SCAQMD Delays Decision on Scrappage Amendments
California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) governing board recently delayed a decision on whether to implement amendments to Rule 1610. These amendments would require that vehicles submitted for scrappage be destroyed before any emissions trading credits are granted to dismantlers. This would be a change from the existing procedure whereby virtually all parts may be resold prior to vehicle destruction. The SCAQMD board indicated that it would reconsider the amendments only after the California Air Resources Board (CARB) takes action on a similar proposal for scrappage programs operating within the state.
SEMA Honors Hobbyists/Clubs at Las Vegas Show
"You have no idea what it meant to me to stand up on that stage to receive an award as a volunteer on behalf of my sport. The reality is just starting to hit me and I'll never forget it," said Helen "Sugar" Fields of the East Coast Four Wheel Drive Association (EC4WDA), one of three SAN contacts and member clubs honored at the SEMA Awards Reception and Banquet held recently in Las Vegas. Fields and the EC4WDA were recognized for generating opposition to raised vehicle legislation nationwide and for exceptional service to the SAN concept.
The other awardees were honored for equally impressive service to the automobile hobby. Scott Cedergreen and the Washington Car Club Council received awards for efforts in securing a rolling emissions exemption for cars 25 years old and older from Washington state’s I/M program and for pushing statewide legislation preventing unfair inoperable vehicle ordinances. Bill Buck and the Arizona Automobile Hobbyist Council were awarded for their role in fighting off scrappage programs in Arizona. Buck was recognized for his support of the first-ever state law authorizing voluntary repair and upgrade as an alternative to crushing vehicles.
The individual honorees were flown to Las Vegas during show week, given a tour of the renowned SEMA Show (one of the largest automotive aftermarket trade shows in the world) and shared a table at the awards banquet. All awardees were recognized by SEMA, SAN and the SEMA councils at the banquet-specifically the Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO) and the Street Rod Marketing Alliance (SRMA)-for their service to the hobby. SEMA Director of Outreach and Public Affairs Brian Caudill commented, "These individual and club honorees went the extra mile to protect the interests of their fellow hobbyists against the seemingly overwhelming tide of harmful government legislation and regulation. We appreciate their labors and we are proud to honor their achievements."
New Jersey Receives Commitment for Modified Performance Classification
The Council of Vehicle Associations and the Classic Vehicle Advocate Group (COVA/CVAG) of New Jersey have received a commitment from state regulators to create a modified performance vehicle classification and exempt these vehicles from the I/M 240 emissions test beginning the spring of 1999.
Under the agreement, modified performance vehicles would be limited to 10,000 drive miles per 2-year cycle. Modified performance vehicles manufactured between 1981 and the present would be emission inspected using an idle test and a stationary 2,500 rpm test. Those manufactured prior to 1981 would only be idle tested. In addition, all of these vehicles would be required to carry the appropriate insurance for mileage-restricted vehicles and bear a window sticker identifying the automobile as a "modified performance" vehicle.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation requested that enthusiast groups provide the agency with a $500 fee for stamping a special "modified performance" license plate. SAN contact and COVA/CVAG President Carmen "Butch" DeZuzio said, "We would like to thank the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles for recognizing that those who enjoy the performance benefits of modified vehicles should not be punished by unreasonable emissions standards."
Lost in the '50s Custom Car Club Provides Community Support in the '90s
In Maryland, a group of car aficionados gathered in the early '80s to cruise the local Dairy Queen in Anne Arundel County on Saturday nights. What started as a few friends hanging out has become a strong fundraising force for local charities.
With 185 registered family memberships, the Lost in the '50s Custom Car Club has worked with the community's best interests in mind by organizing some fabulous charitable events during the past 10 years. A not-for-profit-corporation since 1992, Lost in the '50s is the largest car club in Maryland. Members must own any vehicle older than the 1972 model year. And they have all kinds of vehicles in their midst—a 1919 Model-T Ford, street rods, buckets, modifieds and even a few European autos.
Lost in the '50s charitable work started with an annual November toy run to benefit the local Salvation Army and the Toys for Tots program (1999 will usher in the 10th-annual run that now takes place as a celebrated "Christmas in July" event). Having raised more than $9,000 in funds and toys for the Salvation Army, this year's event saw more than 330 vehicles paying a $10 registration. Additional funds were raised through raffles and straight donations from participants and onlookers. Funds are used to purchase toys as Christmas presents for needy children. Funds are also donated to the Salvation Army to purchase additional toys and other items for needy families during the holidays.
In September, the club puts on a show to benefit local Boy Scout Troop #216, which is made up of 30 physically and mentally handicapped men aged 20 to 55. The Troop has several opportunities to plan activities that include travel, and their special needs require additional expenses. The annual show averages 200 to 250 vehicles, and just like the Christmas in July Toy Run, the cost to register a vehicle is $10, with additional funds raised by donation or through raffles.
The local Special Olympics chapter is the beneficiary of an annual October show, which has been going strong for 6 years. A Chinese auction, raffles, donations and registration fees from an average of 450 vehicles helped to raise more than $13,000 this past October. At their annual banquet, the Special Olympics with honor the club as the 1998 Organization of the Year. Current President Richard Mooney plans to attend and accept the award on behalf of Lost in the '50s hard-working volunteers.
For the holiday season, as if the fundraising event for Salvation Army wasn’t enough, the Lost in the ’50s group puts together a nonperishable food drive that has been going strong for 9 years. The collection site is Sicily's Pizza in Glen Burnie, Maryland, and the food items are donated to Salvation Army every year on November 28 for distribution to needy families during the Christmas season.
For more information on the Lost in '50s Car Club, contact Richard Mooney at 410/987-6613 after 5:00 p.m., EST
NAMRC Meets in Las Vegas; Expands Focus
The North American Motorized Recreation Council (NAMRC), a nationwide leadership coalition of off-highway vehicle (OHV) associations which deals with everything from equipment regulations to land-use issues, took advantage of SEMA Show week and held a meeting in Las Vegas. Represented in NAMRC are SAN-member clubs including the United Four Wheel Drive Associations, East Coast Four Wheel Drive Association, Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association, California Four Wheel Drive Club and The Toyota Landcruiser Association.
Hosted by the Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association (PNW), this meeting was called to monitor progress on action items NAMRC developed at its Kansas City meeting earlier this year. To date, significant progress has been made in developing programs promoting the OHV sport in the areas of membership recruitment (including outreach to SUV drivers), media relations, youth programs, industry relations and partnering, and government affairs. Each of these programs is designed to galvanize the off-road sport to combat enthusiast apathy, poor organization and unwarranted government interference.
At the meeting, NAMRC took the exciting and important step of expanding its scope to include all members of the off-road community. No longer will NAMRC be simply a four-wheel-drive-oriented clearinghouse for ideas and strategy. At the upcoming spring meeting, hosted by the East Coast Four Wheel Drive Association, organizations representing all-terrain-vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles and snowmobiles will be invited to join NAMRC to unify and fight for each others' mutual benefit.
SAN contact and host, Carol Jensen of PNW, expressed her pleasure with the meeting and the direction of NAMRC. "The meeting went very well and was extremely productive. [NAMRC] will be a broad-based, consensus building and information-sharing organization. This is the only way the entire motorized trailriding community will ever come together as an organized and effective group."
Scrappage Tax Credit Introduced in Michigan
In the waning days of the legislative session, a bill that would provide a tax credit to individuals for scrapping vehicles was introduced in the Michigan legislature. Under the measure, the tax credit would be the amount equal to the blue book value of the vehicle or $500, whichever is greater. Vehicles eligible for the program would be those operable light-duty cars or trucks manufactured prior to 1980, continuously registered to the owner for at least the 12 months immediately preceding the date of scrappage. The bill also says that scrapped vehicles would be recycled for parts.
The good news for the Michigan hobbyist community is that the legislature is scheduled to meet for only a few more weeks and committee staff have indicated that the bill was unlikely to receive any serious consideration.
Automotive Performance and Motorsports Caucus Co-Chairs Campbell/Levin Re-elected
The November 1998 elections turned out well for those members of the SEMA-supported Congressional Automotive Performance and Motorsports Caucus who were up for re-election. Among the victorious were Caucus Co-Chairs, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) and Representative Sander Levin (D-Mich.). SEMA VP of Government Affairs Chris Kersting commented, “SEMA congratulates Senator Campbell and Rep. Levin on their successful re-election efforts. We’re grateful for the support these outstanding legislators have shown the automobile hobby in the past and look forward to working with them in the 106th Congress."
In addition to the return of the co-chairs, the vast majority of the Caucus' 57 members will return as well. Five members will not be returning, including two who were unsuccessful in their bids for the Senate, John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Frank Riggs (R-Calif.). Another active Caucus member, Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.) is among those retiring from Congress.
Overall, Republicans maintained a majority in both Houses, though the margin has narrowed significantly with a net loss of five seats, shrinking the GOP's plurality to six seats. SEMA looks forward to meeting the 40 new members of Congress.
Congressional Automotive Performance and Motorsports Caucus Members (Post-Election)
CO-CHAIRS
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.
Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.)
HOUSE
Cass Ballenger (R-N.C.)
James Barcia (D-Mich.)
Joe Barton (R-Texas)
Kevin Brady (R-Texas)
George Brown (D-Calif.)
Ed Bryant (R-Tenn.)
Dan Burton (R-Ind.)
Ken Calvert (R-Calif.)
Howard Coble (R-N.C.)
Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)
Gary A. Condit (D-Calif.)
Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.)
Mike Doyle (D-Pa.)
Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.)
Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.)
Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Md.)
Virgil Goode Jr. (D-Va.)
Joel Hefley (R-Colo.)
William Jenkins (R-Tenn.)
Walter Jones (R-N.C.)
Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.)
Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)
Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.)
Joseph Knollenberg (R-Mich.)
SENATE
Larry Craig (R-Idaho)
John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Conrad Burns (R-Mont.)
John Linder (R-Ga.)
William Lipinski (D-Ill.)
Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.)
Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.)
Howard McKeon (R-Calif.)
Connie Morella (R-Md.)
Sue Myrick (R-N.C.)
Ron Packard (R-Calif.)
Richard Pombo (R-Calif.)
Bob Riley (R-Ala.)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.)
Edward Royce (R-Calif.)
Max Sandlin (D-Texas)
Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.)
Tom Sawyer (D-Ohio)
Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
Nick Smith (R-Mich.)
Floyd Spence (R-S.C.)
John Spratt (D-S.C.)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.)
John Sununu (R-N.H.)
William M. Thomas (R-Calif.)
Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.)
Letter to the Editor
I would like to inform all at SEMA about a great grassroots program now started in California.
On Sunday, October 18, 1998, at Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California, we held our first "Save Our Cars" car show and rally. This event is the brainchild of Jerry Effle and myself (Gary Ewing), directors in the Association of California Car Clubs (ACCC). It was our idea to build and band together all of the car clubs and enthusiasts and form a group to steadily fight against the bills directed at taking our cars off the road.
A number of [California State legislators] were contacted to attend, and we were thrilled and honored to have in attendance Senator Richard Mountjoy who spoke on the bills and pledged his support on our behalf. The Senator informed us of new bills he was proposing and asked for all of our support in this ongoing fight. In addition, many sheets of information were handed out concerning the issues.
The event brought out 236 special-interest and collector cars, representing more than 30 clubs in the area. Attendance was well over 500 people. All in attendance are now on our computer list and will receive newsletters from ACCC and other publications, [including "Driving Force"]. Also in attendance was Scott Ross, editor of Drive magazine, who is a great spokesman for our group. Others in attendance were Andy Nantz, president of the ACCC; Frank Weeks, editor of the deFENDER Newsletter; and Rick Peterson and Mike Cronchey, ACCC Board Members.
I am forming a cruise to the state capitol in Sacramento for the 13th Annual Legislative Conference in April of 1999. We are looking for cars from all over the state to ring the Capitol and show that we are going to save our cars!
Sincerely,
Gary Ewing
President, Pick-Ups Limited of Southern California
Association of California Car Clubs
DECEMBER SAN CLUB EVENTS
Arizona
December 5, 1998, Tucson, Arizona
"Toys for Tots" Benefit Car Show
Sponsor: Classic Chevy Club of Tucson
Information: 520/293-0216
December 5, 1998, Casa Grande, Arizona
8th Annual Central AZ Speed and Custom Car Show
Sponsor: Central AZ Speed and Custom Association
Information: Gary Pandolfo, 520/836-5751
Florida
December 12, 1998, Orlando, Florida
6th Annual Buick-Olds-Pontiac Florida Finals
Sponsor: Skylark Drive Club
Information: 407/568-2717
Maryland
December 5-6, 1998, Timonium, Maryland
9th Annual Car Show and Flea Market
Sponsor: Street Cars of Desire Car Club
Information: Sharon German, 410/876-3842