This all news to me.
I bought and registered my '71 1302 back in July. Since I opted for "historic" tags, they didn't even want to look at the car or have it inspected in any way. The only stipulation is for me to drive it under a certain amount of mileage per year.
If I find I cannot do that, then there is a general inspection a car must go through to get regular tags. That means bumpers (which I have), proper brakes (which I upgraded and are new), suspension (same as brakes), the usual stuff.
There are cars all over the state which are raised or lowered by more than two inches.
There are no emissions testing if a car is over a certain age regardless of how it is registered. If 30 years is the cut-off, maybe a regularly registered '75 Beetle or Super has to have the catalytic converter for the rest of this year.
A regularly registered car has to have a muffler, but my goodness, there are so many GTIs, Jettas, Hondas, Scions, etc. with modified exhausts it isn't even funny. I know these new cars can't bypass stuff like mufflers and catalytic converters, but ... I just don't understand.
And, ironically enough, I registered my '71 in Bel Air.
I want a stock-looking exhaust for the Type IV I will eventually get because (a) it looks better than most custom Type I and Type IV exhausts, and (b) I'm afraid of clearance problems with some of the now-and-wow exhausts I see which hang down and out.