Former late-night talk show host and auto enthusiast Jay Leno is backing a California legislative proposal to allow an exception for classic cars to the state’s biennial and title transfer smog check, and it is gaining significant bipartisan support.
Senate Bill 712, introduced by Republican Sen. Shannon Grove, would exempt “collector motor vehicles” that are “at least 35 years old” from the air quality check. Leno noted that it applies to a small number of cars, as many collector cars are driven very little on the road anyway.
“Look, I’m for clean air like everybody else, but it’s a matter of, this seems like such a small percentage,” Leno told FOX Business about the proposal dubbed “Leno’s Law.”
“It’s 1%, and it’s classic cars, cars that are driven less than a few if even a thousand miles a year. So, it seems like a reasonable compromise,” he continued.
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The bill passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee 12-2 last week, with Democratic Sens. Caroline Menjivar and Catherine Blakespear voting “no,” because they argued it could allow people who have old cars that might not necessarily be collectors to take advantage of the lack of a smog check, according to KCRA. The California legislature has a Democratic supermajority.
Leno said that classic car culture is a critical part of the state’s history.
“Everybody in California, we saw the film industry leave and this, you know, the birth of hot-rodding is really here in California. Plus when you realize all the big manufacturers – Nissan, Honda, Toyota, General Motors, Ford, they all have studios in California for styling, because this is where the new ideas come from,” he said.
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Grove noted that the bill does not impact other laws, as drivers will still be required to have the vehicle insured, and California Highway Patrol can still give a ticket for tailpipe emissions.
“These cars are a piece of rolling history. There’s still vehicle codes that have to be complied with. You have to meet Section Code 259, which describes what a classic car is: Not used for daily use, for exhibitions and parades, and things like that,” Grove said.
“A lot of these vehicles are really like snowmobiles or other ATVs or other recreation vehicles,” Leno said.
“I drive my electric car during the week and then on weekends, I’ll take one of my old cars, drive 15 miles to a car show, sit there all day and talk to other car people and tell lies and then come home again. And that’s pretty much what it is,” he added.
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Leno noted that it is difficult to find car parts that are compliant with the Golden State’s smog test requirements, as other states do not have similar regulations.
“You just don’t wanna make criminals out of people. You know, you got a dad who’s had a car he’s had since high school in the garage, and you can drive it in Nevada or Washington or you can go to Mexico. You just can’t drive in California,” he said.
During a news conference on the bill last week, the comedian noted that classic car owners are stuck driving further away to get a smog test in parts of California that will work with their older vehicle.
“So this is gonna help alleviate those pressures on our classic car owners and have them be able to get those rolling pieces of history back out on the road for parades and special events and to bring pride back to our state in this industry,” the senator said.
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