The 1904 Siddeley il-karozza tan-nar with its ‘1’ number plate will be revealed on Saturday.The 1904 Siddeley il-karozza tan-nar with its ‘1’ number plate will be revealed on Saturday.

A stunning piece of motoring history will be revealed in Gozo on Saturday – the first car to have a local number plate has returned to the country after 40 years.

A 1904 Siddeley, the first registered car with a ‘1’ number plate, has been repatriated from the UK.

The car’s early history is still being researched and could prove to be important for historians of Melitensia and motoring once confirmed.

What is known is that in 1907, the Siddeley found itself in Gozo where it terrified the Gozitans, who named it il-karozza tan-nar, the fire car. It was the first vehicle, other than that of the horse-drawn variety, to be seen on the island.

The car was eventually stored in a windmill and forgotten about for almost 60 years until rediscovered by David Arrigo and Brian Mizzi in 1968.

It is considered to be the most important so-called barn find on the Maltese islands to date. Although in a dilapidated state, it was complete, making it an exciting and much sought-after restoration project.

The Siddeley was brought back to Malta by Express Trailers due to the company’s experience in handling the transportation of fragile, rare and vintage collector cars.

The public is invited to attend to the unveiling of the restored Siddeley 1904 in St Francis Square in Victoria on Saturday at 10am.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.