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I can guarantee, (if I could afford such a car), I would have NO problem driving it on the streets in my city!
Ive heard 'not street legal' in regards to many other cars too, but actually it comes down to how you drive the car, if you obey all the traffic and speed limits, I doubt any cop is going to pull you over and start going over the reasons why your car is not 'street legal', would many cops even know what to look for?
One thing they'd know to look for is no license plate, which you won't be able to get if your car is not DOT-legal. Another thing they'd know to look for is a license plate that doesn't come back registered to whatever exotic you've attached it to while trying to get away with driving a non-federalized car on public roads.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
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'Not street legal' has many meanings. I have been lucky enough to own 2 of these kinds of cars. Not saying which. Anyways, one was physically too wide to drive on a city street in most cases so could not be licensed. Wider than a Hummer H1, which if you have ever owned one you'd know what I am talking about. It did work great on the track. The other required factory technicians to review the car before driving and, most likely, maintain it during the track day. You could drive it on the road but the ground clearance was basically zero mms so the road had better be perfect. So had the weather, as the tires only operated safely in a tight temp and humidity range. It had zero rearward visibility and to the side wasn't so great either. And the car was certified to run only on Eni racing fuel. Nothing else.
There's a reason why they aren't public road worthy.
'Not street legal' has many meanings. I have been lucky enough to own 2 of these kinds of cars. Not saying which.
Only one, actually - not being street legal means not being street legal. I think what you meant is there are many different reasons for a car not to be street legal, many of them having nothing to do with being a track-only hypercar, per the thread.
That said, I'm curious - which 'two of these kinds of cars' did you own?
I can guarantee, (if I could afford such a car), I would have NO problem driving it on the streets in my city!
Ive heard 'not street legal' in regards to many other cars too, but actually it comes down to how you drive the car, if you obey all the traffic and speed limits, I doubt any cop is going to pull you over and start going over the reasons why your car is not 'street legal', would many cops even know what to look for?
I had a friend years ago that had a tricked out Chevelle, he had it set up for drag racing, it was a very powerful car, had a big blower popping out of the hood, and sitting at traffic lights, it would rattle the cars nearby. His car was not 'street legal', but he used to cruise it most friday and saturday nights, on the street that all the car enthusiasts cruised at, I dont ever remember police being involved.
There was another guy from my area that had a HUGE lifted pickup truck, (at that time, the legal limit on tires was 44"s), he had 53" Michelins, I dont know exactly, but Im guessing this truck had at least 18" of suspension lift!! He used to cruise in the same area, as far as I know, police never gave him any problems either.
Steve Jobs used to never have regular license plates on his cars.
Some people thought that the Governor or someone else in state government was granting him a pass because if who he was.
All he was doing was taking advantage of a law.
On leases, there wasn't a permanent plate requirement until after six months, so he'd just turn the car in before the six months were up and get another car and another lease.
I wouldn't even attempt to drive a racecar on the street. I'm nervous enough just unloading it out of the box van, using the hydraulic lift to display in a building concours...
Steve Jobs used to never have regular license plates on his cars.
Some people thought that the Governor or someone else in state government was granting him a pass because if who he was.
All he was doing was taking advantage of a law.
On leases, there wasn't a permanent plate requirement until after six months, so he'd just turn the car in before the six months were up and get another car and another lease.
Yeah, same model every time as well. That said, the loophole is closed relative to AB-516.
Yeah, same model every time as well. That said, the loophole is closed relative to AB-516.
Each state tweaks policies/laws in their own little ways.
I had those clear plastic plate covers on my previous car.
For a while I had my feet in both California and Texas (that included traveling back and forth) before officially moving 'paperwork wise' to Texas. No issues re the plate covers while I was in Texas. Less than a week after I received my Texas plates and put them (and the clear plastic covers) on my car, a cop pulled me over and told me that I had to take the clear plastic covers off because they are against the law in Texas.
When I first visited, Texas had what some call the 'cowboy and the moon' plates, which I liked. Then they changed to these terrible, ugly plates that I don't even know how to describe. When I switched to Texas registration, it was during that 'ugly plate' period. The ugly plates didn't last very long. My understanding re why is that accuracy was reduced when LEOs were eyeballing the plates (say calling in during a chase) and that LEOs just didn't like them in general. So they switched the new issues again to what is still the current plate, which I like the best of the three. These standard new issues have a simple solid white background with black letters and numbers (personalized plates come in all sorts of colors...I guess the state thinks the extra revenue is worth it, and the funky colors are probably a low percentage of overall registrations). I bought a new car after the change to the simple black and white plates, so I have had the current plate design ever since.
When I first visited, Texas had what some call the 'cowboy and the moon' plates, which I liked. Then they changed to these terrible, ugly plates that I don't even know how to describe.
I assume you mean the ones that look like they were churned out by Wile E. Coyote while he worked at the ACME License Plate Company.
I wouldn't even attempt to drive a racecar on the street. I'm nervous enough just unloading it out of the box van, using the hydraulic lift to display in a building concours...
I saw a guy driving a real Ferrari GTO on the public streets a few days ago. Last one that sold was 70mm!
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