Sunita Somvanshi
California classic car owners who have spent years tracking down discontinued smog parts for late-1970s and early-1980s vehicles have a phased legal exemption coming. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1392 on September 16, 2026, at Jay Leno’s garage in Burbank — a law that creates a new smog-check pathway for a specific class of collector vehicles.
SB 1392, known as Jay Leno’s Law, creates a phased smog-check exemption for qualifying collector vehicles manufactured between model years 1976 and 1985. The exemption rolls in by model year beginning January 1, 2028 — starting with vehicles from before the 1981 model year — and adds one additional model year annually until 1985 vehicles become eligible on January 1, 2033. Until a vehicle’s model year becomes eligible and state procedures are in place, existing smog check requirements continue to apply. To qualify, a vehicle must either be insured under a collector vehicle policy or be driven fewer than 1,000 miles per year, with low-mileage eligibility administered by the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Senators Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) and Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) jointly authored SB 1392. Newsom signed two companion bills at the same event: AB 2541, which creates a specialized lowrider license plate program, and SB 1069, which expedites state review for manufacturers seeking approval to sell aftermarket emissions parts.
For California classic car owners, SB 1392 creates the first phased path out of the biennial struggle to locate obsolete smog equipment — but only once their vehicle’s model year becomes eligible, starting in 2028. The exemption requires either qualifying collector insurance or driving fewer than 1,000 miles per year, with verification procedures to be established by the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Owners must maintain those conditions to remain exempt; vehicles that do not meet the requirements remain subject to standard smog check rules.
Balancing Heritage and Emissions Targets
The law’s scope is narrow by design. The state describes the affected vehicles as a small portion of the fleet that are preserved and driven sparingly, contributing minimally to statewide emissions compared with commuter and commercial vehicles, so the air-quality impact of the exemption is minimal. That matters because California simultaneously announced it has surpassed 2.5 million zero-emission vehicle sales and 216,445 public and shared EV charging ports statewide. The exemption is designed to work alongside California’s clean transportation policies by targeting only a limited-use collector class.
SB 1069 expedites state review for manufacturers seeking approval to sell aftermarket emissions parts. AB 2541’s lowrider plate carries cultural weight beyond aesthetics, providing state recognition for lowrider culture rooted in Latino artistry, cultural identity, and civic pride, which has historically been subject to restrictions. The three bills together adjust state emissions standards at the margins without unwinding California’s broader clean-air framework.
The law’s eligibility conditions and administrative verification procedures should be checked against guidance from the California Bureau of Automotive Repair and Department of Motor Vehicles before owners change their current compliance arrangements.
How many miles can you drive a classic car under Leno’s Law in California? Under California SB 1392, qualifying vehicles manufactured between 1976 and 1985 will be exempt from biennial smog checks — phased in by model year from 2028 through 2033 — only if they are insured as collector vehicles or driven fewer than 1,000 miles per year, with low-mileage eligibility administered by the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
The Bureau of Automotive Repair and the Department of Motor Vehicles are expected to issue administrative guidelines before January 1, 2028, when the first phase of the exemption takes effect for vehicles from before the 1981 model year. Owners of 1976–1985 vehicles should confirm their specific model year’s eligibility date, update insurance to a qualifying collector policy where applicable, and monitor for guidance from the Bureau of Automotive Repair before making any changes to existing smog inspection plans. For full details on the phased schedule by model year, see California SB 1392 Classic Car Smog Exemption 2028–2033. Check back for updates as official guidelines are published.
—
Related legislation: Daylight saving time health impacts and Manitoba DST decision.
