quote:Originally posted by INZOWHO:
And just to make things worse.
My car 6638 was manufactured Dec. 73
Sold new in California in 1974.
Which would make it "year model" 74
and "date sold" 74
Yet it is titled as a 73.
I was told the California dealers re-titled some cars to beat new smog laws implemented for 1974 in California. Whether this is fact or not, I have no idea.
Doug M
It's a while ago and it's tough to remember but the story I think goes something like, as an import Ford got the EPA requirements waved on things like an air pump.
It wasn't required to have one BUT it was required to pass the emissions test. That meant the dealer could legally issue the safety inspection/emission tag on the new car without lying about it. The car would pass the sight check for emissions equipment.
Working with emissions on other cars I wonder how you can do that? Granted new cars are exempt from state testing in most states, but the next time the car is due, how can you clean it up enough? The air pump is on the car because it is otherwise next to impossible to get the car clean enough without it. Been there, done that. You need the pump.
Something for the '74 model year was going to change such as the pump would be required or additional equipment required, or something to that effect which would be impossible to do to the Pantera because the car would require a major rework to do.
The alternative was to not sell the Pantera in the '74 model in California.
California is a tricky state. There are loopholes that if you hire enough lawyer/engineers ( a strange but useful combination) you can come up with something and drive a herd of elephants through it.
The answer was simple. Ford issued a MSO stating that the car was a '73.
I'm pretty sure that's how the story went?