What a supine bunch we all are around the world - decades of special building without regulation; except that we were responsible for complying with the applicable law - for example 'Construction and Use' in the U.K., but I think there was similar legislation in most jurisdictions. If you broke the law then there were sanctions. Were there ever significant, or indeed any, mechanical failure related accidents under this system ? I never heard of one. However in this age of bureaucracy and interfering do gooders simply mention 'Ealth and Safety' and we seem to act like a Cobra being mesmerised by a Mongoose. Why do we put up with this huge growth industry around the world, employing large numbers of probably quite clever people, to prevent successful innovation ? Transfer them to productive employment and allow us to be individuals responsible for our own actions within the law.
Getting off the thread I know, but it is a good story: Many years ago the British Army disposed of a number of Ferret scout cars - small four wheel drive armoured reconnaissance vehicles. An acquaintance of mine bought one and stripped off some of the heavier armour and replaced it with lightweight sheetmetal. He then fitted a 6.5 litre Chevrolet V8 in place of a more pedestrian Army issue Daimler straight six. The final modification was a paint job in purple metalflake (it was, in his defence, the early seventies.) Once sorted he proceeded to use The Ferret as his daily commuter in London. You may imagine how much pleasure he gave to hundreds of fellow commuters, every day, as he trundled along amongst cars, taxis and buses. I doubt it would be possible to do this today and we are the poorer for it.
In exactly the same way small companies like A.C. face an impossible regulatory mountain to climb. The cost of individual approvals makes any sale uneconomic. It is only the few persistent and brave souls like Rob and Emmanuel who have the metal to take on the system. If your total sales of A.C.s might, at most, be measured in hundreds then getting type approvals around the World is impossible to finance on any commercial basis. So having strangled these small innovative companies have we achieved any detectable improvement in road safety ?