[Porsche-O-Phile]

Gates/Allen's issue with the 959 had to do with federal DOT standards. The 959 was never crash-tested per US DOT safety requirements and Porsche refused to build two just to destroy to appease them, making the cars technically illegal in the US (typical bureaucratic stupidity), never mind that the cars had some of the most advanced safety features of their time and were some of the best engineered vehicles ever built both from performance and safety perspectives, as borne out by numerous track events.

Federal issue, not state. Eventually common sense prevailed and the 959s were allowed in.

FWIW cars w/o license plates are not at all uncommon in CA. Neither are cars with flagrantly expired plates, but that's another issue and different socioeconomic demographic entirely...

I drove my Benz for probably 2-3 months before I ever got around to putting rhe plates on it. Nobody cares or ever gave me a hard time about it. Probably most cars on the road these days have at least one or two things that are technically "illegal" about them at any given time, the regulations and laws have gotten so ridiculous and numerous. I think my window tint is technically illegal as well as the license plate covers - but I like the way they look and don't mind risking a fix-it ticket over it. My 944s front plate is still in the glove box. Maybe I'll bother putting it one someday, maybe not... I hate them anyway - look stupid. If some yokel cop really wants to give me a hard time over it, let him. I suspect they (and I) have more important things to worry about in life however.