SUPPORT SURGES FOR LENO’S LAW AS CAR CULTURE DEMANDS COLLECTOR’S RIGHTS

SUPPORT SURGES FOR LENO'S LAW AS CAR CULTURE DEMANDS COLLECTOR'S RIGHTS

-- Letters pour in from California's lowrider community and international car preservationists in support of California SB 1392 --

DIAMOND BAR, Calif (May 26, 2026) - Leno's Law, the renewed effort in California to secure relief for car collectors by modernizing the state's emissions testing requirements, is picking up momentum, with a global community of car enthusiasts showing staunch support for SB 1392. The bill is now bolstered by support from California's lowrider community and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)'s International Historical Commission.

• The bipartisan bill, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, with Sen. Shannon Grove as a principal coauthor and TV legend Jay Leno and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) as the sponsors, recently passed out of the California Senate with strong bipartisan support and is now under consideration in the Assembly, awaiting a committee referral.

In an acknowledgment of the undeniable cultural importance of providing a pathway for modernizing the state's laws on collector vehicles, California's iconic lowrider community is standing up for Leno's Law, submitting more than 1,700 letters in support of passing the bill.

"Lowriders and classics are built with pride, shown with purpose, and driven for the community. Leno's Law is about protecting those who keeps these cars alive: the builders, the painters, the upholsterers, the chrome shops, and the clubs that put in the work year-round. SB 1392 keeps our culture on the road and gives the next generation a fair shot at preserving the rides they love," said letter organizer Joseph Mendez, CEO of The Lowrider Grind, a cultural hub for the lowrider community.

Additionally, the FIA, via its International Historical Commission, has sent a letter urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to vote in favor of Leno's Law, citing the bill's potential for preserving California's leadership in both clean air and cultural heritage.

"California has long been recognized as a leader in environmental policy and a trendsetter in automotive culture," writes Giuseppe Redaelli, president of the FIA International Historical Commission, and Willem Groenewald, FIA's secretary general for mobility, sustainability, and tourism. "SB 1392 strikes a thoughtful and balanced compromise by respecting air quality goals while protecting an essential element of California's cultural and economic fabric. It is intentionally bounded, does not create a broad rolling exemption, and creates only an optional pathway for qualifying collector vehicles. It ensures that rare and historic vehicles, some of which are displayed in world-renowned California museums and celebrated by enthusiasts around the world, can be preserved without undue regulatory burden."

"Leno's Law has always been about more than our state's antiquated emissions tests, or the high-dollar auctioneer space that people perceive car collectors to exist within. Rather, it has always been about providing a foundation for the next generation of car enthusiasts, of acknowledging California's rich automotive heritage, and reminding us that in these divided times, our vehicles unify us and spark a joy that transcends generations and demographics," said Victor Muñoz, SEMA's senior manager for state government affairs. "As we share that story with lawmakers in Sacramento, there are no better allies to have by our side than the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and Joseph Mendez and his lowrider family."

BACKGROUND
Leno's Law creates a narrow, phased-in, collector-only pathway to a smog-check exemption for certain older vehicles. The bill starts with vehicles manufactured before the 1981 model year and gradually expands, reaching vehicles manufactured before the 1986 model year by 2032. Importantly, it does not change the existing pre-1976 exemption already in law.

This proposal intends to solve a practical problem many owners already recognize: testing options for older vehicles are becoming harder to access, less predictable, and more expensive as legacy testing infrastructure declines. Leno's Law is also designed to focus on true collector vehicles: those used primarily for shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions, rather than as an owner's primary mode of transportation.

ABOUT SEMA

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) serves as a leading voice for the worldwide car culture, representing over 7,000 member companies that create, buy, sell, and use specialty-automotive parts that make vehicles more unique, attractive, convenient, safer, fun, and even like new again. Business member benefits include product development resources, market research, networking, education, legislative advocacy, and more. The Association organizes the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nev., and actively supports the career and business opportunities that the aftermarket generates. The industry contributes nearly $337 billion in economic impact to the U.S. economy, supports 1.3 million jobs nationally, and generates nearly $53 billion in parts sales annually. For more information, visit https://www.sema.org.

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