It has been more than 24 years since Croatia lost one of its greatest ever sportsmen, Dražen Petrović, in a tragic car accident, but his memory still lives on.

On Tuesday morning Dražen’s old white, 1983 VW Golf made it back to his hometown of Šibenik and was parked in front of the Petrović family home.

The Golf has a story to it.

In 1983 Dražen was about to sign a deal with basketball club KK Bosna. Dražen was playing for local club Šibenika at the time and the final of the championships was about to be played against KK Bosna. To show how serious he was, KK Bosna boss Stjepan Grubnić sent Dražen a VW Golf.

Petrović, who was 18 at the time hit two free throws for Šibenka’s victory over Bosna in the final playoff game but the title was taken away from Šibenka the next day by the national basketball federation with irregularities in refereeing cited as the reason, and awarded to Bosna after Šibenka refused to show up for the repeat match.

Dražen refused to move to KK Bosna as a result and ended up moving to Cibona in Zagreb. Dražen’s father decided went to Sarajevo and paid for the Golf.

For the last couple of decades, the car has been driven by Dražen’s mother Biserka in Zagreb where she lives.

According to Radio Šibenik, the car will remain parked in front of the basket and mural of the great basketballer in Preradovićeva street.