My dad was a California Highway Patrol officer from 1948 to 1968, back when
California
still had roadside inspections (surprise inspection lanes that they would set
up at random
places and times, pulling cars over for a mechanical inspection). One time when
working an
inspection lane, my dad was checking headlamps and a younger officer was doing
the brake
inspections. The younger guy called my dad over to take a look at the brake
"situation" in
an old Pontiac that they had flagged into the lane - when he had asked the
driver to push
the pedal so he could check the brakelights the guy said he couldn't. The other
officer
asked why, and looking into the driver's compartment he saw that there was no
brake pedal
- just a hole in the floor where it was supposed to be! The fellow had been
using the
parking handbrake to slow and stop the car. Needless to say, they told the guy
to park it,
and called a tow truck.
What's scary is that nowadays there is no state inspection for safety issues at
all in
California (some other states might still have them, I don't know) - just smog
inspections.
Gary McCormick
San Jose, CA
Taro Kusunose wrote:
> I had a chance to ask my grandpa in Japan about the inspection question. He
> is a retired auto repair shop owner over there. He says that the older cars
> that are still roadworthy (e.g. roadsters and the like) are probably being
> meticulously cared for, and are not being driven much. The inspection
> process, which I believe is like the MOT in England, requires every aspect
> of the car to be checked out every 2 or 3 years depending upon how new the
> car is. If it fails, it has to get brought up to snuff or it gets kicked
> off the road. As a result, owners of older cars tend to not drive the car
> much so that parts don't wear out and break. Owning a "classic" is almost
> prohibitively expensive because of the inspection process, and because you
> can get little use out of the car for fear of wearing it out before the next
> inspection (or "sha-ken").
>
> Get this. My grandpa says that the law in Japan is that unless you are a
> certified mechanic, it is illegal for you to open up your engine. This is a
> law that is not enforced much, but it is still there. This too makes
> ownership of a car such as a roadster very expensive... especially for the
> law abiding folk.
>
> In the end though, a few cars stay roadworthy because their owners spend the
> money, or keep the cars well-preserved in garages; just like in England.
> The freedom that we here in America have as car owners is mind-blowing from
> my grandpa's perspective. [He has often mentioned to me though that the
> condition of cars that he sometimes sees on the road here in the States
> scares teh crap out of him!!]
>
> I don't know shipping costs.
>
> Taro in Seattle
> '67 1600
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