The sign just about says it all: The most used and abused vintage car in Aussie. What the sign doesn't say is that this 1928 Plymouth is also the star of just about every show it enters. It is dirty, dusty, greasy, oily, bedraggled, unkempt, seemingly unloved ... a disgrace really. It is also magnificent.

An ancient rally car that never gets washed, unless it rains, kept in full rally regalia. We found the old girl at an All Chrysler Day at Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, although we have previously written about this car in The Gold Coast Sun some years back.

It is owned by Phil Gander from northern New South Wales who shares a lot in common with his Plymouth. They were born within months of each other, 81 years ago. They have spent the past 41 years together and in that time raised more than $750,000 for various charities. In that time they have driven around 650,000 miles, or more than a million kilometres.

She has also been fitted with special rims and driven on unused sections of the extensive NSW rail system. If the Plymouth could be fitted with wings and fly, Phil would have done that too. While her usual name is Rattling Salvation, the car also gets other handles, depending on the task at hand. So while on the Murray-Darling system she was the `Plymouth Explorer' while on the rail network was the `Plymouth Rattler'.

The lives of man and machine – Phil and the Plymouth – have been intertwined since the Great Depression days of 1928. That year the car was shipped to Australia and the body fitted by Holden, before they were taken over by General Motors, and bought by John Farrell from Acme Motor Works in Lithgow, Sydney. In 1929 the car was used to take Eliza, the pregnant wife of Mr Farrell's best mate Harold Farrimond to hospital, where their first child, Lesley was born. In 1960 Lesley Ferrimond became Mrs Phil Gander. Eight years after, in 1968, the couple heard the car was for sale and bought it from Mr Farrell for $80.

It was then the car underwent its first, and only, restoration. What we see now is a car that has the accumulation of 40 plus years of paraphernalia dripping of the car's body like a `Steptoe and Son' on wheels. It oozes character. “I would not restore it again,” Phil told me three years ago, “ I like the car the way it is.” The Plymouth is essentially original with a few improvements to meet rally regulations and enhance reliability. The updraft carburettor was replaced with a dust-proof down draft on the four cylinder, side-valve Chrysler engine. An alternator was added, Mini seats and seatbelts, and Fiat truck outside mirrors.

Phil took me for a run in the car about three years back near his Brunswick Heads home. The car weighs in at almost 2.3 tonne, so it's a fair lump of metal, considering it has a rag top. Th extra weight comes in the form of spares, which Phil always carries with him. “The power to weight is a bit down,” he jokes. The old girl started first go and soon we were headed out of Brunswick Heads, Phil making the task of double de-clutching look easy, as you would expect after tens of thousands of changes during four decades of driving.

On road the Plymouth is surprisingly stable, but there's a symphony of squeaks and rattles from every corner of the vehicle, telling us about the adventures of 80 years on Australian roads, rail and rivers. The engine sounds strong, but like the boy with the wheelbarrow, it has the job in front of it with the extra weight on board.