Jay Leno's Classic Car Bill Scores A Big Win In California

Current California state laws require most gas, hybrid, and alternative-fuel vehicles made since 1976 (and diesel-powered vehicles from 1998) to get inspected every other year as part of renewing a vehicle's registration. This also includes motorhomes, RVs, and collector cars, something Jay Leno has become quite famous for. New gas vehicles less than eight model-years old are exempt. Over the last year, Leno has been pushing for changes regarding classic cars and how often they must pass smog tests.

Bipartisan California Senate Bill 712 (aka Leno's Law) would amend existing state laws, at least as they apply to collector cars of a certain age. The bill would provide an exemption for those built before the 1981 model year from ever having to obtain a smog check — as long as it's been registered as a historical vehicle and assigned a special plate. Additionally, it must either be insured as a collector car or the owner must prove it's driven fewer than 1,000 miles annually. Leno argues that because most collector cars are driven infrequently — usually to shows on weekends where they're parked and driven straight back home — they shouldn't warrant such stringent oversight.

The bill would take effect January 1, 2027, with annual updates through 2032. So, on January 1, 2028, the exemption would include vehicles manufactured before 1982; on January 1, 2029, it would include vehicles made before 1983, and so on, culminating on January 1, 2032, for vehicles built before 1986. While state lawmakers recently passed the bill, Governor Gavin Newsom must sign it by September 30, 2026, for it to take effect.

Senator Shannon Grove, who introduced and co-authored the bill with Leno, argues that the law adds 10 additional vehicle model years to the existing exemptions and will help protect California's long-standing classic car culture and history. Meanwhile, Leno contends that it's becoming harder to get older vehicles inspected because most official inspection stations don't have old-school dynamometers. These "dynos" are basically industrial-strength treadmills for cars, allowing its wheels to spin on rollers, and are needed to inspect cars older than the 1999 model year properly.

Still, many others counter these arguments. Environmental groups want Newsom to veto the bill, claiming it would increase air pollution and lead to harmful health issues. Furthermore, Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, says that wealthy celebrities (like Leno) tend to have great health care coverage and can afford to pay for whatever may result from relaxing the laws, but poor people don't. Professor Michael Kleeman, who studies urban and regional air quality problems, states that older cars can produce up to 20 times more pollution than newer ones and that this new bill doesn't align with the state's current emission goals.

California isn't the only state with laws focused on classic cars, which some could say are more prohibitive. Minnesota House Bill HF 3865 was introduced in March 2026, and aims to ban the operation of collector and classic vehicles to weekends only, a time when club activities, parades, and such are most likely to occur. Otherwise, they'd be totally banned from weekday and evening use altogether.