A Calif smog check will be required if you want to register the car as a 1976 model. However, I bought a 1982 Puma GTC that had a Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) sticker on the door jamb that listed the car as a 1967 model. Hence, it was smog exempt. I don't how or when the sticker was put on the car. But there may be a way to register the car based on the engine number. Pumas were imported and sold as "kits" which simply meant that they came without engines or drive trains. So, maybe you can register it as the model year of the doner car that provided the engine.