You should be able to get it at a lower rank if you are allied with the system. Mine was purchased at Knight.
No. They fixed this loophole in 1.05. You have to be a legit Baron now.
Also, you can easily move into a "trading" Clipper at 30 million, with 4 million left over for insurance and first cargo. No need to wait until 40 million. Here's the config:
240 cargo, 14 Ly jump range:
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=303,,2-A0A0888SA08S6k,0Bk0AA0720727Q405U03w03w
Run at 4 pips to shields and you'll never get a scratch during docking or running from interdiction. I got knocked _hard_ from behind by an Orca once when leaving a station with only 2 pips in shields and still lost only 2 rings and zero hull damage.
Of course you should upgrade from this starting config (power dist next), and if you want to drop to 232 cargo you can upgrade to 4D or 4A shields, but really, I have zero issues with 3D shields.
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I'm hearing this was patched out in 1.06, but can't confirm
I can confirm. It was actually patched out sometime at or during 1.05. Believe me, I tried every trick in the book (all in the interest of "science", of course). Was Lord rank at the time too. On the bright side, it forced me to figure out the rep system and write a guide about it... (look down, purple link).