Jay Leno’s star power wasn’t enough to persuade a California legislative committee to pass a measure to allow owners of classic cars like him to be exempted from the state’s rigorous smog-check requirements.
Imagine being rich and famous and this is your political cause. What an effing creep.
Wish they’d do a better job policing modern cars blowing smoke constantly from abuse that somehow pass smog checks. Stop relying solely on computer monitoring and let techs do a real inspection again.
Leno is a narcissistic asshole trying to push a law that only benefits rich collectors like himself, in that respect I’m glad it failed.
Most of the people running these cars aren’t particularly rich. They’re older, often retired, and generally have enough financial stability to have a garage and buy an old beater to fix up with cash in hand, but they’re far from rich. It’s not a cheap hobby by any means, but except for the rarest types of cars, we’re talking thousands, not millions. The elbow grease is more expensive than what you buy directly.
For an example of a cheap build, look up “Look mum no computer” on YouTube and look for the “Big Bogey” project where he restores an old Mini that’s more rust than car.