The Old Car Loophole – When Will It Be Closed?

ericpetersautos.com ^ | 5-15-14 | Eric Peters

[dynachrome]

They haven’t – yet – succeeded in “controlling” guns. Taking them out of our control, that is. One reason for this is the ferocious pushback from gun owners, who are numerous and take the threat posed by even innocuous-seeming schemes such as “background checks” and bans of “high capacity” magazines (and so on) very seriously.dodge ad

It’s been the same – so far – with regard to their so-far-unsuccessful efforts to outlaw old cars. Or to enact legislation that would amount to the same thing via various end-runs.

It is still “legal” to own and operate a vehicle built without a catalytic converter, a computer, air bags, ABS and traction control - notwithstanding that according to current government regulatory standards such a car is “unsafe” (and also “emits excessive pollution”). But only because – historically speaking – there has been a large and very politically active old car hobbyist cohort. There is also SEMA – the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association - which is the old car/aftermarket car parts equivalent of the NRA. Whenever a Diane Feinstein type has reared its leathery neck to eruct a new law threatening old cars, SEMA – and the legions of old car hobbyists – have stomped it into the mud.

But, that rough equilibrium may be shifting. Because the old car hobby is graying. Check out who’s pictured in Hemmings Motor News articles, in magazines like Hot Rod and Car Craft. It’s the easy-fit jeans crowd. The young ones are in their 40s. The majority of them are Boomers – so, guys (and it’s almost always guys) deep into their 60s. Same demographic at car shows.

Viagra should look into the advertising/marketing opportunities.

[cva66snipe]

It’s also Agenda 21. Make it too expensive for poor people to drive their own vehicles. It would eliminate rural poor altogether.

I'll buy a darn mule if I have too LOL.

[Black Agnes]

Makes travel to/from hospital kind of iffy.

Rural hospital access will suffer next.

[cva66snipe]

There’s one about 12-15 minutes from me now. It’s in an area built up so it will stay open. But Yea outlying areas will suffer and already are.

[SkyPilot]

The longer I have lived, the more convinced I am that feminism is true Hate Group.

“Men who are unjustly accused of rape can sometimes gain from the experience.” – Catherine Comins

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“I want to see a man beaten to a bloody pulp with a high-heel shoved in his mouth, like an apple in the mouth of a pig.” — Andrea Dworkin

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We constantly see female politicians pushing their "solutions" which in reality are nothing more than an attack on masculinity, men, and boys.

Ban guns. Ban classic cars. Ban male sexuality. Ban contact sports.

You won't see Diane Feinstein or Barbara Boxer running to the Senate floor to denounce and propose a ban on hair relaxers and skin lighteners marketed to, and used on, black women because those products are highly toxic and bad for the environment (which the both happen to be).

No, they want to ban classic cars now.

I am not a psychiatrist, but I do know what the Bible says about the soul and heart of us humans. And I would wager that the root of feminist hatred is really a hatred towards the ultimate in "patriarchy" - God Himself.

[steve86]

I am totally dependent on my older vehicles. If the government tries to take them away they will become flying projectiles aimed at whomever.

[Fire_on_High]

Might benefit manufacturers of cheap offbrand sneakers, but no one’s got money for new cars anymore.

[Know et al]

They’ll take my old clunker from my cold dead hands.

[steve86]

If the government tries to take them away they will become flying projectiles aimed at whomever.

Can you imagine a front line of 100 '86 F-350 4WDs fully equipped with battering rams? Would make the Bundy supporters look like pea shooters.

[BobL]

“The once-common bonding ritual of a dad showing his son how to do a brake job – and the son eventually graduating from that to more complex jobs – has been set asunder.”

Not true in my house, but yes, that is the general case now. The high school that I went to deleted their auto shop, as EVERYONE going to that school should go to college instead. I assume they never checked, as most of us in those auto classes actually made it to college (me included).

The idea that today’s cars are harder to work on is debatable, when you have a computer pointing to your problems...and when much of the car is still unchanged (i.e., brake pads, suspension, etc.).

What the article implies, but doesn’t state clearly, is just how much these old cars pollute - a minimum of 10 times of more modern cars, and more like 100 times that of new cars. You better believe that they’re in the cross hairs. Sad...but if Amnesty passes, the Dems will then have the votes they need to prevail on this.

[MarkL]

Yeah. And there is such a shortage of new cars too!

It won't matter... With Barky Care, once Barky's illegal changes expire, insurance rates will be such that people simply won't have any disposable income with which to make payments on a used car, let alone being able to save enough to pay in cash.

Mark

[ROCKLOBSTER]

EFI and electronic ignition are good improvements on an old timer, a converter isn’t a bad thing either.

ABS and all the other computer controlled crap is just that...needless, problematic CRAP.

It’s an invitation to score an older vehicle of your liking and give it all the sensible upgrades made possible in the past couple of decades.

A modern pickup chassis with all the foolishness removed, but retaining modern brakes, engine control and steering makes a great platform for a vintage truck or car.

The smaller pickups can become a fine street or retro-rod.

Ska-rew TPMS, ABS etc.

[oldtech]

That ‘97 4-Runner needing a water pump would be a piece of cake next to some of the newer ones.

[bicyclerepair]

Have a 73 Duster in the garage with a 318 and every factory option except a sunroof. Have a 340 in the shed that I could assemble some-day, waiting.......

Anyone interested?

[JRios1968]

Where does it go?

Like Marion Barry. Crack and hookers. Lots of crack and hookers.

The rest gets wasted.