Credited with carrying both Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Louis Mountbatten, a 1930 Ford will once again be the cynosure of all eyes at the 38th Statesman Vintage and Classic Car Rally, to be flagged off in New Delhi on Sunday.

Deputy Director of the BSF Academy at Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh, Brigadier Onkar Singh, will drive the maroon car, which has a 14 horsepower, four-cylinder inline engine.

The erstwhile province of Madhya Bharat acquired the car in 1930 and K F Rustamji, former Madhya Pradesh police chief, officially used it for the last time.

It became a BSF property in 1971 and various dignitaries, including presidents Giani Zail Singh and Shankar Dayal Sharma, former prime minister Indira Gandhi and incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, have graced the car during their visit to the academy.

In the past the car has won several shields at the Statesman rally, including the Motoring Correspondent's Trophy in succession from 1996.