Steve Jobs Barcode License Plate Mystery Solved

Within a few hours after posting a photo of Steve Jobs' Mercedes spotted outside the Yerba Buena Center, (above) the location of Apple's 'Let's Rock' event on Tuesday, comments and controversy began to emerge along with a flood of email inquiries.

The controversy and questions surrounded the supposed UPC barcode pictured on Jobs' Mercedes SL55 AMG in lieu of of an official California license plate. We discovered wild rumors have dated back several years spawning constant speculation over Jobs' barcode license plate. The most absurd rumor alleges that Jobs paid California DMV a lot of money for a special exemption that allows him to have a UPC barcode instead of a real license plate. A lame idea invented by the village idiot.

Another popular wedge of white trash folklore asserts that Steve Jobs uses a bar code instead of a license plate to expedite the billing of his numerous parking tickets. This also turned out to be false. Our own hack investigation into this looming Jobsian mystery has revealed a few facts that force the rumors into a long dirt nap. Short of a direct quote from Steve Jobs himself, here's exactly what we've uncovered.

The supposed Steve Jobs barcode in place of a license plate is actually the vehicles VIN number placed on the car by the manufacturer (above). When we randomly removed the license plate from a parked Mercedes E320 Wagon, a similar VIN sticker was found underneath (left). It appears that Steve Jobs may be choosing to not display his license plate for reasons unknown, not because he's exempt. California Highway Patrol confirmed by phone that no exemptions for omitting a license plate are given to anyone under California law.

The fine for violating CA Vehicle Code 5200 for lacking the proper license plates can run in the range of $250. The code clearly states; (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear. Section (b) states that if only one plate is issued it should be attached to the rear of the vehicle. Not the case for Jobs.

Another geeky piece to this strange puzzle comes by way of the film "Back To The Future" that featured a bar code license plate on the famed DeLorean time machine. "Barcode license plates were in use by 2015 as a means of identifying cars. It is assumed that they could reveal much more information once scanned than a standard license plate". According to Futurepedia, a Back to the Future Wiki. Could this be the source of the rumored barcode license plate that was eventually attached to Apple's CEO?

It's become painfully obvious that anyone can drive like Steve Jobs if they have an open checkbook, ready and willing to pay the fines to the California courts. I suggest continuing to obey the law if you can't afford to fight it. If you have any unique license plate info about El Jobso that we have not posted, chime in with your comments and let the speculation continue. Consider this mystery solved... for the moment.

below photo by Mathieu Thouvenin    Mercedes E320 photo by Fast Cars



Yerba Buena Photo by Kitetoa      VIN Number Close-up by roachtt3

 

Jobs allegedly Handicap parking at One Infinite Loop  [photo by Rana Sobhany]
 

Comments

[jason taylor]

$250 is peanuts. it is less than a second of the total interest of his net worth probably. Smart way to save time=money. Proof that the man is a business genius.

[Frank P]

Back To The Future! Love it! :-)

[Dennis Nielsen]

You know what would bee fun?
Install a licens plate on his car!
*lol*

[Adam]

"And the guy who got his start in electronics as a 'phone phreak' making 'blue boxes' that enabled people to steal long-distance phone calls still has a little rebel in him: He has yet to install license plates on his two-year-old silver Mercedes, apparently as a way to dodge parking tickets. 'It's a little game I play,' he explains.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2001/05/14/302936/index.htm

[Brian Gates]

Who's Steve Jobs? lol

[Account Deleted]

well aside from the aesthetic that it looks better without , i think he doesn't have a license plate to hinder rabid fanboys(gals) or paparazzi from stalking him by tracking his car. I'm sure he's not the only SL55 AMG tooling around the Bay Area without a license plate, so it makes him harder to spot.

Unless the fanboys started checking the VIN number ;-)

[Paul Stevens]

I worked for Apple as a Genius in 2006. I was flown to the corporate headquarters in Cupertino and was there on a day when Steve came to our building. I went outside and saw the Kompressor he was driving and was curious as to why he only had a bar code for the license plate. I guess he's been doing this for far longer than most realize.

[q-roq]

It's so he can have gay sex in bars and still vote republican

[R]

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5200.htm

Display of License Plates

5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.
(b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004.

[DC]

The VIN number to the car is the title to the Vehicle. The manufacturer's statement of origin is the title to the individual parts making up the car. If one reads the motor vehicle code carefully they will find exceptions for vehicles not requiring a certificate of title. This includes any foreign vehicle. Since the STATE OF CALIFORNIA is a corporation and only has jurisdiction over legal entities, anyone outside of its legal jurisdiction cannot be compelled to to register the vehicle or have registration plates. The certificate of title is title insurance and makes the car subject to the jurisdiction of the corporation through a voluntary contractual agreement. By surrendering a certificate of title, securing allodial title to the car and knowing the law in order to apply it, one can lawfully drive with no license plates. If an officer pulled him over (siezure) without a warrant that would be in violation of the 4th and 5th amendments of the Constitution for the United States of America and hence against the law. The officer would be subject to pay civil damages for his trespass against liberty. A writ of quo warranto would also remove him from his official capacity.

[J]

In Southern California, the cops don't care if you have plates on your car. I have a 2005 Jeep and I still have the temporary dealer plates. I would say that 5-10% of the cars in LA don't have plates either. And since there are faulty red light cameras everywhere, I don't plan on attaching the plates to my car. I have lived here for 25 years and I don't know anyone who has been pulled over for no license plates. However, this only works if you have a newer car.

[[email protected]]

I wonder if he gave AT&T his SSN when he activated his iPhone...

[terkoz]

Under California law, a car without license plates displayed, if parked on a public street can be towed and impounded. I'll have to check for the proper CVC citation, but we did this to our neighbors that wouldn't put plates on their cars.

[T]

He also has a licence to kill.

[Connelly Barnes]

I can't believe you had the cars of your neighbor towed. What an asshole! Whatever happened to the people who would say, "Love thy neighbor." I feel like in the modern world, everyone fucking hates each other.

[Spielz]

Mr Jobs is allowed to drive his car without plates
because he has no drivers license or registration.

So Mr Jobs is traveling not driving or a driver and his car is an automobile not a vehicle.

You apply for these voluntarily and enter into
these (contract) rules. Look it up it's all there.Bbecause it's the law we the people have the right to travel. If you study just a little you will learn. Law dictionary and cases of people tries for traveling without plates. Nothing to do with how much money he has.

[Brian Le Cornu]

I do believe that the Province of Alberta in Canada does not insist on their registered vehicles having to display licence plates

[Nick]

"Steve Jobs License Plate Barcode Mystery Solved." Are you kidding me? First off who is so obsessed with Steve Jobs that they need to make rumors about his license plate? Second, how can you be so stupid as to not know that is a vin number? Third, as this is a fairly new SL55, he hasn't necessarily received the license plate yet. It is completely LEGAL to drive a car if you haven't received the plates yet, which take up to 3 months.
Oohhhh that was a big mystery we solved there...

[Backload]

To SGH, Laurene and Steven Jobs made donations within the last calendar year (2007) of $25,000 and above to support the 11-99 Foundation's programs.

So Mr Jobs and his good wife are more than just Gold members of CHP 11-99 - I think he part owns it..... its all here: http://www.chp11-99.org/help/help_list.htm?cat_id=1633

[Frank]

I forgot to say, he's clearly simply driving without plates. I know a couple of other people that do that with their nice cars, generally due to paranoia if you ask me. You can get away with it in CA because when new, or if transferred when the previous owner had a vanity tag and is keeping it, it takes a month or so for the DMV to send you the plates. Cops are used to seeing cars without plates.

[Frank]

@Michael:

1. No, Steve could not have gotten an MSO because he would not be able to insure and operate it under CA law.

2. When you buy a car (outright, not financed) you do in fact hold unencumbered ownership (not allodial title as that only refers to real property). You probably think not because of registration fees, but that is just for the privilege of operating the vehicle on public roads.

3. In order to operate you car on public roads you must register and insure it (or maintain self insurance). "Allodial title" (which by definition cannot be granted for a vehicle, but in any case we can use it as the term for unencumbered ownership) does not grant you the privilege to operate it without registration.

4. The very wikipedia article you point to notes that the allodial title granted by Texas is of a limited type. It doesn't go so far as to say so, but because of the restrictions it isn't really allodial.

[Mitchell F. Senft]

I'm sure it's me, but when did this handicap thing start? Is it recurring? Has anyone looked for a handicap sticker/tag? Hate to combine two stories for a complete picture, but the guy was seriously sick once, and who knows now (who is speaking)? There may be more of a reason for the parking than SJ is just an @$$#ole. Similarly, if he needn't drive with a plate, there may be a good reason for that -- arguably justifiable paranoia. (What he did with his house, that I couldn't begin to defend.)

[Felipe]

@Hugh,

I'm sure that there aren't too many plateless SL55 AMG's running through red lights in Cupertino.

[Wyatt]

This sounds strangely familiar to the town in Minnesota my friend lived in that replaced the '69' mile marker with a blank one because people kept stealing it..

[Brian]

I have the same car. That's actually a VIN # placed there by Mercedes...The car has NO TAG at all.

[Steve]

".....white trash folklore"?

Strange, I heard the story from a black friend of mine.
Maybe it should read, ".....(insert ethnic group of your choice) trash folklore.

[beat]

Yes it is! I saw it this summer...

[Gill Diaz]

Hate to burst your bubble, but that bar code is the VIN number inventory tracking sticker used on most vehicles to track the actual car while it is being built and shipped to the dealer. The main ones are on the window sticker and other stickers put on it before it is shipped to the dealer.

[Dave]

As stated in a post above, the bar code is on all Mercedes and represents specific info on the vehicle that the dealer uses to identify and service the car. There are at least two other spots (namely dash and engine compartment) where the bar code is as well. In California, when a vehicle is purchased the dealer provides a temporary registration and tapes it to the windshield on the passenger side (with some ID info visible). License plates usually show up a few weeks later. In 35 years in California and having purchased several new cars, I've never been stopped by the police for no plates during this interim period.

[javier]

Think of it like this, you get pulled over, you hand the cop your plate, registration and drivers license he sees that you're Paris Hilton. Then what?

[shabooty]

maybe this mystery will be solved in the next microsoft seinfeld commercial.

[John from Buffalo]

Ya, but look at it this way .... you get pulled over by the cops and pull out your license plate + business card. "Steve Jobs, President/CEO Apple, Inc."

Like honestly ... would YOU ticket the guy, even if you were a by the book cop?!

[Erok]

The answer has given.

When the state issues TWO plates they must be displayed.

That assumes the state issues him plates. Perhaps he made an arrangement to not have them issued? He's got some clout. I'm sure he could make it happen easily enough.

[camflan]

monkeybucket, you are a douche.

[Jane]

Let's see - he cannot be identified by red light cameras, speed cameras, people whose driveway he parked across and blocked, people who just witnessed him running someone over and speeding away etc etc etc. Displaying a license plate is a legal requirement for very good reasons.

[hl2run]

It's because many people stole his license plate so he make an agreement to do not have it and have that barcode. It's in Apple confidential book.

[DUH]

a MB SL 55 AMG is by no means a new car, it has been replaced by a MB SL 63 AMG for some time now, so unless he buys a used car then....

[Blip]

If special exemptions existed, California Highway Patrol probably wouldn't tell any stranger on the phone.

[Koral]

I knew he is handicapped.

[Marco Polo]

I don't get it. License plates are not here for making your car look stupid but for easier identification. If you see a hit and run, you give much more info to the police if you can say "it was a silver Mercedes with California plates beginning with xyz.
BTW, I am from Croatia (yes, that's Europe) and here you cannot make that choice; it's the law that says you have to have plates on your car, not my neighbor.

[sir noobness]

He probably has no license plate for the same reason they are usually blurred in COPs and other tv shows. A simple PI can get personal information from it: address, phone number, etc.... Of course Mr. Jobs is clever enough to get the car registered to Apple Computers so I guess the mystery hasn't been solved.

[mmm]

Greg, you are clever. Yes, the Mercedes indeed has an official permit on the front windshield. Just as any newly sold car in California and it can take a while to receive the license plate. And we don't know how often he replaces his Mercedes.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

> It is his Rebel nature

let me guess, he wears a Che tee shirt?

I hear his urine can cure the blind, the lame and the idiots.

[random]

sorry to make this so boring, but it is actually due to the fact that his plates were being stolen by apple fan-boys. he stopped putting them on his car to prevent them from being stolen.

would tell you how i know, but that ruins the fun.

[John Richard]

This is simply a case of a very new car that has yet to be issued a CA license plate. No law is violated. If you were to look in the lower right corner of the windshield, you would undoubtedly see a dealer's sticker signifying a newly purchased vehicle.

[Sheesh]

Carlo, you are a fool if you'll believe anything told to you by a police officer or someone who answers the phone at a government agency.

[stupid]

How could this have ever been a mystery? Every single car I've ever owned has had that barcode VIN label underneath the license plate.

IDIOTS

[Ed]

Whatever the reason for the missing plate I think it sucks he parks in the Handicap spot - that smacks of elitism.

[Silvio Pinco]

He parks in places for handicapped.
He parks on the left side.

I think he is a bad example.

[Olivier]

Too much energy for a simple barcode from mercedes...

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