Sorry celebs, but your anonymity is under threat. The so-called “Steve Jobs loophole” is about to be closed by the California state government.
The loophole refers to a piece of legislation that affects ... car numberplates. Right now in California, car owners don’t have to obtain a registration plate for their vehicle for the first six months of ownership.
Soon though, dealers will have to report the sale of the vehicle and the transfer of the temporary licence plates, which will have to, by law, be destroyed and replaced with real plates on the front and back of the car.
Until now it has been common practice for many car owners — media-shy celebrities especially — to take advantage of the loophole to avoid having journalists finding out about their car ownership, or even what car they own.
The loophole was most famously exploited by tech genius Steve Jobs, who would lease a vehicle for 180 days before getting a new one, simply to avoid having to register a vehicle in the public domain.
Those cars were always identical-spec black Porsche 911s, incidentally. The rumour was that the eccentric Jobs loved neatness so much that he would change cars because of a stone chip or scratch. But the reality was much more mundane.
Dodge Challenger SRT-powered Toyota Prius brings insanity to drag strip
No, there is no typo in that heading. Our favourite YouTube moment this week was the discovery of the American Racing Headers-built Toyota Prius, smoking a rival Dodge Challenger down the quarter mile in 9.65 seconds at 225km/h.
Painted in matt army green and with flame-belching exhaust decals down its side, this isn’t exactly what Toyota had in mind for its Kamm-tailed eco icon.
Paintjob aside, the American Racing Headers Prius is far from stock. For example, it has a Dodge SRT Hellcat engine under its boxy bodyshell. Yes, really.
Factory rated to 700hp (522kW), the maniacs behind the Prius Hellcat reckon it’s tuned to an impressive 800hp (596kW) at the wheels.
It also has a six-speed manual (you can see the car buck and swerve with every gear change down the drag strip in the video), as well as — naturally — a custom chassis.
Suffice to say this would be one Uber ride that’ll get you wherever you need to go in a heck of a hurry.
Search “Prius Hellcat drag race” on YouTube and you should find the video.
Clever clogs behind Volvo XC40 design snapped up by Tesla
You wouldn’t expect someone called something as suburban as Ian Kettle to be behind one of the prettiest, cleanest and most Scandi-tastic exterior car designs in recent years.
But Kettle quickly became one of the big names in car design after the Volvo XC40 crossover was unveiled.
Universally praised for being something special, the XC40 took plenty of design cues from Volvo’s existing SUVs but added plenty of new-look stuff, too. Now, it turns out even Elon Musk (pictured) recognises talent when he sees it and has hired Kettle as a senior designer for Tesla.
Kettle’s first task? A long-promised update of the now-quite-dated-looking Model S, which has been around for six years.
Until now, Tesla has carefully side-stepped the expensive and messy issue of model life updates by dispensing with model years altogether.
You haven’t purchased a 2012 Tesla Model S, sir. You’ve purchased a Tesla Model S with the latest generation software installed.
It kind of makes sense, actually. Tesla never refer to its cars as ... well, cars, They’re devices.
But when other companies start treading on your electrified toes with flash new rival models featuring the latest automotive exterior design language, it’s easy to start looking behind the game. With big players such as Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and even Kettle’s old paymaster’s Volvo (by way of Geely and Polestar) joining the EV fray, it appears Musk has realised his products need to be beautiful, as well as clever.
Musk has also promised a fourth model — a budget-priced hatchback — by 2023. Let’s hope Kettle can keep delivering on all these big ideas his new boss loves conjuring up.