from public use for safety reasons. If 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.819 an unsafe non -compliant car can eventually be 00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:48.400 deemed so historically or technologically significant 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.160 that it permanently bypasses federal safety laws. 00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.819 What other highly regulated bleeding edge technologies 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:57.680 might one day require special museum exemptions 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.539 just to be preserved and operated by future enthusiasts? 00:25:01.059 --> 00:25:03.740 That is a fascinating question. Will we eventually 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:06.519 see a show or display rule for early artificial 00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:08.799 intelligence? Something to chew on the next time 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:10.240 you see a classic car roll by.