Leno’s Law Is Official, Giving Malaise-Era Collectibles New Life

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It took several attemptsand lots of revision, but California Senate Bill 1392, better known as Jay Leno’s Law, has been signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The law exempts 1976-1979 collector cars from biennial emissions inspections in the nation’s most car-populous state. It will eventually include vehicles manufactured before 1986.

Current California law requires emissions inspections every two years for all gasoline cars, light trucks, and motorcycles manufactured after the 1975 model year—new vehicles are exempt for their first eight years. Leno’s Law will roll that exemption from the 1975 model year to 1979, and it will apply to collector cars—vehicles that don’t serve as their owners’ main source of transportation. The new law goes into effect on January 1, 2027. Each year until 2033, the exemption will roll forward another year, through to 1985-model-year vehicles.

California’s smog check procedures require vehicles to maintain their original emissions equipment unless a newer engine is swapped in, in which case it must keep all of the new engine’s emissions equipment and meet the emissions standards of the donor vehicle. That can make it quite difficult and expensive for a collector trying to keep a 50-year-old vehicle with out-of-production parts in service. California used to have a 30-year rolling emissions exemption, but it was ended in 2005 by Assembly Bill 2683 under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, hence the 1975 cutoff that’s been in place ever since. A previous iteration of Leno’s Law, SB 712, sought to return a rolling exemption of 35 years. It was amended to include only 1976-1981 model years with a similar, short-lived rolling exemption period, before it stalled.

The governor’s official website published photos of his visit to Jay Leno’s garage for the law’s signing and included a quote from the car-collecting comedian: “The Governor stuck with this legislation through the last couple of years to preserve California’s classic car heritage, and that’s rare,” said Jay Leno. “The car community has been waiting on this for a long time, and they notice when someone follows through. Thank you, Governor.”

The website also pointed to the state’s growing EV sales to highlight reduced emissions. With nearly one in four new cars sold in California being plug-in hybrid or fully electric in 2025, the tiny fraction of collector cars on the road makes exemptions like Leno’s Law a lot more palatable for those who are doing their best to look after public health and safety. This is one small step that just made Fox-body, Trans Am, and G-body owners a whole lot happier and will help keep some classics on the road.