CALIFORNIA GIVES SMOG TEST BREAK TO SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED CARS AND TRUCKS

Washington, D.C.- A new California law will provide 
a more accurate emissions-system certification and model-year 
designation for specially constructed vehicles, including kit cars.

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, supported the 
bill sponsored in the legislature by State Senator Maurice K. 
Johannessen (R-District 4).

The new law will be used to determine the model year of specially 
constructed vehicles.  Under the measure, the vehicle's owner can 
choose whether a smog test referee will certify the engine model 
year or the vehicle model year.

To determine model year, the inspector will compare the vehicle to 
those of the era that the vehicle most closely resembles. If there 
is no close match, it will be classified as a 1960 vehicle. Only 
those emission controls applicable to the model year and that can 
be reasonably accommodated by the vehicle will be required.  The 
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will provide a new registration 
to the first 500 specially constructed vehicles per year that meet 
the criteria. 

"Under previous California law, specially constructed vehicles were 
assigned the current model-year for smog inspection purposes," said 
Steve McDonald, SEMA director of government and technical affairs.  
"This policy unfairly subjected kit cars and other specially 
constructed vehicles to more stringent smog inspection 
requirements.  Thanks to this new measure, which Governor Gray 
Davis signed into law, engines and vehicles will be held to the 
standards of the model-year they represent rather than the more 
sophisticated vehicles of today."

California exempts pre-1974 vehicles from the biennial and change-
of-ownership smog check requirements.  Under the new law, specially 
constructed vehicles designated with a pre-1974 model year will be 
exempted from the test.  Beginning in the year 2003, all vehicles 
30-years old and older will be exempted.

SEMA represents the $24.86 billion specialty automotive industry. 
The trade association is composed of nearly 4,800 member companies, 
and is the authoritative source of research data, trends and market 
growth information for automakers and the specialty auto products 
industry. The industry provides appearance, performance, safety, 
comfort, convenience and technology products for SUVs, pickups, 
recreational vehicles, passenger cars, and minivans. It's a 
specialty market as old as the automobile and as new as cutting-
edge technology.