While out for my morning walk...

You mean post 1975? I remember years ago reading that guys had to find original equipment smog parts for their early 70s and 60s cars. Guess that isn't an issue anymore. But then how does that $h!t bomb in your pic. get by? That is a post '75 obviously. Guess a few cases of beer to the local mechanic? I heard they have cameras set up in garage bays that do smog to prevent that?

EDIT:

Quick side story, I remember being on vacation in Anaheim back in the early 90s and staying at a high rise hotel just off route 5. From my balcony I could see some big metal scrap yard. One morning as I was out on the balcony having coffee, I noticed a 66 or 67 Chevelle being driven into the yard, the guy getting out and talking to the people there, then taking his plates off and leaving in another car. I was like, damn I gotta go see if I can buy it before its crushed. So I drove over there and they told me, can't buy it, it's labeled as a gross polluter and being turned to scrap for some kind of smog credit program. Mind you it wasn't a mint cherry looking car but it wasn't bad.

 

In the mid / late 80's thru early 90's they were very stringent on smog laws on older cars . So alot of car owners especially muscle car owners did whatever possible to get their cars to pass smog . Back then alot of these cars sat in the owners garage under blankets because of the strict smog laws

Like I mentioned car owners bribed the smog techs to get their cars to pass and they made sure it passed . Some of the tricks were using cars with same motors then transferring data from that car to yours . Other was just using any other car no matter engine make or displacement

It was that easy back then but now it is strictly enforced with cameras and data links to Sacramento and techs can be severely punished and shop owners penalized if caught cheating

Back in the early 90's My 66 Ford Fairlane with a 427 tunnel port took almost all day to smog and it barely passed

 

Reminds me of the recent BS government program "cash for clunkers". Wiped out a lot of old iron.

 

I remember them trying that here in NJ. Originally it was you had three tries to get it to pass, but it wasn't standard emissions test. They wasted taxpayer money on dynos, because idle wasn't enough. A few blow up motors later they scrapped the test. The best part was if you didn't pass they crushed it and gave you "emission" credit towards a new car. That was that c** bag whittmans idea. Then she left we got another string of losers. Till we ended up with just regular emissions testing.

Anyone else find if funny that GM and all them, all of a sudden where offering 0% financing, around that time? Get people out of the old cars and make it easier to pay for a new one...

 

Yeah, right? LOL

I won't comment too much on California's screwed up smog laws over the years, I've had to deal with all kinds of em as mentioned above, from paying off the tech to arguing with a referee about the smog requirements were determined based on the engine and not the car model year.

Where I live now in the rural sierras we are smog testing exempt. I haven't had a vehicle tested for emissions in fifteen years.

I do agree there should be some sort of safety check every five years or so on all registered vehicles. I've always thought that California's view placing emissions testing over public safety was a bit myopic.

I digress lest I go political..