The Hindustan Ambassador is a car manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India. It has been in production since 1958 with few modifications or changes and is based on the Morris Oxford III model, first made by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford in the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.
Despite its British origins, the Ambassador is considered as a definitive Indian car and is fondly called "The king of Indian roads".[citation needed] The automobile is manufactured by Hindustan Motors at its Uttarpara plant near Kolkata, West Bengal. Some prominent Indian politicians, such as Sonia Gandhi, use the Hindustan Ambassador.
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Origins
Hindustan Motors Limited (HM), India's pioneering automobile manufacturing company and flagship company of the C.K. Birla Group, was established just before Indian independence, in 1942 by B.M. Birla. They began operations in a small assembly plant in Port Okha near Gujarat.
Evolution
The Amby, as it is affectionately called, has been in continuous production since its inception, with very few changes to its frame.In 1948, Hindustan Motors shifted its assembly plant from Port Okha in Gujarat to Uttarpara in West Bengal's Hooghly district and strengthened its manufacturing capacity in the automobile segment.
The 1954 Morris Oxford series II in India was licence-built at Uttarpara, (Hooghly dist.), West Bengal, three years after its debut in England and labelled as the 1957 Hindustan Landmaster. It had a rounded rear squab and a curvaceous sloping hood.
Engaged in the manufacture of the Ambassador, Contessa and utility vehicles like the Trekker, Porter and Pushpak, the plant also has to its credit, many innovations and improvements in the automobile industry in India. Hindustan Motors is the only manufacturing facility in the world to manufacture parts for Bedford trucks currently.
Ambassador Mark I to Mark IV
In 1957 all the tooling of the British Morris Oxford Series III was transferred to India. The car was renamed the Ambassador and series-production started in 1957.Styling changes from the Morris Oxford series II (Landmaster) to Morris Oxford series III (Ambassador) included deep headlamp cowls and small rear wing "tail fins" – all the rage in 1956. The dashboard and steering wheel were completely redesigned. The Landmaster's flat-plane two-spoke steering wheel gave way to a stylish dished steering wheel with three spokes made-up of four wires per spoke, for the Ambassador. Also a new, dimpled hood made its debut. These models had a 1,489 cc side-valve BMC B-series petrol engine. In 1959 the side-valve engine was replaced by a 1489 cc, 55 bhp overhead-valve BMC B-series petrol engine.
In 1963 it underwent a minor frontal facelift with a closely chequered grill and was named as the Ambassador Mark II. As with other British designed Mark cars, while there was never really any Ambassador Mark I, the arrival of the Mark II got people calling the older model, Mark I. In this period the Sales Manager, Helmuth Lindeman, tried to persuade Birla Senior to use an Ambassador, as that would in his view, have improved the quality.
In 1975 another minor facelift to the same grille and a much bigger frontal facelift was turned out as the Mark 3, the most popular face of the Ambassador.
In 1979 the Ambassador got another facelift with a smaller chequered grill and square park lamps and separate blinker lamps. This model was named as Mark 4. In addition to the existing petrol version, a diesel variant was launched which was powered by a 1,500 cc, 37 bhp BMC B-series diesel engine. It was the first diesel car in India and was well received by the Indians. Mark 4 was the last of the Mark cars. Later it was renamed Ambassador Nova. The Ambassador of 1990 was virtually identical to the original, with most changes being cosmetic. This technological stagnation was mainly because of the protectionistic policies being pursued by the Indian government at the time, and there was little willingness on the part of Indian companies to innovate.
Ambassador Nova
The Ambassador Nova was launched in 1989 in two variants – a 55 bhp petrol-powered Deluxe version and a 37 bhp diesel-powered Diesel DX version. Ambassador Nova had a newly designed steering wheel, new steering column, better brakes and electricals. It also had some cosmetic changes which included a new radiator grill.Ambassador 1800 ISZ
Ambassador Classic
Avigo
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| Manufacturer | Hindustan Motors |
|---|---|
| Also called | Hindustan Avigo |
| Production | 2004–present |
| Predecessor | Hindustan Ambassador |
| Body style | 4-door sedan |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Engine | 1,489 cc (1.5 L) I4 |
| Wheelbase | 2,464 mm (97.0 in) |
| Length | 4,325 mm (170.3 in) |
| Width | 1,662 mm (65.4 in) |
| Height | 1,593 mm (62.7 in) |
| Related | Morris Oxford |
Engines
In the early 1990s, the old Austin-designed B-Series OHV straight-4 BMC 1.5L petrol engine was replaced in favour of an Isuzu 1.8 litre engine and became the fastest production car in India, beating Fiats, and the Maruti Suzuki cars at that time. The engines currently available are the 1.8 L 75 bhp MPFI petrol engine and a 2.0 L 50 bhp Isuzu diesel engine.In the late 1970s a limited batch of Mark III Ambassadors were produced with 1,700 cc engines.They were fitted with Constant Velocity SU side-draft carburettors of an earlier era instead of the more common indigenous Variable Velocity Solex down-draft units. The engine blocks of these cars had "1700" etched on them instead of the usual "1500". These were probably produced to handle the extra load of the piston-driven air conditioner compressors available in those days. The trim (metal beading) of these cars were a throwback to the sixties because they were chromeplated instead of aluminium.
Extended version
Many local customisers offer stretched versions, though they are not very popular. One such manufacturer is Parikh, whose effort is called the Ambylimo.Customised version
Car designer Dilip Chhabria created a concept inspired by the Ambassador. version the Ambierod. This car is not manufactured by Hindustan Motors nor is it based on the ambassador. Several styling cues however have been borrowed from the Ambassador.UK imports
The car was briefly imported to the United Kingdom in 1993 (as the Fullbore Mark 10). The cars were retrofitted with a heater and seat belts in order to comply with European safety legislation, but only a tiny number were ever sold, and the importer went into liquidation. Despite this failure, from 2002 the Ambassador has again been available new in the UK from Merlin Garages, an importer in Wales.[citation needed] |
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| Manufacturer | Hindustan Motors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production | 1958–present | |||
| Assembly | Uttarpara, Kolkata, West Bengal, India | |||
| Predecessor | Hindustan Landmaster | |||
| Class | Compact car | |||
| Body style | 4-door sedan | |||
| Layout | FR layout | |||
| Transmission | 5-speed manual | |||
| Related | Morris Oxford | |||
| Production | 1957-1962 |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1958-1962 |
| Engine | 1,489 cc (1.5 L) I4 |
| Production | 1962-1974 |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1963-1974 |
| Production | 1974-1978 |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1975-1978 |
| Production | 1979-1989 |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1978-1989 |
| Engine | 1,500 cc (1.5 L) I4 1,700 cc (1.7 L) I4 |
| Production | 1989-1992 |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1990-1992 |
| Engine | 1,800 cc (1.8 L) I4 |
| Production | 1989-1992 |
|---|---|
| Model years | 1990-1992 |
| Engine | 1.5L I4 1.8L I4 2.0L Diesel I4 |
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