Florez reverses on classic car smog rules
With Jay Leno and the rest of California's classic car buffs on his case, State Sen. Dean Florez has dropped his proposal to require smog checks for cars as old as 1958 models.Leno, "The Tonight Show" host who has a large collection of vintage autos, personally called Florez's office to lobby against the plan.
The lawmaker was also inundated with letters, e-mails and phone calls from many other members of the highly organized hobby car community.
One of their tools was a cartoon depicting Florez in his state-leased SUV chasing classic cars out of California.
Florez was forced to back down on the bill, one in a package of 10 bills aimed at cleaning up the air in the Central Valley, before it even got its first legislative hearing. [ccFalconClub News]