Gates – the wild ride maybe over

Gates – the wild ride maybe over

Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire has been a fast car fanatic since he was 19. That was when his lawyer father helped him buy his first Porsche. Now his mansion near Seattle is filled with German sports cars out of which the Porsche 959 is the most prized possession. The car is capable of reaching 320kmph in nearly 20seconds. But what makes it more special is that fewer than 250 of these were made as Porsche designed it as a technological test-bed and made a loss on every sale.

However, with the new environmental crackdown in his home state of Washington his days of riding the supercar maybe over. The two Porsche cars that were imported in 1988 – one by Gates and the other by Paul Allen remained street legal till 1999, when then president Bill Clinton granted a “show and display” exemption that let owners drive a limited mileage. This exemption is under threat as the Democrat Governor of Washington Chris Gregoire is considering ways to cut down on pollution with future legal curbs on vehicles causing “gross emissions”

Mr. Gates recently joked that, because of the concerns of his wife, Melinda, "my Porsche days may be coming to a close", but friends believe he will not surrender his right to drive the 959 without a fight. "What he really wants is his own racing track, but I'm not sure Melinda would go for that," said an associate last week.

It would in fact be a good idea if the limitations on the car are imposed. The way the environmental hazards are increasing every little effort has to be made to cut down on the pollution and there should be no exceptions to begin with, which includes billionaires too. Bill Gates might as well start preparing to part with his Porsche 959 if that does happen.

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December 19, 2006 - 7:21 AM | Posted in - Others | Porsche