The pre-1975 free-for-all is nice, but it leaves a ’76-thru-early-80s something-or-other nearly worthless, as you’ve gotta keep the pre-efi vacuum tube hell smog system intact and functional, when a well-tuned swapped in motor would actually run more efficiently and cleaner.

I would propose a rolling 30 year exemption, with a rolling 15 or 20 year rolling exemption on the visual inspection. Just make ‘em pass the sniffer test, which should be easy to do on a car you care about.

Most of these vehicles see fewer than 5000 miles/year anyway, so why not implement a low-mileage exemption? Submit to having your odometer checked yearly and you’re in the clear.

If the real goal were to encourage the use of more fuel efficient or clean vehicles by those that are clinging to their dinosaurs, the fed would issue credits for maintenance or better yet, engine swaps.

If they insist on taking these cars off the road, wasting their entire parts content is, well, wasteful. Those engines can be remanufactured into cleaner running crate motors.

In terms of economic stimulus, don’t forget that the replacement parts, aftermarket and vehicle service industries are all important sources of jobs as well.

Mechanics jobs are good jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. Older cars require more money and less in parts to service, Those labor bills all go to Hard Working Americans in jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. Contrast this to the majority of the parts content in new cars. The same new cars that are largely serviced by replacing sensors or other electronic components made in factories overseas.

They’re not giving anyone cash and they only want your reliably running older car that still gets 18mpg. What’s worse, they only require a new vehicle that gets 2mpg (4mpg for cars) more than the “clunker” you let them flat out destroy. Such improvements can likely be had through a basic tune up and not driving like a choad.

But they don’t want you to hear that. They want you to hear that they (not us) are giving out free money in the name of saving the planet. Nevermind that they will require these scrapped cars and trucks to be crushed and smelted, thereby penalizing anyone else who opts to preserve their investment in a vehicle.

Basically, they want to steamroll this garbage through to law so that hundreds of thousands of people (with the financial sense of a lugnut) will be duped into going deeper into debt in order to FINANCE 2 to 4 miles per gallon. Its ridiculous!

If you’re reading this PLEASE contact your “representatives” in Washington and DEMAND that they stop wasting YOUR money on stupid legislation like this simply because people like you aren’t looking to buy a new car from a soon-to-be-bankrupt automaker. Then tell your gearhead buddies to do the same.

Rule #1: Never mess with another man’s car.

That’s exactly what this is out to do. We need to fight this together. Thanks for posting, sir.