Technical Lemme get this straight...(U.S. Vehicle inspections)

So...
I live in Sweden. I´ve never been to the US, i´ve no friends in the US to ask, so let´s ask YOU guys!
I watch all the Discovery car shows regularly, Gas Monkey, Vegas Hot rods and so on, and sometimes i´ve wondered what kind of regulations an regular car inspektions you got over there.
I mean, Vegas hot rods.... The main guy drives out in the desert, picks up some ´32 coupe cab, puts it on a frame and sells the whole shebang for shitload of dollars.

I mean, here in Sweden that would never, ever, be possible in that amount of time.
If i would find a cab without papers in the Woods, bring it home and try to build something funny of it there would be a pile of paperwork, money and time to get it street legal. I´d have to get hold of a SFRO inspector, document every step of alterations from the original car the cab came from. Or get a street legal car with frame to put my newly found cab on, and then MAYBE get it passed through the Swedish car inspections.

I mean, if you put a turbo on a standard car here, you have to get it registerinspected, and it wouldn´t pass if you didn´t put new powerful brakes to meet the increased
power. If you don´t get a registerinspection after fiddeling with your car,in sooo much trouble if you get pulled over by the po-po or even worse, get in a accident.


So, i Googled it.

According to the Wikipedia there´s NO mandatory vehicle inspections at all in f.ex. Florida? Correct?

 

What you gather is the way it is , we are trying to keep the govt' s nose out of our affairs ...

 

I dont know much about Florida's deal with no inspection but in general here if your car is inspected you can do what you want with it proformance part wise. Also for the most part the inspection isnt really about the engine or how fast the car can go its just standard stuff like breaks and does it have lights wipers etc. Its also different for old cars like in New York anything before 1972 doesnt need emissions testing even if it has a newer engine. They also tend to be more lenient on older cars my speedometer cable broke and my car still passed inspection with a clearly not working speedometer.

Sent from my SM-G960U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

The shows on TV you mentioned are strictly for entertainment..not reality.
As you've shown our individual states have their own regulations, some more stringent then others, but apparently none as strict as your country.
I have the utmost respect for Hot Rodders in other countries who carry the torch, even with their hands tied to some degree.

 

Yep. Trying is the operative word. More success in some states than others.

Ben

 

The mere fact that you folks are able to build and drive hot-rods in Sweden, considering all of the loop-holes you have to jump through, is pretty amazing. You guys have all of my respect.

 

Mmm,yeah.
But as i suspected many states are much more free than us....

But, if you get pulled over in say, Florida, in a total shitbucket;
No brakes, no lights, cracked windshield, leaking gas all over the place....

What then? Do the cops get your car inpounded, do you get fined, or you just get to drive away like nobodys business?
Sorry for all questions, but it´s kind of fascinating for me, growing up under the Worlds heaviest tax loads, with all those regulations...

 

My state [the green one on your map] does not have a "safety inspection". Out of state cars are inspected to make certain the V.I.N. on the car's title matches the V.I.N. on the car before new Nebraska title and registrations are issued. However, new laws are in place that require all the running gear [engine/trans] to be original to the car or an original title will not be issued and you will be required to accept a "bonded" title with a new, state issued V.I.N....The old car will now be registered as a 2019/1934 car. Still not clear to me if the "new" 2019 car will have to conform to 2019 federal safety regulations.
Some counties in the state recognize these new laws and some don't, making it an adventure to register/title your old car.
By the way............we rescinded our old safety inspections laws in the 80s because there was sooooo much corruption! Safety inspection stickers were being stolen off the inside of windshields, stickers were being sold, inspectors were being bribed...it was crazy! The state finally just ended the entire safety inspection program.

 

Ain't it great to live in America!

 

Car would be impounded and you would be fined.

 

California doesn't have required inspection unless you get cited for a missing/non-functioning safety feature.
If it's minor you get a "fix-it" ticket and you then have to clear that off after repairs.
In my area the police rarely bother you for things like fenders, wipers etc. unless you drive unsafely.
Speeding, burnouts, donuts and wheelies will get you busted for everything the officer can find.

 

At one time Florida had emissions inspections but when the state satisfied the federal requirements, Gov Jeb Bush stopped emissions inspections and closed the inspection stations. I'm not sure, but the police can make safety inspections, I think, to get unsafe vehicles off the road.

 

That map isn’t correct. In Nebraska there isn’t a safety inspection only a title inspection when licensing a vehicle from another state

 

I can't speak of regulations for other states as I've only lived in Washington.
It's been many years since I've been pulled over (knock on wood) in a Hotrod. The last time I was in my (at the time) '57 Chev 2 dr hdtp with a USA-1 front license plate, which is why the cop pulled me over, that seemed to have put him into a bad mood, which prompted him to have me remove myself from the car, as he gave it a roadside inspection of sorts.
He didn't like my loud exhaust, front license plate, non functioning horn, and non operating turn signals.
He gave me a slip of non-compliance and 10 days to correct these issues, which I did.
I can't recall if I was fined also, or not (it was about 40 years ago).

 

That stuff is all state by state, not federal. But first you have to remember that the US exists because the founders could not get along with the majority at home. We don't like being told what to do, or not do.

 

I don't want to get political, but...some folks welcome government oversight, some folks hate it. Fortunately, (as Will Rogers said), "Be glad you're not getting all the government you pay for."

 

The idea is that we have a little bit of personal responsibility. There are laws in every state about what equipment is requited, etc. We are expected to keep the vehicle so it meets those laws. But it turns out that the police mostly have real problems to deal with, and don't bother hassling folks with cars that obviously don't meet all the safety laws, as long as they are not driving too dangerously.

At least that's been my experience. I still try to meet all the laws, and I drive some rather iffy cars on the road at times, and travel through many states. I've never been hassled, since I was a youngster, showing off, several decades ago.

One thing that law enforcement does here in Arizona, is that they have vehicle enforcement officers out stopping commercial vehicles, such as big trucks. I hear they will write them up for every small infraction they can find. It's a revenue source.

 

Amen to that belair.

 

Here in Florida there are no state inspections. You can build whatever you like and the state will never see it. If you can build it and its titled and tagged, you can drive it. You would not believe the stuff red necks can build and drive down here. The last car I built only needed the VIN verified by a police officer or at the DMV to get tagged, they didn't check any part of the car.

 

Here in South Carolina the mandatory yearly inspection law was repealed about 40 years ago, it didn't work because some of the service stations/gas stations would sell the inspection sticker for a tidy profit rather than go through the process of doing a actual inspection, they saved time and made money, and usually the car or truck would not have passed inspection anyway.

South Carolina is pretty lenient when it comes to building cars but you must have a title and accurate bills of sales for parts, followed up with a inspection when building something bazaar.

Taking a existing ld car and modifying it you only need a title. HRP

 

Iowa had an inspection law in the 70's, my 38 Chevy wouldn't pass because the exhaust dumped out in front of the rear tires (well at least that is my memory) but I "knew a guy" that would pass it, that inspection sticker is still in the windshield. Later the guy was sending "stuff" through the mail that he shouldn't have and spent some slammer time. He is now in the used car business and I've bought a couple of cars from him. Glad Iowa quit that "revenue enhancement" program

 

See.....thats why I love the good ole USA! This country was settled by European foreigners trying to escape royal and governmental overreach. I hope we never get as over regulated and shackled as people in other countries are.
In Alabama, you don't even need a title to register a car.

 

The car would not be allowed to be driven away. You would be cited for each of those infractions. The car would have to be towed away. Depending on the situation, the personality of the cop, your attitude & your mouth, etc, he may allow you to arrange for it to be towed to where you want it, or he may call for it to be picked up by their towing service and impounded, and you would have to pay the towing and impound fee, which very well may exceed the value of the car (this is a bit of a scam, police dept's work out deals with towing services, judges, courts, etc; it's not unusual for the towing company to end up with the car, which they then sell off at auction. The money they make, from either the sale of the car or the towing/impound fees, they take some of it and "donate" it to the policeman's association, or to the local politicians/judges campaign funds. One hand washes the other. One reason Americans' tend to hate gov't is that there is ALWAYS some kind of corruption involved. It's in our history and why we fought for our independence to begin with. Distrusts of authorities is in our DNA) If you get the car back you would have to get each offense repaired and THEN you would have to get it inspected and signed off, and then take it to the court and pay your fines, and you could get the car back on the road.

But that's a different situation from the scenario you started with, building a car out of scrap or abandoned cars and getting them registered to operate on the street. Again, each state has it's own regulations, but most would require some kind of inspection, they would want to see paperwork for the major parts on the car. If you just found a body out in the woods and you built a frame for it, that would be a major hassle to get it registered in your name. There is a story out there on the web of a guy who did this with an old Chevy van he found abandoned out in the desert, only it really wasn't abandonded legally. It was on private property, and the owner new the van was there and though he wasn't doing anything with it, he still owned it. The guy went to all the expense and work to get the van back into running condition and registered in his name, and then ended up being arrested for vehicle theft and the van went back to the original owner. It may be a but wild and woolly over here, but not quite like the conditions indicated on reality shows.

 

Here in Oklahoma we have no inspections at all. Only VIN verification, when you change a title. By if you vehicle is obviously unsafe... the police will impound you it!

 

We should count our blessings and be VERY thankful for them. Lived in France for a while 40 years ago. At that time, any modification made to a vehicle (suspension, engine, etc) had to be inspected and signed off on by a registered engineer before the car could be put on the road. As you can imagine, very few engineers were willing to risk their reputation, credentials and livelihood for an individual they didn't even know. Things may have eased up a bit since then but it's probably no cake walk. Enjoyed the NATS last week in a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr Continental convertible built by Larry Tripp of Muskogee Oklahoma in 2003 for a gentleman in North Carolina. The entire running gear (engine, trans, front and rear suspension - yes air ride) is from a 1999 Lincoln Continental Mark VIII, along with the interior including digital dash, A/C, stereo and all monitoring systems. There's no way this would have been doable in France "back in the day." Larry Tripp holds more than 50 NSRA awards for his builds and this one is spectacular.

 

Yeah. Here in Louisiana in 2021 we are getting rid of inspections. They are adding the $10 a year inspection fee to the registration fee. Then add 150 more state troopers and new fix it tickets. They had it passed this May but found they need to change the state constitution and that takes 2 years.

 

Yearly state (safety) inspections in VA. The DC area has emissions requirements that must be met. An "antique" registration does not need yearly inspection, but that comes with restricted use. I'm sure that the police can always stop you for any violation and write a ticket, this would apply to all states.

 

Well.......now I've seen everything. Are the jumper cables for the rear lights or to power the camper accessories so the family can ride in the back?

 

I think that’s was for the tail lights. This dude was headed for Eufaula lake from OKC last Summer, when his truck quit, he wanted to go to the lake so he pulled his wife’s car under it, tied it up with tie downs and pulled this camper fifty miles to the lake! Never got stopped! However the cops were waiting for him when he left. They arrested him.... but not for the trailer thing..... seems he had outstanding warrants!





Bones

 

Since vehicles are regulated by states there are wide differences in requirements.

In Nevada a reconstructed vehicle has to be inspected by a qualified mechanic and the paperwork has to be submitted along with receipts for the major components to have the DMV inspect it and issue an assigned number for the title. If a pre-1968 engine is used it will qualify as a smog exempt assembled vehicle.