It’s no secret that the definition of a classic car has shifted greatly as time’s gone on. A quarter-century ago, it pretty much only referred to chrome-bumper rides of 1973 and earlier, as Cudas, Impalas, E-Types, and ’32 Fords flocked to classic car events across North America. Now though, iconic rides of the ’80s have thoroughly risen in collector status, but owning a car from that era isn’t easy in every state. A recently introduced California Senate Bill aims to make classic car ownership easier in California by proposing easing of smog check requirements on classic occasional use vehicles, and it makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
Introduced on Feb. 21 and currently pending Senate referral, the bill has generated some buzz and attracted high-profile support including that of Jay Leno, who’s backing the bill. Let’s take a closer look at what it entails. In the digest for Senate Bill 712, it states:
Existing law exempts specified vehicles from being inspected biennially upon renewal of registration, including, among others, all motor vehicles manufactured prior to the 1976 model year. Existing law also exempts from specified portions of the smog test a collector motor vehicle that is insured as a collector motor vehicle, is at least 35 model years old, complies with the exhaust emissions standards for that motor vehicle’s class and model year as prescribed by the department, and that passes a functional inspection of the fuel cap and a visual inspection for liquid fuel leaks. This bill would delete the above partial smog check exemption for collector motor vehicles from existing law. Instead, the bill would fully exempt a collector motor vehicle from the smog check requirement if the vehicle is at least 35 model years old and proof is submitted that the motor vehicle is insured as a collector motor vehicle, as specified.
This seems like it would be a move with minimal environmental impact. After all, we aren’t talking about daily drivers here, as collector vehicle insurance is already fairly restrictive on use and mileage. For instance, Hagerty requires collector vehicles insured under its coverage to not just be a non-primary vehicle, but to also be used only for pleasure use, which means no commuting. As a result, people wouldn’t be able to use 35-year-old cars as everyday transportation to find a loophole in this proposal, but enthusiasts could stand to benefit from such an amendment.
To start, it may make a big difference for some privately imported vehicles. It can be a serious pain to get vehicles never sold in America to be certified by the state, as testing is require to ensure conformity, and modifications may be needed to get a vehicle into compliance, even if all factory emission equipment is intact. It goes without saying that compared to the American fleet at large, the portion of vehicles privately imported under the 25-year law is infinitesimally tiny.
This bill, if passed, would also make it easier for enjoyers of cars more than 34 years old to keep them on the roads in California, because smogging a pre-OBDII car seems like it’s been a bit of a nightmare recently. While a model year 2000 or newer vehicle with OBDII doesn’t require tailpipe testing, vehicles prior to that date but made after 1975 must pass a sniffer test.
Over the past few years, some owners of the latter vehicles have reported issues with finding a private testing facility able to accommodate their cars, some citing equipment issues and some citing shops just giving up. In 2022, one Nissan 240SX owner took to the NICOclub forum stating that “I went to 3 places and they all said the machine was broken and waiting on the repair guy.”
On a similar note, in a 2024 post in the Facebook group Californians For Classic Car Smog Exemptions, one user asked “Anyone know a smog shop that will still run OBD1 in SF valley in Los Angeles? my guy just called it quits on OBD1.” Beyond that, there’s sometimes a knowledge gap between newer techs and old smog equipment. As David Tracy pointed out in our Slack chat,
It is harder, and more expensive, to test pre-OBDII vehicles. That is true. And to be honest, you simply cannot expect new techs to be able to understand ancient smog equipment – smog pumps and EGR whatevers and vacuum tubes and all that.
California’s solution for the future is to move all pre-OBDII testing to state-owned facilities, and while that should result in less confusion over where to get the so-called BAR-97 test done, it may also result in less convenience for vehicle owners, as removing private smog shops from the program would reduce the number of locations owners can get a pre-OBDII car smogged at.
Of course, dropping the smog test requirement for older vehicles with collector insurance would come with questions about overall emissions compliance, but it’s important to consider feasibility instead of just malice. What happens when CARB-spec parts simply aren’t available anymore due to a car running far beyond its natural lifecycle? In theory, that car would be taken off the roads in California. In practice, it’s not that hard to flip over to another state’s registration before the next smog check is due if a car’s kept indoors most of the time and rarely driven, and while the risk of being caught certainly exists, people still do it all over California to keep what they love.
If Senate Bill 712 passes, it would be a boon to the private import community, a convenience to owners of older post-1975 collector cars, and should come at minimal social cost. It’s worth noting that prior to April 1, 2005, California had a rolling 30-year smog check exemption across the board, so this proposed legislation isn’t a complete rollback. If anything, it seems like a sensible proposal, so we’ll be watching what happens as it works through the legislative circuit.
Top graphic images: David Tracy; depositphotos.com
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Hagerty allows for occasional commuting in their insurance for classic cars and that’s my favorite part of them. I can still insure my classics and not have state antique plates or worry about milage restrictions!
This is a great start but why not make the bill for all pre-OBDII (1996). It is becoming very difficult to find someone willing to smog my 1992 VW GTI 16V and expensive.
Makes sense. Maybe too much sense. I am very fortunate to live in a state that just requires safety on my ‘94 F150. Finding emissions parts isn’t easy and junk yard trucks aren’t in any better shape than mine as it is mainly age that gets those tubes, seals and whatnot. Honestly, a rolling 30 year exemption makes the most sense. Having to maintain the equipment and conduct that emissions testing on the few old cars on the road seems like more trouble than it’s worth. People with cars that old rarely put many miles on them. My truck gets used once a week or so for errands to the hardware store. I tried to drive it daily many years ago after selling my “dirty diesel” vw back. After 2 weeks of that I bought my TSX which is a rockstar daily.
Unlikely to pass, honestly. Would be cool, but car enthusiasts are not super popular with pretty much anyone else. Your straight piped mustang might be powered by haters, but they vote and write letters to their representatives so you’re probably going to have to keep smog’ing it.
Hopefully this passes and then Colorado adopts it too so we can legally improve post 1975 cars. I did a legal LS swap on an ’88 truck (before CO adopted CA’s strict swap rules) and the post-swap emissions test was so much cleaner than the 1988 standards, and easily met the early 2000’s standards. Massively cleaner than some crappy underpowered, carbureted, smog pump equipped late 70’s car.
I’m just here for the Australasia spec Toyota Camry Conquest (Wagon)
Its about time. Freezing it at 1976 when it used to be 25 year rolling was a dumb idea to begin with.
Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but buying an OBD to OBDII adapter isn’t an option?
You could change the protocol but you can’t install the sensors, computer, and data storage needed to track emissions. So no, that would not be practical.
Thanks for the reply! It’s obvious that I don’t know much about cars, but I enjoy the writing and comments here because they help me learn.
It’s not a bad idea in total, I’ve advocated that here in Wisconsin (which only has 5 counties with emissions testing) that the whole state gets tested but they exempt cars that are 25 years or older. Keeps things fair, especially considering how much we love our Collectors and Hobbyist plates.
I kind of think California’s CARB is one of the few entities that deserves a DOGE invasion. Just saying.
Counterpoint – CARB is extremely important to the health and well being of this country and this administration’s gripes with it are solely about control.
I don’t even know if they have it on their radar, I just feel like what started as something to solve an issue is now grasping at straws and getting way to bureaucratic in it’s attempt at making a reason for it to continue to be.
My point was it seems like it would be a better thing to be focusing on as far as waste goes than some of the things the news is reporting on.
I think that CARB (and other bureaucracies) should consider how much needless aggravation they can cause without undermining their existence. CARB changed the world for the better, but the 30-year cutoff was sufficient and making life impossible for owners of enthusiast cars does not benefit anyone.
I’ve owned a bunch of enthusiast cars in CA over the years that have been a massive pain in my ass to get/keep smog’d, but I think the aggravation is mostly needed. May not need to be as onerous in other parts of the country (or even the state) but the haze can get pretty wicked.
It’s rules like this that make me glad to own and run an older diesel. We left the emissions regulations largely unchecked until the mid aughts. So there’s tons of diesels that never have to worry about emissions testing in classics.
It looks like there is a decent chance Trump and Co. are going to outlaw CARB and all the CA (and everywhere else) smog rules anyway (at least until a human being is in the White House again). The Supreme Court has already gutted environmental regulations. Which I vehemently disagree with, but there has to be a better happy medium that this proposal would at least pivot things toward for some people.
Here’s the problem: “people wouldn’t be able to use 35-year-old cars as everyday transportation to find a loophole in this proposal, but enthusiasts could stand to benefit from such an amendment.” That dismisses indeed a lot of people.
Case in point: I can’t get my lifelong daily in Oakland, a 1989 E30, smogged. I’ve owned it since 1999. It’s not because the emissions aren’t compliant. It’s because the laws are indeed broken and snogging it has become an expensive nightmare if I can get it done at all.
I applaud any rollback of the onerous smog standards for 76-95 cars, but it must include daily drivers. seriously- in a place like the Bay, where people daily 30+ year old vehicles all the time and simply want to or have to keep them running, that just plain sucks. I can’t reg my car under collector insurance because I don’t have covered parking-most folks in the Bay don’t-and it’s my sole vehicle. I USE IT. And I want to use it! Irv Gordon the f out of it!
The number of folks I meet who keep driving their 76-95 cars because they just plain work is small, but mighty; especially with stuff like E30s, they use them for practical reasons, unmodified. I shouldn’t have to reg my perfectly fine car in another state to keep driving it.
Sure, collectors’ insurance is cheap and good but it requires another car. Most of the old gross polluters are off the road; the greenest cars are the ones already built. If there were no smog laws on my car, I could upgrade the cat and make it run cleaner. Jeez, I could run a freakin’ supercharger. Or I could pull the M20 and put in something more powerful and durable and green.
TLDR: People who love their 76-95 cars who don’t have the means or don’t want to get another vehicle shouldn’t have to. My car is currently sitting while I try to figure out what to do. The answer is not to buy a new car. Or a ‘73 nova (much as I did vote for it in the ShSh earlier this week)
I can get behind this. I understand that this legislation is supposed to be narrow, but opening it up would help many people who don’t want to/can’t spend $$ on a car right now. Sure, we’d love all car to be incredibly clean, but after a car is a decade old I am completely happy to forgive it it’s trespasses.
Disclaimer: I had to get a replacement cat due to an aggressive check engine light that also disabled cruise control and flashed lots of other lights (thanks PZEV or Subaru?)
Right???
I’ve only done newer (post 2000) cars there, but Alameda Smog claims they do older ones and have a coupon on their website. http://www.alamedasmog.org/home.html
So far I’ve always been happy with their service. Just over the High Street Bridge from Oakland.
This is so specific with the insurance language it just sounds like some lawmaker wanting to get his car on the road by introducing a bill for it.
Well said. When I lived in LA there were many people driving old cars because they just kept working out there. One old timer in the neighborhood drove a beat-to-hell Corvair Rampside just to pick up trash. A coworker’s only car was a 240z. I don’t hate this law, but it leaves a significant number of folks without the space/resources/inclination-to-own-multiple-cars out. Daily-ing an old car is just easier in California, I guess, than it is elsewhere.
I haven’t been nostalgic for California in a long time. Sigh.
Absolutely. My daily is a ’64 Corvair that is rebuilt to factory specs and runs quite clean. And it’s green!
Meadow Green or Bahama Green?
Originally Bahama Green. Repainted in Fathom Green (a 1969 color that is basically Bahama Green metallic)
Show us!
Show us!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jh5w3XJw6v65wGwk8
It sounds like we need to convince an insurer to make ‘Collector Car’ insurance, but it’s just normal insurance. Seriously, is there anything in the law defining what ‘Collector’ insurance is, and any ways it has to be different from normal insurance?
I have a 1973 GMC Motorhome, and I got a 1975 or earlier so that if I get around to putting fuel injection (which would reduce emissions) the law isn’t going to stop me. Just removing the original equipment requirement and only having the tailpipe test would be a big win.
I’m counting on buying something pristine in California for $50 because it can’t be approved, since no one can find an original carb that barely existed in the first place.
California passing logical laws violates all rules of reality.
At least wait till I buy a nice bike out there.
This is extremely pragmatic and I see no reason to go against it.
Some of this thinking should be applied to blanket bans and/or emissions requirements in general, particularly in Europe. I know it sounds like a rich person carve-out, but the Ferraris being driven 10 miles once a month are not the problem.
Hell, I’d be in favor of eventually mandating synthetic fuels. $15-20 per gallon should limit mileage considerably and the people who enjoy their toys get to keep enjoying them.
How about some old mechanics outfit fans with old testing equipment and offer come to you testing? Hell it works for taco trucks it should work or maybe a traveling trust going from town to town having set sites and dates? Changing the old laws to advance year by year instead of a set year should have been thought of. However the land of leave kindling in place for wildfire season doesn’t have common sense. Of course no testing unless pulled over with obvious issues and cited to no driving until passed inspection.
That’s a no-go because older cars need to be run on a chassis dyno as part of the smog inspection, and they’re not very portable.
And go fuck yourself for blaming a firestorm featuring 75mph winds in a densely populated suburban area on the victims. I guess every village needs its idiot, and therefore we have you.
But do we really need a village idiot *at all*? Putting one in the White House is bad enough that we don’t need any local ones like him.
Every once in a while, I find myself behind a 60’s or early 70’s muscle car idling lumpily at a stop light and the smell of unburned hydrocarbons instantly reminds me of what it was like stuck in a traffic jam on I-5 in mid-70s Los Angeles, eyes burning, the San Gabriel mountains a figment of memory.
There was some beautiful sheet metal back then, but I wouldn’t go back to that era for anything.
Do you so happen to also be a recently laid off defense worker driving a brown Chevette?
(Iykyk)
I’m a recently retired private sector worker driving a silver Accord. So, I guess, IDK.
Close enough! What’s in your briefcase?
I feel like I’m missing out on some pop culture greatness but can’t figure out what you guys are referring to.
Falling Down, movie from 1993. Great in my memory, but I haven’t seen it in 25 years so I cannot promise that it would be good today.
I remember seeing that movie (had to look it up), but not enough to pick up on its meme-worthy bits. Thanks!!
Ugh I know, right??
Part of this is the lack of good carb tuning. I do remember the old days – not in CA, but in jersey, where I grew up. It’s so much better now. But when I was a kid, driving my big-block 66 Ford, I tuned the carb perfectly, and the numbers were great; passed nj smog with flying colors, and didn’t stink up the road. It’s all dependent on how the car is maintained, obviously, but I tuned that car every week and most people back then frankly didn’t
Yeah, my carb cars don’t smell any different than my modern FI ones, but I am sensitive to that unburned hydrocarbon scent and am very well aware if a car like that is idling in my vicinity at a car show, it travels. But, I also do that little thing called maintenance and freak out a little if something sounds/feels/smells like it isn’t supposed to
Hmmmm. I can’t even imagine what the streets of NYC smelled like back then. I suppose it was better than when everything on wheels had a horse or two in front of it, but probably not by much.
Tuned every week? You must have done that for fun! I tuned my ’68 Datsun 510 once a quarter while in college. And it really didn’t drift much out of tune in three months.
As for everyone around you? “What’s a tune-up? Oh, my car didn’t pass? How much is it going to take to make this go away?”
I was a high school senior in 1996, so it was my hobby to mess with my old car; seemed all my friends had 60s cars back then though one had a 79 Ford Mustang GT, which was simply baller.
I do remember the days of leaded fuel and belching diesels. I didn’t realize how clean the air had gotten in my lifetime until maybe 2008, at a display of old diesel buses in Brooklyn. They went to move them back to the garage and the air filled with what I can only describe as an olfactory proustian experience. What a trip
“Remembrance of Odors Past” could make for an interesting museum experience.
“Sponsored by Taco Bell!”