I've heard that the 430s aren't DOT compliant, but that Ferrari has an exemption to 9/1/06. Anyone heard anything? It's the side airbag issue. Art
I don't think it's the side airbags (or lack of as it is), but the fact that in the US airbags have to work for occupants with and without the safety belt that's causing problems, with small passengers. Anyway, here's a couple of links mentioning this: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=108934 http://www.autoblog.com/2006/01/16/ferrari-f430-may-be-banned-in-u-s/ ~Eilstrup
The current FMVSS208 exemption applies to all small-volume manufacturers not just Ferrari. Every other large manufacturer has had to comply with the new airbag & testing rules for a year or two. The major issues with the F430 as given in Ferrari's "Petition for Exemption" are that there is no room behind the dashboard for a newer style passenger airbag, this has nothing to do with side airbags. The other problem is that no one will sell and certify a monitoring (occupant classification) system that figures out if the passenger is a full grown man, woman or child. Nothing available on the market is compatible with Ferrari's sport seats. The weight-based systems that do work are not for sale. Ferrari even tried a video based system but that didn't work. Without an exemption Ferrari estimates a net profit reduction of 44,000,000 Euros.
