Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries,...
Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, son of famed customizer and builder Dean Jeffries, has long been a supporter of our hobby and as such we thought it only right that he have his own Henry HiRise by Dave Bell.
"You don't know it, but you are one bill away from losing your hobby."
Quote taken from a speech by California State Representative Kevin Jeffries at a local car club meeting.
Editor's note: With major elections coming in November, all Source Interlink Media publications (40-plus titles with 6.6 million paid readers-car, truck, and motorcycle) that are on the newsstands during the months of September and October will run a cover story with the theme of "Protecting our Passion, Sport, and Hobby."
The future of our hobby depends on you. The ballot box is one venue for making your views known. We also urge you to work collectively with your fellow enthusiasts. How? Join the SEMA Action Network (SAN). SAN is a partnership between enthusiasts, car clubs, and members of the specialty auto parts industry in the United States and Canada who have pledged to join forces in support of legislative solutions for the auto hobby. It's free to join; SAN keeps you informed about pending legislation and regulations-both good and bad-that will impact your state or the entire country. It also provides you with action alerts, speaking points, and lawmaker contact information if you want to support or oppose a bill. Join now:www.semasan.com.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that hot rods are under constant scrutiny. Whether it's driving down the highway or a back road, hot rods by their very nature draw attention; some of this attention is warranted and some not. Some of the scrutiny under which we find ourselves is the direct consequence of our own actions, some is the result of music videos, a television series, and movies. Some of this undesirable scrutiny comes by way of city, state, and federal governments. Keep this in the forefront of your mind, "We are living in a powder keg and giving off sparks." When this happens it becomes serious.
Our '34 Chevy never could...
Our '34 Chevy never could get titled in California because of emissions issues so it went away, but the state wasn't shy about taking our registration fees-$6,000-plus and we never got it back!
Until the current economic climate, when states began reaching into our pockets to balance budget deficits, the "live and let live" existence between the local Department of Motor Vehicles and you-and me- is all but over. Americans and hot rodders alike pay attention to dates with special meanings: birth dates, anniversaries, and dates like December 7, November 22, and September 11, which we don't forget because they all mean something to us. In our small world of rodding there's a date many may not know but should. It was on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 when hot rodding became mainstream in the eyes of the "law". On that afternoon, 22 law enforcement agents, accompanied by other officials from the State of California, arrived with guns drawn and flak vests on (never know what a bunch of middle-aged hot rodders are capable of) at Boyd Coddington Hot Rods & Collectibles in La Habra, California. The surreal scene would have been funny if it hadn't been so serious. Coddington was about to be served with a warrant on the suspicion of fraud. And so ended the naiveté that we rodders had existed within.
We think of ourselves as a large industry when in reality we aren't a speck on a mule's backside (colloquially speaking) and that's where it becomes unfortunate. We are being viewed as "detrimental" to the overall good of society through the use of misleading, undocumented, or clearly misrepresented data that manifests itself in unrealistic emissions restrictions and registration standards for our street rods. While there are a number of states that have enacted street rod laws (some based on SEMA-model legislation), to protect both our hobby and industry there are still many states (including the federal government) wishing to enact laws of little or no substance with severe ramifications upon us and our hobby. Forewarned is forearmed, and that's exactly where we now find ourselves with our hobby.