It took a missing licence plate, and the lack of one, to crack a 42-year-old theft case in northern Italy.

Police in Volpiano, a suburb of Turin, traced a dark grey Garelli moped stolen in 1984 and returned it to its owner, Antonio Smiglio, after spotting a 64-year-old man riding it without a licence plate during a roadside check.

“This guy was riding this scooter without a licence plate and so he was stopped,” said Americo Celani, commander of the Carabinieri in Volpiano. “This gave us an indication that something was wrong.”

The missing plate mattered because registration was not legally required on 50cc mopeds in Italy until 1994, 10 years after Smiglio’s vehicle was stolen from outside his home in Vado Ligure, in the Liguria region.

Celani said police matched the moped through details on its frame and past reports. “So through that we traced the fact that this moped had been stolen 42 years ago.”

The man riding the moped was charged with possessing a stolen item, although he was not the thief, Celani said.

Smiglio, who now lives in Saluzzo near Cuneo in the Piedmont region, told La Repubblica he “immediately thought it was a joke” when police called to say they had found his Garelli.

He had bought the moped for himself as a 16th birthday present in August 1984, paying in instalments with money he saved from working in a bar and doing odd jobs.

“It felt like I owned a Kawasaki,” he said.

But in December that year, the moped was stolen from where he had locked it outside his home, along with several others. Because mopeds did not have licence plates at the time, “it was a bit like stealing a bike”, he said.

“How much I cried.”

Smiglio said he had been worried about collecting the vehicle because he feared it might be ready for the scrap heap. Instead, he found it in good condition, and after a few repairs he plans to ride it again along the Ligurian coast.

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