At the turn of the 20th century, Gozitans would run into their homes terrified of the sounds made by the first car driven on the island’s narrow roads.

Owned by the Spiteri family of Victoria, the beautiful 1904 three-seater Siddeley was the first car to be seen on the roads. It proudly displayed a No. 1 number plate.

A century later, the car has returned to Gozo. It was unveiled in Victoria yesterday morning by its new owner David Arrigo who wanted to buy it more than 40 years ago.

Judge Frank Camilleri, who handled the sale of the car in 1970, said he distinctly remembered his father recounting how the Gozitans ran away from the “karozza tan-nar” (fire car) as it was called. “It used to make a lot of banging noises which was something they had never seen or heard,” he said.

His legal firm, Camilleri and Camilleri, were the legal advisers to the well-off Spiteri family. It had been purchased second-hand from Malta between 1907 and 1910 by three sisters: Marietta, Carolina and Carmela and their brother Fr Michelangelo.

The three sisters would be taken out for a drive by a chauffeur and the car created a “sensation” whenever it was out on the roads. A 1974 article on the car by Daphne Bampton describes how “some Gozitans were afraid and would remain indoors with the windows and doors closed until it was out of sight”.

However, driving on Gozitan roads, which only catered for horse-drawn vehicles, started to become tiresome and the Spiteri sisters also got tired of the “embarrassment of creating a sensation” whenever they went out.

The car was stored at a nearby farm, exposed to all the elements and was used as a roosting pen for all the poultry. Iris Pace, the daughter of the former Speaker Paolo Pace who was a descendant of the Spiteri family, said she remembered playing in the car when she was six years old.

“It was in a yard where the chickens used to roost – the Gozitans used to say ‘ġej il-mewt għalina’ instead of ‘ġej il-motor’ because they didn’t know any better,” she said.

Ignored and battered by the rain and sun, the car ended up in a disastrous state. “Anyone who passed by and peered over the wall of the farm could see the car,” Judge Camilleri said.

In the 1960s, it was spotted by Mr Arrigo who, out of curiosity, took some photos. He went to England and started making enquiries about its identity. He was then contacted by a man called E. D. Woolley.

“I had been interested in buying it but Mr Woolley, through a friend called Alfred Essex, beat me to it,” Mr Arrigo said.

Judge Camilleri recalled how he had been approached Mr Essex to buy the car.

His role “was crucial” in closing the deal and the Pace family, who had inherited the vehicle, sold the dilapidated car for the princely sum of Lm500 (€1,162) in 1970.

“This was a huge sum at that time and for the state the car was in,” Judge Camilleri said.