I try to stay out of politics—I prefer comedy of a different sort—but I got called recently by a California state senator named Shannon Grove from Bakersfield, who introduced a bill that would help out classic car owners. A few enthusiasts got in touch with me as well, and so I decided to go up to Sacramento to see if I could lend a hand.
The issue is that while most states with smog programs exempt cars once they reach 20, 25 years old, California has the toughest rule in the nation. Here, anything from 1976 or newer has to be smog-tested forever. For newer cars that have the onboard diagnostic systems that came in in the mid-1990s, it’s a relatively simple test. You just plug in a reader and see if the car is throwing any codes. It costs about $35 and you’re in and out in a few minutes. Brand-new cars aren’t even tested until they’re over five years old.
But for older cars, it’s a lot harder and more expensive. The cars have to be tested every couple of years on roller dynos and run up to different speeds with a probe up their tailpipes. The test can cost $200, and that’s if you can find a shop that will do it. Because the equipment is so expensive and has to be maintained, and the population of cars needing this type of test is dropping fast—it’s less than 1 percent of California’s 13 million vehicles and shrinking—shops have been getting out of the business. I’ve heard of people taking eight months to get a car tested.
It doesn’t seem right to me to turn people into criminals because they can’t afford a newer car or they don’t want to drive a new car. Or they move here from Nevada with an older car and now they have to sell it out of state. Some of them are not registering their cars and hoping they don’t get caught, or they are getting Montana license plates or some other baloney just so they can drive. And for the people who want to follow the rules and put new smog equipment on to make their cars compliant, often the smog equipment isn’t available or the parts are junk. The state doesn’t monitor the quality of replacement catalytic converters, so you might buy one, have it installed, and then fail the test anyway.
California is the birthplace of hot-rodding and it’s still a $6 billion industry here, but we drove the film industry out of California by taxing it to death and we could do the same to the classic car industry. Good luck finding a chrome shop in California now. Not that I’m against cleaner air. People were surprised that when I was in Sacramento, I testified that the California Air Resources Board does a great job. When I came out here in the ’70s, there were 160 days a year that they told you not to go outside because the smog was so bad. I remember one day it rained hard and I saw the mountains for the first time. I didn’t even know you could see the mountains from my house!
It’s not like older cars will be exempt from any other insurance or emissions requirements. If you’re driving down the freeway blowing smoke, you’re going to get pulled over and issued a ticket. I made the analogy to liquor: I don’t drink and you could ban alcohol and it would be fine with me, I couldn’t care less. But people are going to drink, so instead of a ban, we have a blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 if you’re over 21. Anything above that means you’re drunk and you lose your license. It should be the same thing with smog; if you’re obviously polluting, you get fined.
Most of my cars are too old to be affected, but I do have an ’89 Bentley that I bought new. It’s got 27,000 miles on it, and I drive it about 650 miles a year. It’s not about me having to “drive five extra miles to get his car tested,” as one commenter said. It’s no problem for me, but it is for quite a few people. And most of these older vehicles only go 15 miles to the cars and coffee on a Saturday, park for a few hours, and then drive home again. They’re well taken care of and it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to exempt them.
Now they’re calling it “Leno’s Law,” and as of June 4, 2025, the bill passed the state Senate and is before the California Assembly—which is further than it ever has gone in the years they’ve been trying to get this passed. As with anything political, a few people have gone after me because of it, but that’s just what happens when you get involved to try to change things.
Editor’s Note: As of this writing, the thrust of the bill (SB 712) is as follows: Beginning on January 1, 2027, “a motor vehicle that is at least 35 model years old, has been assigned a special identification plate indicating that it is a historical vehicle, and is insured as a collector motor vehicle,” would be “fully exempt from [existing] smog check requirements, both biennially and [upon] transfer [of ownership].”
Congrats to Jay and all the car hobbyist in California.
It is time for some rational think here.
The editor’s note puts a different perspective on this legislation. It’s not as simple as registering a vehicle that is “X” models years old and getting an automatic exemption. A “special identification plate” is required. What is the process to obtain this plate, is the plate transferable, and how much will it cost?
Regarding the emission inspection laws in other states I live in Arizona and own a 1974 Dodge pick up (which was originally sold in California, ironically). I’m required to bring it in annually for a tail pipe sniff which is performed at idle only. The only way it would be exempted from testing is to have it registered as a classic vehicle which requires classic car insurance. Fortunately, AZ smog stations are state run and the cost of each test is ~$12. Like most all owners of vintage vehicles I keep on top of the maintenance so I wonder how much value there is in testing these older vehicles.
“Insured as a collector vehicle” is going to be an insurmountable obstacle for many, maybe even most, people who would otherwise have benefited from this legislation. Because nobody (including Hagerty) will sell you a collector policy in California if you don’t have your own private garage or storage unit for the car. Storage facilities and homes with private garages are so expensive as to be out of reach for a significant number of people.
It’ll help a few people. Everyone else, well, it’ll probably just make it even more difficult and expensive to get their cars smogged as even fewer inspection shops will bother to keep the dyno equipment necessary for pre-OBD2 cars.
There’s still a lot to be desired for with this bill. Why is it 35 years? In 2027, that would exempt up to 1992. OBD1 is up to 1995. So there would be three years of cars that would still require the 15/25 mph roll test and the evap test. Only OBD2 are able to do the plug-in test. So if you’re trying to help the Smog station operators, it’s not going to help them. They will still need the equipment for even fewer cars.
There are also a lot of people who pride themselves in having the original plates for their car. Having to switch to Historic will mean that car can never go back to its original plates. That’s the biggest stickler. Not the limited mileage use nor only being able to drive it to and from events. (No one enforces either)
Then there’s the collector car insurance. Like others have said not everyone has a garage. Even if they do there are other situations that might prohibit them from getting collector car insurance.
It’s worse than just the collector car insurance requirement. The requirement to have historical vehicle plates means the car primarily can be used only for parades, car shows, etc., and not for transportation. So Leno’s good intentions to the contrary, the bill does nothing for people who can’t afford a new car or would rather drive an old one — they will still need smog testing if they actually use the car. Even the bill’s author admits that the bill as amended doesn’t live up to the original expectations. No surprise, as the goal of CA legislators for decades has been to get people out of cars and onto mass transit (or more recently into an EV). So why would they do something that would keep older, less efficient cars on the road via a blanket smog test exemption? Leno or no Leno that was never going to happen.
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