It's more complicated than you think...
Purchasing, licensing, and insuring a car in Italy as a non-Italian is more complicated than you may think. First, you
must have a "codice fiscale" (the Italian tax ID number) to purchase/license the car. To get a
codice fiscale, you need to establish residency with the local city
registrar. To establish residency, you need to obtain a "permesso di
soggiorno" (or permission to stay) that you get from the Questura (oh
my heck!). To get the permesso di soggiorno, you need to have a valid
visa, a verifiable address (e.g., rental agreement), pictures, fees, and about a hundred other things.
The smartest thing I ever did was take chocolate chip cookies and
brownies to the gal who was helping me at the Questura. Talk about
greasing the skids! 
All vehicles (whether driven or not) must maintain insurance. And, proof of insurance must be displayed in the front window of the vehicle at all times. Finally, since there's not much of a used-car market in Italy, selling a car is also an adventure.
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