Classic cars are rare and they wouldn't really add any measurable pollution to the environment. Making them adhere to modern regulations makes no sense imo.
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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If you have money for a rare classic car you have money for a smog-check. Let's not give exemptions to rich people again
It's likely gonna fail because old car design usually doesn't account for any of that. Carburetor, lack of catalytic converter, lack of exhaust gas recirculation system, so on and so forth, all those gonna add to the emission and if the strictness is of today standard, it's gonna fail.
Maybe give them a smog tax based on the emission would make much more sense.
I'm just curious did anyone actually read the article.
They have to pass the emission standard for the year of production. It means as long as your vehicle is on relatively good repair you'll probably pass, you're not likely to pass if you've made modifications which is what they're upset about.
How is a car designed before any regulations supposed to pass a modern smog test?
Or you just still own your old car because it runs. Its not a rich people thing just because the guy in the article is rich. When I stumble upon classic car shows, the vibe is "long term project cars" and not "affluent collectors".
My father in law maintains a Triumph Race car with the machine shop in his garage. It'll never legitimately pass smog, but its also driven once or twice a month and he's owned it for like 50+ years.
It's not about the cost of a smog test.
It's that classic cars will never pass a modern smog test. They are wildly inefficient, and those inefficiencies manifest in a bunch of wasted gas and bad exhaust.
I think they should probably get a smog tax, like someone else suggested somewhere.
They don't have to pass a modern smog test.
My classic Miata cost me $1900 and 150 hours of work. Fuck you 🤣
If you don’t have money for a new car and only have an old beater, let’s not punish them with added cost to exist in this fuck the poor country. It goes both ways.
I've you're driving a 90-year-old car, it's not for economic reasons.
Being poor isn't and shouldn't be a license to pollute.
They’re already grandfathered-in in that they only have to pass the regulations when they went on sale.
They should count themselves lucky they don’t have to pass current regulations.
With a modern car, it’s “plug in, get your money – boom – get out. It’s very quick to get a smog check with a modern car,” Leno said. “It’s not impossible in an older car, but it’s tricky. It takes time and often causes charges four, five, six times more than a regular car.” Leno said classic car owners struggle to even find a shop with the equipment needed to test them.
So it is not even about not getting what they want, it is about being slightly inconvenienced.
He'd get a lot more sympathy if he were funny, and if he weren't such an obsequious toad.
I would be fine with this is they paid double what it would cost to mitigate their pollution assuming they are driven all the time. So no matter what it is treated like its running like a cab. There are so few the income from it would likely be worth it.
Fuck cars. And fuck you Leno.
And fuck his big ass chin
Yeah this just causes those cars to be registered out of state without any regulation at all and the registration revenue goes elsewhere.
Nerds annoying the population into fascism.
You all just can't help yourselves 🤣. You would literally want a dictator vs .005% of the cars being less than optimal.