We’re all looking to do everything we can collectively for the health of the collector car hobby. We’re proud to fight alongside all of you in support of these amazing, historic vehicles and keeping them on the road for...
Steve Davis’ dark glasses protect his eyes from A light sensitivity condition – but that doesn’t hinder his vision of the collector car market.
Across my nearly 30 years of being a part of Barrett-Jackson, and before that as somebody on the other side of the fence as a consignor and bidder, I’ve seen a lot of changes. Many of those changes have been great for the collector car hobby, but not all of them. It’s a sad fact of modern life that vintage cars often suffer in the name of so-called “progress.”
We’re living through one of those periods now, and it’s not hard to spot the storm clouds on the horizon. Multiple states are attempting to impose EV mandates that will limit peoples’ choices. California is well underway in introducing “Zero Emissions Zones” as part of their plan for net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. In August, the state sent out a survey to owners of 1978 and earlier classic cars asking detailed questions about vehicle use. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) maintains it was just a routine updating of data. You decide.
You see, I’ve been down this road before.
In the 1990s, California came up with a grand idea for an updated Smog Check II emissions test. It was designed in a way that would fail the classic cars that we know and love. And by failing, your car would be branded a gross polluter and have one more cycle of registration, and then your cars would be taken off the road. California had a history of this kind of thing. In the 1970s, CARB had approved a Kar-Kit Nox emission control kit for old cars that deactivated the vacuum advance in the distributor using rubber plugs. It came with a warning to not exceed speeds of 60 mph. Imagine driving your Boss 429 Mustang under those restrictions.
I owned a classic car dealership in Visalia, California, and the implications from Smog Check II was one of those profound reality checks. But the more I talked to people, it surprised me that most of them had no idea what was going on. I had a burning passion that something had to be done, and the one thing I could think of that I could do unilaterally was to start a petition drive and bring awareness to people.
Fighting the new regulations became my full-time job. Keep in mind, I had no lobbyist, no attorneys, no PR firms, no contributions. This was as grassroots as it got. It was me, my wife, my father-in-law and my copy machines.
I started the petition drive, and tens of thousands of signatures later I made my way to the legislature in Sacramento. I was there to fight for Senate Bill 42, introduced by state Sen. Quentin Kopp, that allowed for a rolling 30-year exemption from smog testing for vintage cars, which had never been designed for modern, stringent emission standards. As I walked in to testify, I sat down at this long table, on one side just me and Sen. Kopp. On the other side of the table, every chair was full – and they all had a killer look in their eyes with me as their target. The only ammunition I had was boxes and boxes of individually signed petitions, more than 30,000 in all.
The voices of that many enthusiasts propelled SB42 through the legislature and it was signed into law by the governor in 1997. Even better, SB42 helped set the template for other states.
That was a big victory, but the fights continue. At Barrett-Jackson we represent the heart of the hobby, and we realize the only way we can maintain the things we love is to fight for them if they come under attack. We need to all be keepers of the flame and help each other. Together, we can continue rolling up wins. Last year, Barrett-Jackson spearheaded a movement to legalize in Arizona the removal and reinstallation of a VIN tag for pre-1981 vehicles for purposes of restoration. In many states, that act pretty much puts you in felon territory. Even in California, popular pressure this year led to a repeal of laws that restricted low-riders and cruising.
We’re all looking to do everything we can collectively for the health of the collector car hobby. But we shouldn’t lull ourselves into a false sense of security. We’re at a crossroads. We need to make sure that people know we’re willing to fight for the right to keep and drive our collector cars. That’s what we do collectively; that’s what we do as a company. We’re proud to fight alongside all of you in support of these amazing, historic vehicles and keeping them on the road for generations to come.