Hate this. This turns old cars into garage queens by removing their ability to be a primary vehicle. It requires the owner to have a 2nd vehicle, negating any gains. It makes classic cars a luxury for the rich.
If I were to fix it, I’d require primary vehicles over 20 years of age to go through a simple inspection. Check for fuel leaks, tailpipe sniff. And then subsidize emissions repairs up to some limit that’s indexed to inflation.
I’d also subsidize up to a limit motor conversions and swaps that put a clean engine into the vehicle, with subsidies going up for going EFI, hybrid, or full EV.
I have two ancient gas guzzlers one is a work truck. I’d love to do a hybrid conversion on it but it’s impractical and hybrid motor swaps are unheard of. There used to be an electric motor addon company that could turn any engine into a hybrid but they haven’t done anything in the last couple of years. My ideas would strengthen the market for these types of improvements.