> From: Will Zehring <WZEHRIN@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU>
> -lastly, did I miss something somewhere: where in any of this debate was
> there any 'manditory' aspect to turning in old cars? All programs I know
of are strictly voluntary.
Damn, I kept promising myself I would stay out of the "smog" debate.
If this was as far as the program went, I could get behind it. Some
states allow groups to monitor vehicles being queued for crushing and
offer alternate sacrifices. I wish this were true in Colorado, as we
have a pretty good old car council which could probabl monitor this.
However, all told, I suspect that the current level is having small if
any real impact on cars or parts we are interested in.
Where it gets sticky is in the fact that state legislatures have a lot
of grief distinguishing between classic restored cars and
belchmobiles. A couple of years ago, we set up classic plates, with a
very low yearly cost. Suddenly, out of nowhere , there were literally
thousands of junkers with classic plates being used as commuter
vehicles. Many of these were obviously on their last legs, but the
state had provided a cheap to operate solution. The most recent
incarnation is to charge a higher fee for plates, but make them good
for 5 years. This has helped a lot.
Now the local air emmissions board has proposed that ALL pre 1980 cars
be banned from Denver streets on designated high pollution days. No
discussion on actual emmision levels. It also becomes the
responsibility of the driver to determine that a day has been so
designated (often after the morning commute) and not drive. BTW, note
that this is being adopted by a commission, with no due process from
the legislature. We now have oxyginated fuels for several months in
the winter. I fear that if this bill passes, pre-1980 cars will be
baned from November - March.
Maybe its just me, but these programs seem very similar to the
infamous GM/Firestone conspiracy of the 50 to destroy the public
transit system. Who gains most from these kind of laws? Answer: the
car companies. I try to avoid conspiracy thoeries, having been exposed
to a lot of wierd ones over time, but I keep coming back to this.
Another trend I start looking at is the sliding scale emmission
programs I keep seeing proposed, where older cars pay higher
"emissions taxes". Seems to have the same kind of incentives. For
this one, I point out the Japaneese "Safety Inspection" program. In
Japan, your car is required to undergo an annual safety inspection.
The cost of this inspection is quite low for the first couple of
years, then it starts climbing. For a five year old car, the price of
the inspection is designed to exceed the market value of the car. This
encourages people to regularly buy new cars, and, in fact, you don't
see many old cars in Japan. In fact, the collector hobby in Japan
seems to be the current "retro" trend, where they sell a lot of new
Minis, RV8s and retro styled Japaneese limited edition cars. If that
takes off, how is that going to impact our hobby? If the cars all get
crushed at 5-10 years old, very little will be left to become
collectable. How desirable was an MGA n 1968?
Depressingly yours, (I can't use cheers here)
Jay
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