Hindustan Ambassador - India's best loved classic car

The Hindustan Ambassador

The Ambassador, a little like the Mini is in the UK, is a car that you could ask any Indian resident (car fanatic or not) and they’d know exactly what it is.

The Ambassador rolled onto the roads of India in the late 50s and followed a trend for Hindustan. They’d previously buddied up with Morris on the Oxford Series 1 which was sold as the Hindustan 14 and the Series 2 which was sold as the Landmaster.

However, the series 3 was a case of third time lucky, because little did Morris know that when they sold the tooling and rights to Hindustan, the car would not only outlive Morris and BMC but also the designer of the Oxford, Alec Issigonis - because the Ambassador across all guises and generations didn’t stop being produced until 2014.

Now you might be wondering how on earth that happened, but bear in mind, the automotive landscape is very different in India and the Ambassador came into a world where there was very little competition. The biggest competitors in the early days were the Standard 10 and the Premier Padmini, which was based on a Fiat 1100.

However, the owners of Hindustan had great political influence and this helped ensure their cars stayed top of the game in the country.

It is worth mentioning though, that Hindustan didn’t see the Ambassador lasting quite as long as it did. They did try bringing in the Contessa, which was based on the Vauxhall VX series 1976 - 1978 and that ran from 1984 until 2002.

This was partially in response to the dropping sales of the Ambassador - because the competition was growing in popularity. However, that didn’t mean cars gathering dust on forecourts, because the Ambassador still had a year’s waiting list and 2/3rds of Indias cars were an Ambassador of one generation or another. However, that year’s wait list seems less impressive when you find out the competition, The Premier Padmini had a five year waiting list.

As the 80s marched on, sales dipped further and it was decided to try the UK market, working with a third party to do so. The target market was nostalgic Brits who missed the gentle curves of 50s motoring and misty eyed Indian ex pats who wanted a slice of home to get them from A to B.

However, it didn’t go according to plan and the car which had been touted at £7,150 soon rocketed up to £11,485 after the necessary upgrades for the UK market including a catalytic converter and a heater and of course, a fresh paint job, because British weather was about to wipe out an Ambassador paint job with barely a bad downpour or two.

This pretty much finished off the dream and the epic sales figures and success expected dwindled to a handful being imported into the UK and this ended in the late 1990s.

As mentioned, the Ambassador had many generations and throughout the lifespan you see them make slight tweaks and upgrades and by the time you get to the model we’re testing today, the side valve engine is long gone and we’re fitted with a 1.8 Isuzu engine giving us 74bhp and a top speed of 90 miles per hour. You might think that’s positively glacial compared to cars of today, but when that got fitted to the Ambassador, it meant it the fastest production car in India.

Oh and I’m sure you’re wondering, we’ve still got the drum brakes and leaf springs - so some things never change.

The Ambassador ended production in 2014 - with the final years only selling a 10th of what they’d achieved in the 80s. However, that’s not to be sniffed at. The Ambassador is still proudly rolling through the streets of India today and it gave life and transport to many Indians. It may not be a classic of the UK, but it’s a fond favourite of Indians across the world and of course, Top Gears winner of worlds best taxi.