How did this happen?????

<span style="font-weight: bold">This just in from California. Anybody got any idea how this happened so fast without anyone knowing about it. </span> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Lovers of California's classic cars, celebrated in the Beach Boys song for "fun, fun, fun," worried that a new state law could take their T-birds and little deuce coupes away.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill requiring that cars 30 years and older be tested under California's strict smog regulations, closing a loophole over the protests of classic car collectors, including "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno.

Aides said the bill signed on Thursday would help the state's air quality. California also approved the nation's most stringent rules to reduce auto emissions linked to global warming this week.

But classic car hobbyists argued their cars have little effect on the state's smog.

"We're not too excited about it. The impact on the environment by classic cars is minimal," said John Halstead, president of the Bakersfield Camaro Club. "Most of the cars don't make it out of the garage for any other reason than for car shows once or twice a month in the summer."

The exact number of classic cars in California is unknown, but the state has hundreds of clubs for car hobbyists.

Leno, on whose show Schwarzenegger announced he would run for governor, protested personally against the bill, said Marva Diaz, legislative director for Assembly Member Sally Lieber, who wrote the bill.

Leno called Lieber's office twice to register his displeasure, Diaz said.

"He was very upset the first time," Diaz said. "He thought his whole collection would have to be smog-checked."

"The second time he called he was upset because he had been told the assemblywomen had said on the radio that he supported the bill," Diaz said. "He wanted to make sure it was clear to me to tell her that he remained opposed."

Wayne

Gimme a break. I know everyone in the "car hobby" is having a snit about this. But as far as I can tell, all it means is that cars built in the last 30 years need to pass the smog law in effect when it was built. Why is that such a big deal?

By the way, there are lots of non-hobbiest owned cars in California that old that are providing daily transportation: Those cars are typically poorly maintained and are a measurable part of the air pollution problem. Those are the cars being targeted. Everyone I know with a hobby car does their best to maintaine and make the car run well which means they should have no problem passing the test that was in effect when their car was new.

My guess is that it will affect the street rod hobby more than the antique car hobby: The under hood inspection will show mods that will cost a bundle to "fix" where as an original or restored car will simply have to have its tailpipe gasses get by 1974 (for 30 year old car) standards.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> This just in from California. Anybody got any idea how this happened so fast without anyone knowing about it. </div></div>

Answer 1: Fast? I've been predicting/anticipating things like this for 4 years now. It's not supposed to happen in earnest until 2005 for obvious reasons. Arnold just jumped the gun a bit.

Answer 2: You've got a (apparently genuine) Republican environmentalist Governor with real air quality problems. What did you expect his bosses would let him do?

Either way, it <span style="font-weight: bold">will</span> get worse. Our nations endangered oil refineries and industrial boilers <span style="font-style: italic">must</span> be protected!

I found a better explanation of the bill's effects from a recent article in the <span style="font-style: italic">SF Chronicle</span>:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> The other car bill, authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, will end the state's practice of allowing any car that turns 30 to avoid smog checks.

The measure, AB2683, met with angry opposition from many car collectors, who bombarded Lieber's office with what she characterized as "thousands of e- mails, phone calls and letters.''

Lieber spoke Thursday from her Bay Area district office, which remained under CHP protection because of a death threat she received related to the measure.

Most of the criticism came from those who misunderstood the bill and thought it targeted all vintage cars, Lieber said. Her bill continues an exemption for any vehicle built before 1975 and therefore singles out cars that already have been passing smog checks.

As of April 1, when the law takes effect, any car from model year 1976 will have to take the test, for example.

Lieber says cars built in the mid-1970s emit 155 times more hydrocarbons than current models and that the law will lead to the removal of 6 tons of chemicals that cause smog per day.

Car enthusiasts, however, complained that the new law will chase their cars off the road.

"It's a huge hassle and a big expense, and I think their assertions about how it will help the environment are grossly exaggerated,'' said Dan Shockey, president of the MG Owners Club, which has about 250 Bay Area members.

But a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger's Environmental Protection Agency, Michelle St. Martin, said both bills represent the governor's commitment to reduce air pollution by 50 percent by 2010.

"The idea is to get the cleanest, most fuel efficient cars out on the roads,'' St. Martin said.

</div></div>

And I thought it was going to be hard to get new/younger enthusiasts into the hobby before. I guess there won't be very many "antique" TR7's, Turbo Trans Ams, or Little Red Trucks in California any more.

SEMA has been on top of this.

http://www.enjoythedrive.com/content/?ID=33338

Thanks Peter. I was wondering how SEMA was dealing with this. Wayne

Will whoever deleted my post following Hartmann's please return it to this forum. Either that or explain _specifically_ why you cannot.

gfw 1/31/5 1210

Glenn, go to the deleted forum, please. Wayne