What is a "California Car"?

[ruby911]

I have heard this term a few times. I assume it references emissions for CA, so what are the mechanical differences between a CA and 'ROUSA' car? I believe my car, though in GA now, was originally a CA car. How can I tell if it is a CA car or not?

Thanks, Farrell

[tobluforu]

Rust

[docrodg]

The emissions info on the car will say CA.

[rfn026]

Ok - Is my 911 a Florida car? It was first sold in Ohio, It then moved to NJ and then to PA. It's been in Florida for about 10 years now.

Can I sell it as a rust free Florida car? This stuff is too complicated.

Richard Newton
Porsche Race Car Blog

[BryanM]

to simplify. to advertise as a "CA car" implies that rust issues are less likely. either way, a buyer would be wise to verify. if you know your car doesn't have any rust issues, then simply advertise it as rust free and leave the "state monacre" out of it.

[Noah930]

If you look on the options sticker on the underside of the front hood, a California emissions car will be listed as "C03." That's a car that was originally sold in California.

But, in general, when you see a car advertised as a "California car" it's because the seller is trying to imply that it's spent its years in warm, sunny, dry California and doesn't have any rust. Live in an area that has winter snow and salt, and you'll see why that's important. Of course, what qualifies as a "California car" is up to the imagination of the seller.

[scotricker]

My car was originally delivered to it's first owner in California. so it has a smog pump. that is an easy way to identify some cars. I know 78-79 California SC's had them, but I think the later ones didn't.

Even if no smog pump, the California cars, and motorcycles in general, usually have some extra parts around the gas tank, gas tank vents, a charcoal air filter of some sort, and even filler neck differences.

And typically, cars that have lived their lives in California have not been subjected to road salt and therefore have significantly less, if any rust to deal with.

My car came from California, and now is here in New Mexico. Our cars don't get rusty here, so we see a lot of old happy cars here still on the road.

[BLEW911]

http://www.californiacars.com/images/shop1.JPG

Don

[911pcars]

The car might have been directly imported to CA from New Orleans (Katrina) or after some other national disaster. Thus, it could qualify as a CA-car.

The term means nothing unless it describes what it means; emission-spec, rust-free, rust-included, includes Hollywood starlet, etc.

Sherwood

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by scotricker

My car was originally delivered to it's first owner in California. so it has a smog pump. that is an easy way to identify some cars. I know 78-79 California SC's had them, but I think the later ones didn't.

All U.S. version 78-79 911SCs have the smog pump. All 80-83 US SCs don't have the smog pump. It was not a "calif only" thing.

[Talewinds]

Simple really, whether it was originally sold in California (C03) or was immediately imported to CA, when you look at the Carfax and it indicates that the car's been registered and re-registered in sunny, dry CA for the past 20-30 years since its birth, then that's truly a California car.
And the benefits, when inspecting the car, are obvious (except for maybe the sandblasted windshield).

[rnln]

no rust, no salt on the road, nice weather all year round, nice/friendly 911's owner j/k

[ruby911]

Thanks everyone. I am familar with the claims of a CA car never seeing snow. I was referencing mechanical diffrences because of emmissions.

Thanks again

[David S. Wallens]

Originally Posted by ruby911

Thanks everyone. I am familar with the claims of a CA car never seeing snow. I was referencing mechanical diffrences because of emmissions.

Thanks again

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. My '84 Carrera shows C03 for an option code, which translates to "California car" according to the list that I found. (The car was definitely sold new in California as well.) So I'm also wondering if C03 specifies any unique equipment.

[Zeke]

I think all cars in the US became "50 state" cars by the OBDII era of '96.

A California car can be one of 2 things or both: less rust and unique emissions equipment. When it comes to rust, there are a few states that are dry and don't use salt on the roads. Some of them can be rough AFA sun damage, tho.

Then again, CA has lots of different climates. A SoCal CA car has never seen salt, nor much rain. That doesn't guarantee a thing. It's just a good start, better than a MI car in general, but no absolutes.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Talewinds

Simple really, whether it was originally sold in California (C03) or was immediately imported to CA, when you look at the Carfax and it indicates that the car's been registered and re-registered in sunny, dry CA for the past 20-30 years since its birth, then that's truly a California car.

True. At the same time, Carfax is far from perfect. My car originated in California, but was then sold to owners in Nevada for many years. By the time I got around to purchasing it, enough time had elapsed since it had been registered in California that Carfax (and the California DMV) no longer had any records of its California past. The DMV informed me that for non-active vehicles (meaning no registration activity in California), they purge the records after 5 years.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by David S. Wallens

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. My '84 Carrera shows C03 for an option code, which translates to "California car" according to the list that I found. (The car was definitely sold new in California as well.) So I'm also wondering if C03 specifies any unique equipment.

I believe the only difference on the 84-89 Carreras for the California emissions C03 is slightly different programming of the DME unit.

You can actually easily disable the "California spec" DME program by simply disconnecting/unplugging the brown connection under the driver's seat. Unplug that one wire and it is now like the rest of the country.

(Or, for the other 49 state cars, you can connect it to make it a "California" spec!)

[Steve W]

Wow, lots of answers for a simple question. McLovin almost has it right. If you look in the specifications of an 84-86 owner's manual, it will show that 49 state cars are rated at 207 hp, with a 0-60 at 6.1 seconds. A California car is rated at 200 hp with a 6.7 sec 0-60. The only difference is the connection of the pin 10 brown wires on the DME harness which retards the ignition timing for reduced NOx, and eliminates any fuel enrichment for lower HC and CO, effectively also killing throttle response. These wires are also connected for Japan spec cars. The DME chip remains unchanged. The emissions label under the engine decklid will also specify California emission approved. In the interest of performance, just disconnect those brown wires!

The above only applies to catalyist spec cars, and not to ROW 3.2s without an O2. In the ROW 87-89 cars, those wires are used in conjunction with a ROZ adapter to select from one of three region coding maps within the DME programming.

[Zeke]

So, Steve, the brown wire deal only applies to the 24 pin, correct? Nothing to do on the '87 to 89?

[Steve W]

No, applies to all North America/Japan cars, including versions in Europe/Australia with a cat and O2 sensor, 24 or 28 pin DME.