From back when I had my Gran Torino, it depends on who DOES the inspections as to how strict they are. I passed several years just fine with the corner mechanic in Malone, but the first one I did up in Wichita Falls they failed me for a frayed seat belt (replaced with a reproduction one, about $175 parts/labor but it was black instead of blue ugh) and the rubber seal between the gas filler neck and the tank (replaced with NOS, cost about $85 installed). I had never filled the tank more than $10 at a time and didn't know it was leaking.
Most of the failures on older vehicles have to do with burned out light bulbs and bad grounds for lights, fluid leaks (oil, trans, coolant, brake, power steering), exhaust leaks, and ineffective parking brakes. They will want your license plate light working for sure. You can even fail for your dash lighting not working, they got me one year with that and I put a $5 Christmas LED light strip around the inside of the bezel and they allowed it as long as I promised to actually use it at night.