(a) Upon registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles, a passenger vehicle or pickup truck that is a specially constructed vehicle, as defined in Section 580 of the Vehicle Code, shall be inspected by stations authorized to perform referee functions. This inspection shall be for the purposes of determining the engine model-year used in the vehicle or the vehicle model-year, and the emission control system application. The owner shall have the option to choose whether the inspection is based on the engine model-year used in the vehicle or the vehicle model-year.

1. (1) In determining the engine model-year, the referee shall compare the engine to engines of the era that the engine most closely resembles. The referee shall assign the 1960 model-year to the engine in any specially constructed vehicle that does not sufficiently resemble a previously manufactured engine. The referee shall require only those emission control systems that are applicable to the established engine model-year and that the engine reasonably accommodates in its present form.
2. (2) In determining the vehicle model-year, the referee shall compare the vehicle to vehicles of the era that the vehicle most closely resembles. The referee shall assign the 1960 model-year to any specially constructed vehicle that does not sufficiently resemble a previously manufactured vehicle. The referee shall require only those emission control systems that are applicable to the established model-year and that the vehicle reasonably accommodates in its present form.