Vintage street rods, such as this 1932 Ford Victoria sold recently at Barrett-Jackson, could be endangered by Cash for Clunkers plan.
Auto hobbyists, collectors and parts suppliers are lining up to oppose federal legislation that would take older cars off the road and into the crusher.
The so-called “Cash for Clunkers” vehicle scrappage bills, introduced recently in the Senate andHouse, would reimburse drivers of cars or trucks with credits up to $4,500 for scrapping vehicles with economy ratings under 18 miles per gallon. The credits would be in the form of vouchers to purchase new, fuel-efficient vehicles or use mass transit.
The legislation, first introduced in the Senate by Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), is designed to spark sales of new vehicles to help the sagging auto industry while lowering U.S. fuel consumption and air pollution.
Outspoken scrappage opponent Bill Gilmore, a legislative lobbyist for the Arizona Auto Hobbyists Council, an umbrella group of auto-hobby groups, said the legislation would result in “a vehicular holocaust” without any positive results.
“It is estimated that over six million used pickups, SUV's, high-performance cars, large-displacement motorcycles and collectable vehicles of all years and models would be crushed over the next four years in this twisted attempt to spur newer car sales,” Gilmore said. “Believe me, our beloved car and motorcycle hobby will never be the same, and we will all be disproportionately affected.”
Arizona legislators had attempted a similar state law several years ago but were dissuaded by the efforts of hobbyists and the collector-car industry. The state has many older private cars and trucks still in regular use, preserved by the dry climate.
“Those so-called ‘clunkers’ are cars that other people might love to own and potentially restore,” said Robert Stinnett in a blog on a car-hobbyist web site. “Just because something is old doesn’t mean it isn’t useful. This is a wasteful program that does nothing but waste taxpayer dollars and encourages people to go further into debt buying new.”
