04/18/2026
In 1988, Bill Gates imported what many considered one of the most advanced cars ever built — the Porsche 959.
However, the car immediately ran into a major problem. At the time, the United States had strict safety and emissions regulations that the 959 had never been certified to meet.
Because of those rules, the car could not legally be driven or imported for road use, even though it was already owned by Gates.
Instead of sending the vehicle back overseas, Gates chose a different option. He kept the car stored at the border, paying about $28 per day for storage.
Over the course of 13 years, those fees added up to more than $133,000, simply to keep the Porsche from being returned to Europe.
Gates and other collectors then began lobbying lawmakers for a solution that would allow historically important vehicles to enter the country even if they did not meet modern certification rules.
Their efforts eventually helped lead to the Show and Display rule, introduced in 2001. The rule allowed extremely rare vehicles — typically limited-production cars — to be imported and legally kept in the United States under special restrictions.
Thanks to that change, the Porsche 959 and other historically significant vehicles could finally enter the country legally.
What started as one collector’s determination to keep his dream car eventually changed how rare cars are imported and preserved in the U.S.
Img Credit: Supercar Blondie
Source: Automotive historical reports on the Porsche 959 import case and U.S. “Show and Display” legislation.
Disclaimer: Storage costs and timeline are based on widely reported historical accounts related to the Porsche 959 import situation.
