Ambassador: looking back at this iconic car's lasting legacy

Now that the Uttarpara factory in West Bengal has shut down, it looks like the Ambassador's journey is finally over. Time to get all fuzzy and sentimental about this iconic car.

Now that the Uttarpara factory in West Bengal has shut down, it looks like the Ambassador's journey is finally over.* Time to get all fuzzy and sentimental about this iconic car that has been a symbol of India since Independence. Three journalists and writers, two business-persons, a bureaucrat and a cab driver tell us why they still love this round, comfortable, gracious (but sometimes maddening!) vehicle.

The saga of the great Amby photo shoot

Here's the story behind the photo shoot for our Magazine cover - a tale of 'sweat and toil' and some fun thrown in. "We should have a bright-coloured Ambassador on our cover." "A white Amby won't do…that's too sarkari babu.""Black and yellow taxi? That's too clichéd." "Go find an Ambassador that is not white or black and yellow." The instructions were clear, the modus operandi wasn't. Delhi has 75 lakh cars, so how difficult could it be to find that odd red, yellow, green, blue or silver Ambassador? We did what we know how to do best - called up our sources. But alas,"who drives an Amby now?!" came the amused responses. Our next hope (and bestie), Google, promptly threw up, "Classic (silver) Ambassador Grand Isuzu on sale" on that resale website. Excited calls were made to the seller, and the photo shoot was discussed. The 46 degree heat seemed sweaty-romantic for a while. And then tentative shoot locations like Jama Masjid or Feroz Shah Kotla's Tomb were mentioned. "No way!" the Amby seller hung up. The next person on the website selling his 'vintage' Ambassador wanted half my month's salary for an hour-long shoot with his car. A few others simply laughed or disconnected. Then an angel named Aditya Vij, an entrepreneur and vintage car collector, came to our rescue: "I have a sand-dust coloured Amby." Music to our ears - with some static thrown in. "Problem is, it's in a dismantled state at a workshop. But I will try and get it fixed asap." And try he did: staying up late with his mechanic, cancelling several important meetings and even offering to bring the Amby down to the location using a crane. But it wasn't meant to be. Mr Vij, we owe you beer for this one! Finally, we turned to Twitter and there they were - Andrew MacAskill (political reporter with Bloomberg) and Joanna MacAskill (editor of India Real Time at the Wall Street Journal), who have been in India for three years, with their two-month-old doll of a baby girl and a shining metallic blue Ambassador. Our photojournalist Raj K Raj promptly put mother and child and car against the backdrop of the Qutub at the golden hour of the setting sun and clicked away. Oh, then of course, some local cops, chests puffed up, arrived and charged their lathis and declared, "Camera band karo. Yahan shooting nahi hogi." But that's a story for another day. - Satarupa Paul

1975 Another minor facelift to the same grille and a much bigger frontal facelift turned out as the Mark III. 1979 The Mark IV was the last of the Mark cars. In addition to the existing petrol version, a diesel variant was launched which was powered by a 1,489 cc, 37 bhp BMC B-series diesel engine. It was the first diesel car in India and was well received. 1900s Economic liberalisation swept the industry. Numerous foreign vehicle manufacturers came to India, bringing increased competition for local manufacturers. The Ambassador found its sales slipping and HM soon began looking for a new model. 1999 HM simply introduced new Ambassador variants. It dieselised the old 1489cc engine, which went into the Ambassador. The Ambassador Nova was launched in 1999, followed by the Ambassador 1800 ISZ three years later. The Nova was the last Ambassador powered by the 1489cc petrol engine The Ambassador 1800 ISZ had under its hood the 75bhp 1800cc Isuzu engine and the option of bucket seats. The dashboard was redesigned. Seatbelts became mandatory. 2003 The year the Ambassador Grand was launched. As per the manufacturer, the new version had 137 differences from its predecessor. There was even an optional sunroof. 2004 HM launched the cosmetically revised Ambassador under the Avigo name. Designed by Manvendra Singh, the retro-look Avigo had classic-touch internals like a centrally-mounted console, beige-coloured seats and wood-finish interiors. 2003 It was only last year that HM launched its latest version of the Ambassador, with the suffix, Encore. It was the first BSIV-compliant diesel Ambassador and built for the taxi segment.

Wait, There is hope...

The good old Amby as we know it today may be riding into the sunset but the oldest surviving car in India may yet make a comeback in a leaner, fitter, more appealing avatar.
Hindustan Motors (HM) has already developed a smaller version that measures less than four metres in length, and it had planned to launch it later this year. Due to the smaller size, it would attract significantly lower excise duties - 8 per cent as against 20 per cent for the existing version - which would enable the company to price it much lower.

The new version takes a leaf out of recent successes like Maruti Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent and even though it may go against the basic design of the original Oxford Morris, perhaps it is a necessary change to extend its life.

"All the work on research and design has been done and that car is ready," said an HM official. "We just want to sort the financial situation of the company and rope in an investor for fresh capital. We cannot keep running a plant that makes losses."

Launching a new car is expensive and the odds are stacked against HM. But given the legacy that the brand enjoys, an angel investor may just give a new lease of life to the grand old lady of Indian roads.

- Sumant Banerji