In Sweden they still seem to require those silly ugly things. I don't know why. In Finland they used to require them just to bother people driving US cars. Luckily all that ended when the inspection stations were opened for private competition. Regarding a couple other things, in Finland amber parking lights are legal until 1973 and red rear turn signals until 2000 or thereabouts. Sweden seems to have a bit tougher requirements although I wouldn't care about that stupidity other than on inspection day. Regarding model year, in Finland the registration only shows the first year the vehicle has been registered. For most people that becomes "the model year". In the past when the car tax (it's always been huge in Finland) had to be paid once the car was imported (now it is paid when the car is sold) the dealer stock was minimal and the customers usually saw their own car when they already had paid for it. This system lead to the fact that some more unusual models could sit for YEARS outside in the customs storage at harbors without undercoating. A friends father bought a Ford Taunus with an automatic transmission (difficult sell around 1980) that had sat for three years...must be fun for the later owners to discover that...