In Lisbon on the way to Gothenburg. Hopefully we make the connection in Belgium. Never seen red plates. Why are the osd plates red? Ps it’s a pain to fly out from Lisbon. I would have skipped it but Lisbon was nice to visit.
Because they are limited-purpose plates, sometimes referred to as "transfer plates." Their primary purpose is to allow cars to be lawfully driven on public roads during transfer from factory to dealer. For example, from one ship in a port to another, or from port customs to manufacturer's port prep facility. US-bound Volvos are transferred from the FDC to a ship in the port at Gothenburg. Then they are transferred again at the ports of Southhampton or Zeebrugge, Belgium, to transatlantic ships. I believe the west coast-bound cars are transferred again, at an East Coast US port, to a ship capable of negotiating the Panama Canal.Never seen red plates. Why are the osd plates red?
A friend who was career Navy was stationed in Belgium with NATO for a time in the late 80's. Their cars (one compact purchased there, another big Ford van that was shipped with them by the military) were issued white-on-red plates when Belgium's normal ones were red-on-white.In most European countries red plates are / were traditionally used for CD (Corps Diplomatique). As such I actually didn't want these on my first OSD (as they definitely stand out).
Since most FDC OSD cars are NOT Eu spec cars Sweden uses the temporary plates (white letters on red background). Cars with these registrations must be exported; the temp plates and registration are free from the normal taxes that residents have to pay.