My personal feeling for myself is that a car that is 30+ years old is a classic and I'm looking for originality, not daily driver function. If I had a 360 or newer I'd think tint would be ok.
Go back and ask him to show you the exemption in the California Laws on vehicle window tinting for dermatological reasons - I suspect he'll struggle to back up his statement!
Ha ha. You are probably right. The worst case scenario is a "fix it" ticket. It was cheap to install so no biggie. I was mostly surprised how the wife liked it. She says the car looks so much more modern now. And I really like how it shows the rear side window shape. It does look like a new car now and is much cooler (temp). I know it is not everyone's cup of tea. Especially those that like original.