Hot Rods HAMBERS! WHO OUT THERE IS REQUIRED TO HAVE YOUR HOTROD , STATE INSPECTED?

No inspections in Kentucky, but for first time registration of built vehicles receipts for EVERYTHING are required.

 

No inspection in FL. When I first moved here I drove my coupe to the county DMV office where an elderly female checked my vin and that was it. A few weeks later I had my new title. They did however make me prove I had insurance for the first few registration cycles on my coupe but not my Dodge p/up. Coming from CT. This was a breeze..very lenient dmv regulations.

 

Every state is a little different. NY has it, not every place is as fussy as another, used to be you could get away with non-working E-brake but they clamped down on that. Typically has to have safety equipment only as required for year of manufacture, so no seat belts needed on our cars, one tail light, one mirror, etc where applicable.

 

It all depends on the guy doing actual inspection of the car, some inspectors are more lenient than others. When I do a safety inspection on an older car as long as the tires aren't bald, the brakes have some meat on them and all the important lights work it gets a pass. I usually don't usually fuss over a non working E brake on an automatic equipped car unless the cables are broken and dragging on the ground or if the car has other major safety issues. Stick cars are a different story.

 

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! Once you open that door to a new revenue stream it will get really nasty. Take it from a Maryland Trucker. I can site horror stories all day long. Got busted twice for an "abraided airline" on brand new trucks when all it was a bar code sticker/part number on the hose. The MSP and DOT is pressured to make quotas whether they admit it or not.

 

No more required inspections in Ms for any vehicle, starting this month. Prior to that recent change, any vehicle older than 1962 required no inspection, so just because one had an antique tag did not allieviate the need for state inspection if vehicle was manufactured after 1962.

 

No annual inspection in Kansas. hope they don't change the law. I don't know of any hot rod friendly people in the government. Just one more way of getting your hard earned money. NSRA inspected my car years ago, good enough for me..

 

No inspections in CT. Its really easy to register a car just show the vin number. Times they are a changing and here in CT for the better when it comes to registering and driving an older car especially if its 25 years or older.

 

No inspections in Iowa, there were in the past and my 38 Chevy still has it's inspection sticker in the windshield. Being a cynic I think most of the inspection legislation is our politicians looking for money, what I call "revenue enhancement". Red light cameras and speed cameras fall in the same dirty bucket of government trickery. It ain't the safety that's important it's the revenue stream that is. Just another tax that a police department or politician can spend on themselves.

 

Wow, interesting reading all the comments.
I presume all your state inspections are similar to our 'warrent of fitness' (WOF)
Years ago we had to have them done every 6 months. Then they changed it to yearly, for cars up to 6 years old then once 6 years old, every 6 months.
Then they decided new vechiles could wait 3 years before needing a wof and then yearly.
Now it is yearly for vechiles up to 10 or 12 years old, I think.
With 4 or 5 cars I was always getting a wof , 8 to 10 a year.
The 32 ford still needs a wof every 6 months, regardless of milage, even if it sits in the shed most of the time.
And yes the police do have crackdowns on checking for the current wof.
I got pulled over twice at the same spot on two consecutive nights last week!

 

In Tennessee it depends on the county (pop.). We don`t have them in the county I live in, as far as I know the one`s that do only have a smog test.

 

This is a little off topic for this thread but here's a tip to pass emissions if you have an oil burner. The sniffer looks for hydrocarbons to see if your car is burning oil. Drain the oil and run full synthetic oil. It has no hydrocarbons. It still burns oil but the sniffer doesn't care.

I was able to get a couple more years out of my daily driver that way before it completely died.

 

In Jersey ....... STREET RODS/ HOT RODS/ MODIFIEDS must be inspected .... AND HOW !!!! NOT EASY to pass ..... and get " street rod " tags..... but ....... CLASSICS DO NOT have to be inspected...... so .......... if you are " creative" when you go to the DMV you get " Historic " ( QQ) plates and NO Inspection .......

...................... jersey Skip

 

It gets confusing, but in Texas you have a choice of registering Classic/Custom/Street Rod or Antique if your car is 25+ yrs old. Classic/Custom/Street Rod requires annual safety inspection but has effectively no limits on use... Antique requires no inspections and is registered every 5 years but usage should be limited to 'events', test drives, etc. All these variants allow use of old YOM license plates instead of the new plates... you have to register the pair of plates, but you only have to run the rear plate on the vehicle.

 

missouri antique plates require no inspection, but, of course rules regarding mileage, allowable distance, etc apply. we also have the option to personalize them and to use a "year of manufacture" plate. otherwise, with regular plates, an annual safety inspection is mandatory.

 

I think California is as car friendly as you get... Took me all of about 30 minutes to register the Drag Rod.
We have old cars driving around every day. Most cops dig these old cars... especially the young ones who grew up on Monster Garage and other Discovery Channel shows.

 

Here I am playing devil's advocate again , lol !

I'm a PA inspection agent, and I'm in favor of annual state safety inspection. I see way too many people come into our shop with antique tags simply to avoid having to pay for safety inspection . I've gotta tell you , for the most part , they are the most ill-maintained piles that come into the shop . Things like leaking brakes or stuck wheel cylinders that stop the car on one wheel instead of all 4. This crap is on the road with me and my family (and yours) because they're too cheap ! I don't like that one bit ! We explain this to customers all the time, and try to talk them into a classic plate at least (needs inspection, but is a one time plate cost and cheaper on insurance) . If nothing else , safety inspection forces people to do maintenance on their car that they should be doing anyways. I'm all for it.

Personally, I don't care if the car goes well , but it damn-well better stop and steer !

 

I enjoy less government intervention in a Hot Rod friendly State. KS.

 

Vehicles in Ontario have to go through a thorough safety inspection when they are sold to a new owner . When you build an old car- you have it 'safety inspected' if it passes ( and you can't get tags until it does) you are good until such time as it is sold to another person.
Newer vehicles built after 1987 must pass an emissions test every two years to have your tags renewed.
Some areas have had ' Emissions Police' cracking down on hot rodders who install later model emissions compliant motors without the emissions equipment in place( cat converters, etc)