Jay Leno’s bid to save vintage rides from California’s smog cops

Car enthusiast and former late-night host Jay Leno’s crusade to free classic cars from California’s smog checks is revving up at the state Capitol, as bipartisan lawmakers make a final push to pass “Leno’s Law.”

The longtime “Tonight Show” host joined state Sen. Shannon Grove on Wednesday to push Senate Bill 1392, a.k.a. “Leno’s Law,” which would exempt qualifying classic and collector cars manufactured before the 1981 model year from emissions tests and then gradually expand through the 1986 model year by 2032.

Leno said that California’s pollution laws have put him in an unusual position, making hime the go-to for classic-car owners trying to figure out how to skirt the rules. Leno said one of the most common questions he gets from collectors is where they can get aging vehicles tested at stations with the necessary equipment to pass.

“The idea of — I mean, you have an old car, it’s been legal your whole life, and now it’s illegal because you can’t find a station to do the emissions test. So what do you do? It’s your car,” Leno said.

“So you keep driving it, and you keep hoping a policeman doesn’t see you. And then now you’re just making criminals out of people that want to do the right thing.”

California law requires a biennial smog check for most gas-powered vehicles in an attempt to reduce emissions. But Grove said the bill is aimed at classic car enthusiasts who don’t have Leno’s resources.

“There are people out there who can have a locked garage and a locked-key facility so that they can be inside these museum-type facilities, like Mr. Leno has,” Grove said.

“But there’s also a lot of people who can’t afford that. And our goal is to make equity happen throughout the state.”

Grove said Leno’s involvement began during a tour of his famed garage after the senator won a visit to the site at a charity auction.

“When the tour was almost over, here [Leno] comes in the garage driving in, and he said, ‘Is this her?’ And they said, ‘Yes,’” Grove recalled. “And he says, ‘We need to fix this smog bill law.’”

Despite bipartisan backing, the bill still faces opposition from environmental groups and clean-air advocates hellbent on not allowing exceptions to smog checks. A similar bill last year was killed amid concerns from those groups.

The measure would create “a massive loophole that non-hobbyists will exploit to avoid smog checks for their older, higher emitting vehicles,” the Bay Area Air District testified to lawmakers.

The legislation is currently awaiting a key vote in the California Assembly, and state lawmakers have until end of August to send it out to the governor.

Leno owns a renowned collection of about 181 cars and 160 motorcycles housed in his Big Dog Garage in Burbank, California. Valued at over $50 million to $100 million, the collection ranges from early steam cars to modern hyper cars, all of which are kept running and driven regularly.

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