Hindustan Motors India started complete local manufacturing of the Ambassador in 1958 and continued till production ended in May, 2014. The iconic brand has now been acquired by the French company Peugeot (PSA) for Rs 80 crore. The favoured car of politicians for decades though couldn’t stand firm against newer and technically advanced competition. In this feature, we take you through ten key points through Ambassador’s journey in India.
The Ambassador was based on the Morris Oxford series III model, manufactured by Morris Motors Limited at Cowley, Oxford, United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959. In India, the car was in production since 1958 to 2014 and in this time period the car received numerous updates.In 1957, the Ambassador was introduced with a 1,476cc side-valve petrol engine and in 1959 it got a new 1,489cc, overhead-valve BMC B-series petrol engine that delivered 55 hp of power. It also got a new bonnet and improved dashboard with three spoke steering wheel.In 1962, the Ambassador received a major update in exterior and interiors. On the outside, the car got a chequered grille, new tail lamp, and the tall ornamented bumper stopper at rear. In the interior, it received an all new instrument cluster.In 1975, the Ambassador was introduced with new improvements and in two variants- Standard and Deluxe. While the Standard variant featured a new dashboard, the deluxe version was available with 4 meters in the instrument cluster.
In 1979, the company launched the Ambassador with a diesel engine, making it the first diesel car in India. This variant was known as the Ambassador Nova.Hindustan Motors celebrated the golden jubilee of the Ambassador in 2008, ( 1958-2008). The car was manufactured on the same production line in West Bengal through all these years.The fifth generation Ambassador Nova was launched in two variants in 1990. The Nova variant was equipped with features such as new steering wheel and brakes.
The company introduced another variant of the Ambassador 1800 ISZ, powered by a 1,800 cc Isuzu inline-four engine that produced 75 hp of power. The unit was mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.The Final generation of the Ambassador was introduce in 2003, and was known as the Ambassador Grand. Engine options included 2.0 litre, 1.8 litre and 1.5 litre engines.
Owing to negligible sales and rising labour problems, Hindustan Motors finally brought the Ambassador’s production to an end in May, 2014 and in February, 2017, the brand was sold to Peugeot for Rs 80 crore.
Image source: classics. honestjohn. co.uk
