Yeeehawww! What an amazing day it is for California car enthusiasts. After years and years of fighting against draconian emissions rules that make owning 1970s and 1980s an absolute nightmare, a battle has finally been won. Gavin Newsom just signed Leno’s Law, which provides smog exemptions for 1975 to 1985 automobiles. I didn’t think this was actually going to pass, but it just did, and I’m thrilled.
This is breaking news, so here’s what we have from the state of California:
BURBANK – From lowriders, drive-ins, car clubs, and American Graffiti, cars have long been an important part of California’s culture. The Golden State has always kept a piece of its history parked in the driveway, and today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two new chapters into that history, signing new bills to support vintage and low-rider car enthusiasts in California, including a bill supported by Jay Leno to relax standards for vintage vehicles, and a new license plate celebrating lowrider heritage.
“These bills protect a treasured part of California culture, giving car owners a way to preserve these pieces of history for generations to come. The Golden State is made for classic-car lovers, and our lowriders are timeless masterpieces that connect art, activism, and cultural identity throughout our state,” [said Governor Gavin Newsom]
Senate Bill 1392, Jay Leno’s Law, jointly authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) and Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), phases in a narrow smog-check exemption for qualifying collectors cars from the 1976 through 1985 model years that are insured as collector vehicles or driven less than 1,000 miles per year. Assembly Bill 2541 by Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles), creates a specialty license plate honoring California’s lowrider heritage.
I called up Mike Frankovich, who runs the California for Classic Car Smog Exemptions Facebook group, which currently has 11,300 members (he also used to have a smog-related YouTube channel, which is now a big California car show channel). He was a big part of getting Leno’s Law through, and was even there at the signing.
“It was a long process,” he told me. “I’ve been working on this for almost eight years. For years I’ve been told ‘You’re never going to get any progress, you’re never going to get a bill through.” He said he was involved with five bills, and that last year’s “Leno’s Law” started when Senator Shannon Grove toured Leno’s garage and Jay asked why the smog year hasn’t moved past 1976. Grove introduced Leno’s Law, SB1392, last year, Frankovich told me, though “that got killed in Assembly Appropriations.” This new one was introduced by Dave Cortese.
“I believe he owns collector cars,” Frankovich told me about Cortese’s impetus for pushing this through.
“I’ve been told for years ‘no you’ll never get anything through,’ so it’s definitely a foot in the door,” he told me, but he isn’t 100% content. “Man, I really wish we could get this to at least pre-OBDI,” specifically because the rollers and other smog equipment needed to test pre-OBDII cars is rare, and emissions tests tend to cost more.
“The shops don’t even want to do it anymore because it takes their technician off the more profitable OBD2 test [which just requiring plugging in],” he told me.
Frankovich, owner of a 1977 AMC Pacer with the carbureted 258 straight-six knows all about the process. He bought the car in 2017 and managed to get the car running after 27 years dormant. “I Hail Mary’d it and it passed,” he said. But he still thought it was odd he had to deal with it. “They really should have exempted more of these cars,” he said. “I owned a lot of classic cars and my dad owned classic cars, and I was involved with Radwood and Malaise Motors, and you always hear ‘Why are we still smogging these cars?” so I started the Facebook group.”
He’s happy that Jay Leno got involved. “That really knocked down some doors,” he told me, even if there are restrictions involved with driving the now-exempted cars. They need either classic car insurance or another way to prove that the vehicle isn’t driven more than 1000 miles a year. As The New York Times wrote earlier this month:
The exemption, which applies only to qualifying collector cars, would take effect in January 2028 and be phased in over five years, eventually exempting collector cars made before model year 1986 from smog checks. To qualify, owners must either have collector-car insurance or prove that the vehicle is driven fewer than 1,000 miles per year.
Sure, the mileage restriction isn’t ideal, getting OBDI cars through smog will still be a chore to some (I’ve never had any issue), but the big thing is that cars like my former truck, a 1985 Jeep J10, will soon be exempt from smog checks. So I can install a carburetor that actually works, and not have to worry about my smog pump working/all the vacuum lines being routed right. What a triumph.
Topshot: California
After reading the article, and having a think, I am having a hard time coming up with many cars from 1976 to 1985 that I would want to drive or invest money into. Granted, a 1978 Lincoln Towncar in yellow cream with maroon vinyl half top and maroon velour interior with 8 track stereo is a sweet ride, but the cost of driving that beast with a 460 ci motor is prohibitive. It is just hard to think of many cars from that era that are truly worth getting excited about. But to each their own and good luck to them all.
As an aside, in 2005 I had to pass emissions in Scottsdale AZ with my 1973 MGB. It failed the first time. Then I detuned the SU carbs, made the car run like crap, and it passed with no problem. Strange but true.
Think Saab, BMW VW and Mercedes plus mustangs Volvos and a host of Europeans and Japanese cars. My Cabriolet is an 86. Just missed it. Oh wait I live in Wisconsin
Look outside the US for that era. Just about every Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, even some Peugeots, Saab, some VWs, and many more made during that period are worth owning.
Umm, maybe the greatest Mazda sports car of all time?
The Miata didn’t come out until the 90s 😛
That’s why I said maybe the greatest lol.
It’s debatable.
Nevertheless, how does a Mazda lover overlook the first gen RX7?
because they all rusted away, even in California 😛
Mazda is the only reason California even knows about rust in the first place LOL
If I still had my s5 FC it’d have missed the cut by a couple of years…
Well, the cut-off will eventually be 1985, and my cars are 22, 31, and 37 years old, so none of mine will qualify. 🙁
Also, the mileage limit being just 1,000 would potentially be problematic. I could maybe manage, but a lot of old car owners probably couldn’t. It’s not like every Cars & Coffee and other car show is just down the street.
Finally, I don’t know what it costs for low-usage Collector Car Insurance, as required by the bill, vs. some other proof of elapsed miles kept under 1,000/year. I think I pay roughly $100/month for (enhanced) liability and comprehensive coverage on one old car (obviously, the second and third car cost less if I have them on the road). Would a Collector’s policy be less or more than $100/month do you think w/1,000 miles/year as the use limit?
Collector car insurance is cheaper than regular insurance, due to the heavy restrictions the carriers place on it (mileage limits, can’t be your daily driver, etc). They also require you to have a daily driver with regular insurance.
If you have collector insurance, you’re not bound by the 1000-mile limit. Most collector insurance carriers have a 3000-mile limit, and some have no hard mileage limit at all, but you still can’t use it as a daily driver. For example, if your collector insurance gives you a 3000 mile limit, you can drive 3000 miles under Leno’s Law.
Thank you for all that clarification Dogisbadob. 🙂
Seems like kind of a bummer they didn’t set the mileage limit just a tad higher. I don’t remember if Hagerty has a mileage limit but they wouldn’t insure the old e28 BMW I had because I didn’t have dedicated parking in a garage for it, I imagine I was right around the 1,000 mile/year on that car, I imagine other enthusiasts are in a similar boat.
The 1000 mile limit doesn’t apply if you have collector insurance. Most collector car insurance carriers set the limit at 3000 miles, but some don’t have a hard mileage limit at all. I don’t think Hagerty actually has a hard mileage limit; it just can’t be your daily driver.
Also, U-Haul and other storage facilities count as a garage for Hagerty. They also relaxed their strict garage requirement in most states as long as you’re not too close to the coast:
https://www.hagertyagent.com/insurance/eligibility-guidelines
But, but.. cOmMiEfOrNiA only ever increases regulations! Government only ever gets bigger! That’s why we can’t do even the most basic, rational things via government!
Ssshhh, you’re going to wake up the California haters.
Wow! A sensible California car law! I didn’t think I’d see such a thing during the time I have left on this planet.
What’s a qualified collector car?
Anything you can get collector insurance for 😛
Honestly this is great news. I wonder how it will translate to other CARB states.
That also means that 1984/1985 hot air turbo buicks just went up in value compared to the intercooled models haha.
Most other CARB states either already have some kind of rolling exemption (usually 25 years), or don’t have emissions inspection at all.
My state follows CARB generally, but we emissions test everything back to model year 1968, no rolling exemptions of any kind, its actually kind of annoying, particularly since we use road salt very heavily, so pre-1990s, or even, increasingly, pre-2000s, vehicles really aren’t all that common on the roads
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
But to be fair, cars older than 75 don’t have any emissions shit anyway, and for the other cars, you can always use a little E85 if needed 😉
PCV seems to get deleted on a lot of cars from out of state
Mazel Tov!
Yeah I’m betting it doesn’t do anything advertised
Leno’s law is still draconian by my standards. It barely puts a dent in the enthusiasts car market by ending in 1986 instead of ending the year OBD2 was adopted, plus it doesn’t apply to daily driven vehicles and let’s be real, there aren’t many pre-1990’s cars being daily driven anymore, even here in California.
*puts tin hat on*
I also have a feeling 1986 was specifically chosen given that’s the year when imports, specifically cars many younger enthusiasts (the state exclusively calls us “street racers”), were starting to hit showroom floors in greater numbers. The CRX Si had only just launched, the FC Rx7 launched that year, ST162 Celica etc. Just look at the lineup over the next few years after 1986, and you’ll see what I mean.
Reading the bill it looks like it just has to be 35 years old or older so that date will move up over time. I imagine you may be right though 35 seems pretty harsh, if I was a Californian I’d really be hoping for 25 years-I imagine that still eliminates most daily drivers from qualifying, and they also have the 1,000 mile and/or collector car insurance thing which further limits how much you can use it to flout the law.
The sponsors tried to use 96/OBD threshold, but they couldn’t get that thru 🙁
Yeah it’s still draconian, but it’s an improvement over what they have now. It’s the best they could do to actually get it passed and signed.
My worry is that just like last time, lawmakers are going to say “good enough” and refuse to revisit this for another 20 years. The previous cut off date of 1975 was originally intended to roll past the year 2000, but the state put a stop to that. Here we are 26 years later and it’s only now being revisited.
You still need a new tag every year, so it’s not a total win. Should just be classic plates or something and you’re fine
“So I can install a carburetor that actually works, and not have to worry about my smog pump working/all the vacuum lines being routed right.”
Umm, technically that would still be illegal under federal law which prohibits tampering with or removing emissions equipment.
I do agree that it’s annoying to have to run nonworking smog equipment on a classic car just because it was there when it left the factory. And what happens in real life is that the stuff gets removed and carbs and intakes and exhaust upgraded and nobody is checking unless the state requires a smog check. But when it comes time to sell, it turns a “good runner” into a “project”.
What he said.
> technically that would still be illegal under federal law which prohibits tampering with or removing emissions equipment.
Technically indeed. In practice, the DoJ will let you do whatever at the federal level. What the states do is another story. But the feds officially dgaf anymore.
https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2026/01/legal-to-delete-diesel-trucks-doj-declares-no-more-criminal-charges/
Yeah, I’m aware of that, but times and priorities change. Also, the EPA can still levy civil penalties regardless of what the DOJ does, not that they would, currently.
My 1994 Pickup is still registered in CT, where they don’t care. I have not removed anything on it, so in theory, it’s all there. But, I have a few leaks that need to be fixed. I’m still terrified about getting tested and then on the record. I see a lot of these in the Pick-n-pull in great shape, and the only reason I can come up with as to why is the SMOG check they could not pass. I’m gonna keep mine on CT Classic Vehicle plates until I absolutely have to. Downside is that this prevents me from going to DMV to get my CA license and register to vote (I know I can do that elsewhere).
Get a diesel, which is exempt thru 97 😀
(California only smogs diesel 98 and up)
Otherwise, without getting a diesel, you could also use a little E85 for the one-time smog check, then register it in an exempt CA county or zip code 😉
Hmmm…. not a bad idea. I am not swapping to diesel, though. I’d really like to keep it registered in CT as long as my ex still lives there. Gonna roll the dice. I did notice the police chalked a dude’s tires a few streets over on a vehicle that does not move much. My truck gets driven once a week, maybe, so I’m waiting for them to do it to me. At which point I will roll it back 1/6 of a rotation just to futz with ’em.
CA has non-smog counties 😉
Been here over 20 days?
If yup then yer breakin’ the law!
But who cares!!
After all, I’m here to pick up your tab for you and keep your road tax paid.
Freeloading is great fun eh?
Looks like I can finally indulge my desire to own a ’79-85 RX-7. Trying to find one with all the original working smog equipment(and there’s a shit-ton) is an exercise in futility.
EFI conversions for malaise V8s without jumping through hoops? This is good!
Ironically probably making them cleaner.
meh, we’re still 10 years short of where I’d like this rule to be. In my mind, most cars between 75 and 85 were not that great in looks or the drive.
So somebody who daily drives a vehicle manufactured between 1975-1985 is SOL and must still smog check?
Yes and no. You can swap in a more modern engine with all its smog equipment and easily pass. For example – saw you have a Jeep CJ with the anemic Iron Duke four cylinder. Swap in a fuel injected straight six from an XJ or YJ or a GM LS V8 with all the associated smog equipment and go to a smog station. They will inspect for completeness, test, and certify. Win.
So it’s no, because 99% of people aren’t going to swap in a newer motor just to pass smog.
And I say that as someone who has done plenty of motor swaps.
Yeah, the trouble is that a lot of those engines’ ECUs want to exchange messages with a bunch of other unrelated car parts, and if you change the ECU it’s no longer in compliance. Volvos really want the steering column there to keep running.
If you know the messages that steering column sends, this is easily solvable with a Raspberry Pi zero, a $15 Can/Lin/Kline adapter a day of writing shell scripts and building a small BMS to to keep it functional between key cycles.
“easily” is doing a huge amount of heavy lifting there.
It’s certainly not harder than VIN swapping a vehicle legally.
Glad you got ahold of Mike, he’s been doing an amazing job of championing this.
“another way to prove that the vehicle isn’t driven more than 1000 miles a year.”
So now instead of paying $50 every two years for a smog check classic car owners get to pay $50 every year for a mileage check. God help you if you turn 1001 miles on the way.
Just get the classic car insurance then. It’s cheaper than normal insurance for better coverage, and you’d be able to drive more than 1000 miles a year on it too.
Exactly. The insurance route is clearly a deliberate and fantastic loophole
Hagerty and others won’t write policies unless your car is garaged (at least in California). That’s a pretty tough restriction. I couldn’t get my old cars insured by them.
May depend on where you live, Hagerty said they wouldn’t insure my ’83 BMW at my old building because it wasn’t in an enclosed garage (even though I had a dedicated spot.) I wonder if they’ll loosen up their regs because the extra money coming in justifies the higher risk of pay out for them.
My American Collectors policy requires it, but my other one (which I have through Allstate, and I think is with Hagerty) doesn’t. It seems pretty reasonable since a lot more bad things can happen to a car that’s just left out in the open all the time.
It is reasonable on their part.
I was just pointing out that there are some distinctive restrictions that mean there may be folks with what could otherwise legitimately be considered collector cars who can’t get collector car insurance which would mean they’re limited at a hard 1,000 miles/year.
Is it really a collector car if they can’t afford to garage it, or just an old car?
It is California. If I lived there, I doubt I would be able to afford to have the 3+ car garage that I do here in Michigan. I don’t think I’d even be able to afford the equivalent of my house there in most places.
Also collector car =/= expensive, my Miata, Alto Works, and Fiero cost a combined $12,000-ish.
Yeh no doubt, my in-laws live in Ohio and the amount we paid for a tiny garage-less house in Seattle would nearly buy a mansion where they are.
IF they can “afford” to garage it then it’s likely some trailer queen and they probably found some other way to flout the law anyways. Fortunately it does allow up to 1,000 miles of driving so folks who have older cars that they care for and drive but can’t afford a $500/month for a garage can keep them.
My insurance restricts my classic to an as-far-as-I-can-tell-arbitrary 500 miles a year. If nothing else, maybe this will bump that to 1000 for the sake of consistency.
😮
Most classic car insurance policies give you 3000 miles! Shop around 😛
If you have 3000-mile collector car insurance, you can drive the full 3000 miles in California under Lenos’ Law 🙂
This is great, truly.
But the cynic in me thinks that bros will use this as a legal way to roll coal in a 1985 Dodge Ram.
Diesel emissions started in 1997, I think.
By swapping in an Oldsmobile diesel V8 no doubt.
That was a loophole for a long time which has now closed. For a while a buddy of mine had a Fox Mustang with a Volvo diesel swapped in for… reasons.
I dunno. It sounds like it just opened into a chasm big enough to drive a diesel train through.
As stated above, in California 1996 and earlier diesel vehicles don’t require smog already, and gas to diesel swaps are heavily regulated, so I don’t understand your point.
My point is that with nobody checking the emissions of 1985 and earlier trucks what’s to stop dude bros from swapping their old gas truck engines for coal blowing diesels?
All gasoline powered cars and light trucks through model year 1975 are not required to be smog checked.
All diesel powered cars and light trucks through model year 1996 are not required to be smog checked.
So this new law changes nothing for most owners of 76-85 trucks, whether gas or diesel, so I’m still struggling to find your point.
From the OT:
“the big thing is that cars like my former truck, a 1985 Jeep J10, will soon be exempt from smog checks. So I can install a carburetor that actually works, and not have to worry about my smog pump working/all the vacuum lines being routed right. What a triumph.”
THIS is my point. Without mandated smog checks what’s to stop someone from replacing their now compliant 1985 gasoline engine whether it be in a car or truck with an emissions deleted diesel?
Ultimately you’re right. However, 1985 models won’t be exempt until 2033 (but your point stands on earlier models), then the collector car insurance and/or mileage limitation requirements would likely disqualify most of those people (admittedly I have not yet heard how this will be checked/enforced).
I suspect there are going to be a lot of hoops to jump through to be eligible for this. That’s the whole reason the scope of this bill was narrowed so much that it seems like it will only benefit a small group. As a moderator in the FB group David talks about in the OP, I can tell you lots of people are pissed off about the version of the law that passed and a common narrative I’m hearing is that this will only benefit people with Jay Leno money.
We shall see how many hoops are enacted but considering how many blatant polluters I see that shouldn’t be on the roads in the first place I suspect workarounds will be found.
“this will only benefit people with Jay Leno money.”
If this proves to be the case from an air quality perspective I’d expect this to still be a win, assuming such collectors rarely drive their garage queens and that a (hypothetically) *never driven* garage queen emits a significant fraction of it’s biannual emissions in the process of getting smogged. Now these queens can stay safely locked away in their climate controlled cocoons until it’s time to trailer them to Pebble Beach.
“admittedly I have not yet heard how this will be checked/enforced”.
It won’t.
Based on my experience trying to file a police report against the person who hit me, then provided expired insurance information and on how many similar stories I hear from others and based on DMV statistics that claim about 17% of all drivers in California carry no insurance at all I have absolutely zero belief any efforts will be made by the state to enforce mileage and insurance requirements.
https://www.prlog.org/13057169-californias-uninsured-motorist-crisis-statistical-analysis.pdf
I can’t disagree with you. When David posted about Leno’s Law last week or whenever it was, I vocally expressed the same concern you did. David’s narrative and the mindset of lots of people excited about the law was that it opens the door to putting cars back on the road which previously wouldn’t have passed smog, and that those people are proving the point of any opponents to it.
At least for now I am under the strong belief that there will be hurdles to clear and some sort of enforcement of this. California already has a provision for vehicles for “Collector Cars” to be eligible for an abbreviated smog check that doesn’t involve a dyno test, but I and all the other admins of the afforementioned FB group have literally only heard of one person being able to do this and it literally took them reaching out to their Senator to force BAR to it. I seriously doubt CA is going to swing the doors wide open with Leno’s Law and make this available to everyone. The collector car insurance policy alone is tough. I know Grundy and Hagerty won’t issue a new policy for anything under like $20K in CA.
I insured my TR3 with (IIRC, its been a while) Cherry collectors insurance out of Florida. I do not recall they required a minimum value. The insurance was pretty cheap so I maxed out the agreed on value to what I thought I could get away with at the time. I was kind of surprised they agreed to what at the time I thought was a laughable amount. There was a mileage limitation. I don’t recall what it was, but whatever, I paid no attention to it. Of course nobody ever checked the odometer. When the weather was good, which was nearly year round the car was often my DD.
They also paid out the full agreed on value right away when the car was lost in a house fire. Would recommend.
What I would NOT recommend is a car built with absolutely no thought to controlling emissions at all. Triumph’s idea of PCV was just dumping the crankcase fumes right into the engine bay. The stench could be headache inducing.
Emissions is based on VIN, not engine. But this does happen in the other direction – take a later-model diesel (1996) and swap in anything you want without needing emissions testing
If you’re talking about a BAR-certified engine swap (which Cheap Bastard may be, I still can’t tell), that is incorrect. The vehicle gets certified so that all future smog checks are based on the donor vehicle’s standards. My 1985 Ford LTD gets smogged as a ’94 Mustang because of this.
Sorry – I meant backyard swaps. People are even swapping VIN plates from diesel vehicles onto gas (eg Blazers) to avoid emissions
Well VIN swaps are a whole different can of worms and again this law does nothing to address that, so I’m not sure why we’re talking about it.
Any diesel swap without a VIN swap that hasn’t been BAR certified would immediately fail the visual portion of the smog check.
These are the rules for engine swaps:
“The fundamental principle: your vehicle must meet the emissions standards of whichever is newer—the chassis year or the engine year. You cannot downgrade emissions compliance by installing an older engine into a newer vehicle. This rule is codified under California Health & Safety Code Section 44012 and enforced at both regular smog check stations and BAR Referee facilities.”
https://calsmognetwork.com/news/smog-check-after-engine-swap/
Coal rollers aren’t in California the way they are in other states, for a bunch of reasons I won’t get into.
California has a population of 39M with plenty of environmentally irresponsible douchebros in the mix. I have no doubt given this new opportunity to remove emissions equipment or even go full coal they will take it.
As I see it the argument that these owners won’t be allowed to exceed 1000 miles a year or be required to carry collectors insurance has no teeth. Pre 1985 vehicle owners are still required by law to be in compliance. What is removed is the verification of that compliance. Even someone as wholesome as DT is excited at the idea of being able to bring in and operate a dirty truck. Which means even out of state vehicles are not subject to inspection before title transfer.
But perhaps I missed the part of the law where the state actually verifies owners are keeping their pinkie promise not to exceed 1000 miles a year or that they have insurance of ANY kind. If so let me know.
The “loophole” is collector’s car insurance, which in some cases allows for up to 3500 annually.
Great question though, how exactly is mileage verified since the DMV only sees it upon title transfer. And even then, no one at the DMV checks (having bought countless used cars in this state). It all seems like a weird honor system.
It’s a loophole big enough to daily drive a gross polluter through:
“Uninsured Drivers in California
According to estimates from the California DMV, approximately 17% of California drivers are
uninsured. This means that nearly one in six drivers on the road lacks any form of auto insurance, leaving
victims of accidents potentially without financial recourse. As insurance premiums rise, this number may continue to grow, further exacerbating the risks faced by insured drivers.”
https://www.prlog.org/13057169-californias-uninsured-motorist-crisis-statistical-analysis.pdf
Nobody checks whether these people have ANY insurance so why would anyone check the insurance on classic cars?
It was gas engines into diesel cars that were popular. Ford 5.0 into a diesel Mercedes-Benz station wagon, for example. Since the car was registered as a diesel, it didn’t have to go to the inspection since since it didn’t have to go to the inspections, nobody would ever notice.
Yep, but I have heard anecdotally that the state has been checking those swaps and confirming they still have a diesel.
A buddy of mine has Volvo diesel swapped a few different cars well enough so they’d run, got them certified as diesels, then yanked the diesel and dropped in something more fun. He told me that it’s now much harder to do this, and that one car he converted got caught and lost the diesel certification, so that loophole is basically closed now.
Hooray! I am incredibly pleasantly surprised. Sorry I can’t contribute today, super busy day.
Well David, you had it spot on. While I was pretty convinced this would become law through no governor action, not only is Newsom signing it, but he’s rolled out the press for a special signing. The only reason to do that at this point is for national visibility, which you called last article you wrote about this.
Might be worth adding a blurb about what changed if anything. I remember an update from Cammisa’s podcast earlier this year where the bill was shot down for xyz reasons.
The last time it was shot down was in early 2025. The California state legislators essentially dropped many proposals on the table, centering their attention on countering many of Trump’s bullshit changes that were centered on wanting to punish California. The bill expired on the floor. That’s it. A victim of procedure.
That exactly was the issue. They had to turn their attention from doing their daily jobs to putting up as many roadblocks and protections against Trump as possible. Some of that is still in effect, like ensuring no American voters get blocked from the next elections.
There was some of this, but also the earlier bills didn’t all go through the “right” channels with co-authors, sponsors, and so on. This effort was done much more cohesively and seriously from an internal governance perspective.
The old SB712 passed the transportation committee. That was the last step. It stalled there, along with other bills from other committees at the same level, because of the political situation in DC.
Trust me… having Grove as the only one introducing SB712 and adding Cortese as a principal co-author at the last minute meant that it was never going to see a vote on the floor. I dislike that’s how governance works in CA but it is how it works.
I remember he said that there’s no such thing as collector’s car insurance in CA. If he works for Hagerty and said that, then I don’t know what collector’s car insurance are.
That’s interesting. I’ve had collector car insurance on both my 1930 Ford Model A and 1964 Willys Wagon here in California. Easy and affordable.
I live in California, and I have had collector car insurance on my Boxster S for at least 10 years.
Yes. I’ll have to wait another two years for a 1982 to clear. It’ll save me 65 bucks every other year. Never worried about passing, the car always exceeded required numbers. The only part I’m happy about is the shops equipped with dynos for pre-OBD2 cars are disappearing, because there aren’t that many early cars around anyway. They don’t bother getting them fixed, and new shops aren’t installing them.
That was one of the arguments, that it is extremely hard to find a shop to even do the check on these older cars. It’s still an issue for cars up to 1996 I think but it’s a step. There are so few cars of these years being used as daily drivers that its impact is pretty small.
I could see a future where this gets expanded (slowly over time) to pre-1996 collector cars for this exact reason.
Not daily drivers.
I hope I’m reading this right but it appears they are defining it as any vehicle at least 35 years old which would mean over time these ’90s cars would be exempted?