About 3 yrs ago I was returning from, of all things, a car show benefitting the Merced PD (replacing a dog that had been killed). Driving my show '70 Olds 442 into Fresno I came across a local gathering of nice cars, some inports & most not. I had not noticed two police cars nearby, but then did see a policeman questioning folks & another was going through some guy's trunk, so I left. One block later I was pulled over & an officer was getting obviously upset because after checking licence, etc, he walked around car & I had plates, good tires, etc., so he asked to look under the hood. Like an idiot I opened the hood, as this is a 1970 very-stock car. He points to the charcoal evap cannister & questions if that is some kind of alteration & poked around. He radios & minute later some plain-clothes Guestopo appears & starts poking around, saying the car is not smog legal. I dispute him and he says he is BAR, that the open-air filter and "this stuff" (pointing generally at the motor) is illegal. They didn't even hear me, could not care less, & gave a ticket for Ref. Only. On my orig try it failed for not having orig-style Q-Jet carb & no fuel return line (I had replaced fuel tank that did not have those fittings - which only Ca. cars had). They crawled over every inch of that car, tail-pipe tested it & tested all vac lines, etc. They thought it was funny & boasted about failing a new Ferrari or such that also been tagged elsewhere. I got the laugh on return visit, as it was freezing, windy, and raining like hell. They could not pull the car all way in test station so half was outside, & those clowns had to fine-tooth the car again while getting frozen & soaked (they even go under the car from front to back). Because it passed it cost me $10.00 "Administration fee". From beg. to end it tooks months & had to go twice to courthouse standing in line with dregs of humanity. I guess most folks just pay the fine (think was $300) & that is what PD wants. So....I didn't just read about this true story, it DOES happen that way.
