It's a fact. Whether that history means something to you or not is a different matter. It has no more history than any other Z8 with X owners and X miles on it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
BMW Z8 Owned by Steve Jobs Estimated to Fetch Up to $400,000 at Auction Next Month
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You don't know, it's designed by Apple but there's probably just 1 guy/girl which came up with the design, he she could be a foreigner.
IMO the Z8 is a gorgeous car that I would love to own. For me personally, I wouldn't want something that was so 'valuable' due to the celebrity of a previous owner that it would take away the joy of driving the car for fear of devaluing it.
JOBS always had just a BAR CODE on his license plate in CA...
While that is the reason he gave, it doesn't hold water. Steve's address was widely known already, and he made no attempt at hiding it. He also didn't have a wall around his house, and didn't lock his doors. Despite being incredibly busy, he was also incredibly approachable. (Woz leads a very similar life, probably even more so.)
If you spend a bit of time researching his statements, his behavior around officials at various levels of government, and his disdain for lobbying and lobbyists, the reason Steve refused to have a plate on his car was very simple: he loathed government. He saw it as an obstacle to creativity, and a waste of resources.
Baloney. He did it to avoid parking tickets, because he was known to park illegally in handicapped spaces, even in the lots at Apple. Steve could be a real jerk, but I thought everybody knew that.
[doublepost=1509464894][/doublepost]
That isn't quite right either, unless you are saying everyone always had a bar code. Many cars (Mercedes and BMW included) come from the factory with a bar code sticker on the trunk lid, presumably for shipping and inventory purposes. It is normally concealed by a license plate.
Yeah, he could be, but that doesn't mean you're right. Regarding your theory, did you think that the cops would have just stood around his plateless car and scratched their heads, saying "Cheez, what'll we do?" before giving up and heading to Mickey's Pub for a round? Not having a plate on the car doesn't make writing a ticket one bit harder for them. Traffic control cops know to look at the front window of the car and spot the VIN plate on the dash or A-pillar. Its a simple radio message or text request to get the owner information, and its been that way for decades.
As to the handicapped spot use, that was another one of his pet dislikes. He felt that the government should not have a say in how parking spots should be allocated on private property, especially a corporate campus, and gleefully violated it as a thumb in their collective eye. Since someone on campus would have to call in the complaint - and honestly who would dare to do that at Apple? - the cops never bothered to show up to write him or tow the vehicle.
According to Woz, Jobs did it because he liked to think he was hidden and anonymous. Perhaps only his wife knows for sure.
As for the loophole, it closes in 2019 when a new law goes into effect requiring temporary paper plates like most of the rest of the country.
As for the loophole, it closes in 2019 when a new law goes into effect requiring temporary paper plates like most of the rest of the country.
The problem with your theory is he admitted on at least one occasion that he did it to avoid parking tickets. I have no idea whether it actually worked for him, only that this was his stated reason.
Yes, on at least one occasion he said it was to avoid parking tickets, but as I said, thats no barrier to a ticket. He also said it was so no one could look him up by the plate, but his address was public knowledge. In one interview, he said that he felt it would keep people from identifying his car. This was absurd no matter how you look at it. No plate on a new, silver SL65SAMG in the tech valley almost guaranteed it was Steve Jobs' car. As a matter of fact, at least one person rode alongside him and took several photos, with Steve waving back.
I think the most telling quote from him, and I wish I could recall the exact words, was that it was "just one of my little games". Thats a nice summary of how he looked at government.
At everything. He was a control freak. No reason to assume he was singling out government.
[doublepost=1509487345][/doublepost]
Displaying temporary registration in the windshield has always been required. The dealer sticks it on when you buy the car and you are supposed to leave it there until the plates are delivered.
This change beginning 2019 will require two temporary paper plates, so it's easier for police and toll systems.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB516
Yes, I know, and for red light cameras. No plates on the car and a person could run lights with virtual impunity if they had a mind to. Just pointing out that you aren't going to get away without a parking ticket just because you don't have plates on the car. I doubt it would have saved Mr. Jobs from getting any, not in the real world. He was simply applying his phone phreak mentality to something else in his life, just to see if he could get away with it. I've known more than a few people like that.
The guy had two priorities in business: pure, efficient design, and giving people transparent tools to help them achieve their goals. His "control freak" aspect, as you describe it, was a manifestation of his utter frustration with people who couldn't see the simple way of doing things, elegantly. His disdain for government was tangentially related to that as he couldn't stand the inefficiency present at any given level of the state, and it came to the foreground when he had to deal with anything bureaucratic. Say perhaps, dealing with a city "planning" commission (who were quite obviously present to simply add bureaucracy and try to get boodle) to build a new campus, or having to get plates for a car he was paying for.
Its a much farther stretch to say he bought a new car every 6 months simply to "have control" over the registration scheme, than it is to say he did it because he found the loophole, hated government, and decided to poke it in the eye. If your theory was correct and he was applying his "control freak" side to the equation, he would have had more than a 5 digit lobbying budget across all levels of government.
All without evidence, let alone proof. In fact, Steve Jobs was almost completely without public political views, and he was far less interested in political issues than is his successor. Try looking for references to politics and government in his biography. I will save you the trouble, you won't find any.
Steve Jobs vehemently disliked anyone who got in his way. His tirades against employees who told him things he needed to know are legendary, for one example. So was his RDF. He always believed he was right, even when he wasn't. And so on. Control freak. We may not have known Steve Jobs personally but we've all known his personality type.
As for the car registration, he said that he did it as a game. Those were the words he used. You could look it up.
... yes... because he disliked politics, the political machine, the bureaucracy. Why keep rephrasing what I've said and acting like you're proving a point?
Again, you drive home my point. Government was in his way.
Yeah, I know he said it because I quoted it above:
If we keep on this track, eventually you'll be telling me that I'm wrong, Steve was not a control freak, he hated the state.
Next up: we learn that Steve did not like Windows.