California may not have much rust, but it’s got something far, far worse: lawmakers on the constant attack against old cars. The latest culprit is Assemblyman Dave Jones, who has drafted a bill that would require all cars 15 years or older to undergo annual emissions testing (currently state law says pre-1976 cars are exempt).

Even worse, Jones is, as SEMA discovered, trying to sneak this in as an amendment to an unrelated bill!

Do we really have to go over why these laws are… what’s the term… stupid? Apparently so. Here we go again:

1. Old cars make up only a tiny fraction of the total number of cars and trucks on the roads today.
2. The majority of collectors do not use their vintage cars as daily drivers.
3. And most of all, encouraging the disposal of an old car so that a new one can take its place does not account for the manufacturing costs of the new vehicle.

This is merely the latest in a string of attempts to send more old cars to the scrapper. Earlier year this year a similar bill was introduced but defeated thanks in part to those who wrote in expressing their outrage/sound reasoning. However, California and Texas also have buyback programs designed to take old cars off the street.

Come on, legislators, think about it. How much fossil fuel does it take to turn a pile of iron ore buried in a mountain - along with plastics, rubber and assorted chemicals - into a new car? Let us get every mile we can out of these old cars, whose pollution costs generated during manufacture have already been paid for.

The hearing is set for August 28. If you are a California resident - or are simply pretending to be one - please write to your legislator and express your views on the subject. Thank you! Full details and legislator’s email addresses after the jump. (more…)

Here’s some truly disturbing news for nostalgic car owners. We recently spotted a billboard portraying a Datsun B210 as a generic polluting old car while visiting NorCal for the Motoring J Style show. Turned out, it was part of a California program to buy back cars that fail the state’s infamously strict smog check. For up to $1000, these cars will be “retired” from service, meaning that the government is paying people to scrap old cars. According to a new Detroit News article, this program replaced 16,000 vehicles last year, and unfortunately for us nostalgists, the trend is growing. (more…)

Oh Canada! For so long you have tempted us with your lax car import laws and maple syrup. Alas, now it appears that forces within your health-care providing government are plotting to away with your 15 year rule, which allowed everything from R32 Skyline GT-Rs to Honda Beats to pour over your borders like the waters of the Niagara River.

Don’t be like us Canada, and increase your import age to 25 years or older. We know your government is saying it knows what’s best for you, that it’s for safety reasons, since many of these cars haven’t been through your crash tests. But isn’t a 15-year-old car almost certainly safer than a 25-year-old one?

We’ve heard it may be because the auto industry feels threatened (jealous, maybe?) that you aren’t buying as many new cars as you once did. We know, it’s hard to stay true when the world is your oyster and such a wide selection can be sampled. Look at Australia. They’re slowly suffocating themselves with a move to a 30 year rule. Do you really want to end up like them? Do you think that’ll make them happy?

Yes, but the safety. Your government wouldn’t lie to you, would it?

[Source: The Toronto Star]

YES, we’ve got some great news! Last month we told you about a proposed California bill that would have made it mandatory in certain parts of the state to continue emissions testing on pre-1976 cars for the life of the vehicle. Many of you, some not even from California, answered the call and wrote letters on behalf of vintage car enthusiasts everywhere. And it worked! Joji from Toy Garage just emailed us to say that the bill went up before the legislature and passed, but the section in the bill concerning pre-1976 autos was removed and those cars will still enjoy their emissions exemptions!

We at JNC feel it’s important to preserve the environment, but it’s also important to preserve old cars. Legislation like this would have made it economically infeasible for many owners to keep a nostalgic around and doomed many such vehicles to the junkyard. Most importantly, however, their numbers are so few that their emissions contribute almost nothing to the overall volume of air pollution. Let’s go after the real offenders before singling out classic cars. Our deepest thanks to all who helped!

See the full SEMA press release after the jump. (more…)

California State Senator Dean Florez has proposed a new bill that, if passed, will repeal the emissions exemption on pre-1976 cars in eight California counties. This means your classic car would have to pass California’s emissions test for the life of the vehicle.

Ok, so you might not live in those counties, or even in California, but the state is known for having the toughest environmental protection laws in the nation. Once all the research and debate has been done and the bill passed, it could be easily adopted statewide. Other states have also been known to piggyback on California’s laws. It’s happened before.

For the record, we here at JNC care very much about Mother Earth. It’s the only planet we got, and we should try not to wreck it. We do our best to recycle and conserve, but this bill is ridiculous. Pre-’76 cars, as owned by classic car collectors, comprise so little of the actual pollution going up into the atmosphere that it’s essentially nil. There are far greater polluters out there. For example, poorly designed, non-green architecture accounts for nearly 40% of greenhouse gases. Cow farts make up another quarter. Why penalize cars that, for the most part, don’t even see use on a daily basis?

SEMA believes lawmakers are scapegoating classics. In addition to putting on a big car show ever year, the Specialty Equipment Marketers Association also advocates for car enthusiasts on issues such as this. See their news release and the eight affected counties after the jump. (more…)