State rules allow any car 25 years or older to be registered as a collector car. To do so, the owner buys special license plates and the car must pass an emissions test. But once it passes, it isn't required to be tested again unless the car is sold.
Regulators and some classic car aficionados say it's led some owners to take advantage of the rules and register a 1982 Ford Escort, for example, as a collector car to avoid the pollution testing.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/04/clunkers-get-a-pass-with-collector-plates/
The comments on this article at the newspaper's site are great.
This really is not an issue worth pursuing. If the owner of a 1982 Ford Escort junker registers the car as a classic, who cares? He may avoid emissions testing, but if the car is not well maintained then eventually the car will have a mechanical issue that is more costly to fix than the car is worth. If the car is well maintained, then it really is not going to be a tremendous polluter. In fact a 1982 Ford Escort would be a four cylinder car that gets over 30 MPG and is no doubt a low emissions car already, at least compared to what is maintained by the elite to be a “classic car” (in most instances a giant gas guzzler=”classic car” by elitist standards). The only thing they are really avoiding is having to go through the onerous process of getting the emissions tested and paying the $25 dollar extortion fee.
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