THE INDIAN AMBASSADOR

Most of this breed, do not last their term, but the one I am writing about could perhaps creep into the Guinness book of records. It has a Royal lineage from Cowley to Oxford, no relation to the hallowed portals of education. Right from 1947 this sturdy lad has been able to defy technological changes, wind tunnels, automation, and aerodynamic styling; yes at once it is a survivor and an anachronism. Even the world beating Japanese, grudgingly admire the loyalty the Indian consumer had for it, it has also beaten the VolkswagonBeetles record as the only model that went on for 67 years without change. Yes, you have guessed it, it is Hindustan Motors revered car of the country, or is it country car the “Ambassador”.
The interiors still remind us nostalgically of the British club-room styles of the 40’s and are free of electrical and electronic gadgets. Arnold Schwarzenegger has one of those cars in his gym, to develop his biceps and trapezoidal muscles, which requires lowering and raising all 4 windows, beats a bull worker any day.
Considering the sweeping changes taking place globally amongst car makers, it is a miracle that this half a century old Ambassador is still the bench mark for most Indian cars. Attempts to put a Vauxhall sixty five model body on this big and thirsty engine, call it a Contessa, bombed in the market place, as Auto’s and cycle rickshaws used to overtake it on the slightest incline.
Efforts to cosmetically alter it, by a change of grill, dashboard, call it Mark III and Mark IV that gave it looks of the Shark in ‘Jaws’ also did not help the bottom-line. The latest incarnation the Nova with full page ads announcing it has 4 doors that open with difficulty and you can peep at the stars when closed (thanks to a 50 year old die), also more comfortable seats and rack and pinion steering being replaced by ball bearings have had no distinct bearing, on the tough crude looks of the car; It still looked like a villager in a City Suit.
There is no denying the versatility of this vehicle, it is at once a Company car, a Taxi, a Jeep, a Sedan, an Estate and during polls, Minivan for the electorate, and in some rare cases, has transported pre-fab houses, if one can put up with the discomforts, (courtesy suspension bushes) erratic behavior, (fuel pump in summer) poor performance and chunky box like looks, then one could endear oneself to it.
Once seated inside you get a commanding view, like from and armored Tank, and you can peer down with disdain, at those sleek Maruti’s that overtake you, which resemble Dinky toys being remote controlled by kids.
There are no individual or bucket seats in the front, which means with a little bit of yoga, you can provide enough room to seat 4 adults, in front and six in the rear which is good for the average Indian family, which has reduced/dwindled due to the vigorous family planning programme of the Govt. The driver’s seat is the best, due to the peculiar kink of the steering column which is mounted 20% off from the regular straight ones, the driver also has to sit at an angle veering to the right, thus giving him a rakish look to leer at the girls, and also get a good view of all the occupants in the rear through the mirror. The manufacturer also recommends this as a safety feature in case of a head on collision, the steering column misses your heart by 20% off and only dislocates your right chest sternum, and shoulder, no airbags, no E.C.G or Cardiologists required. However anyone who’s driven an Ambassador for more than 4 years is guaranteed of cervical spondylitis.
The sales shot up during the Auto boom years in 1980-89 with lease finance and when Maruti crossed the magic figure of Rs. 1.00 lac plus. The slogan was more for less, but then the excise, taxes and steel prices got their acts together and now it is priced in the rarefied atmosphere, somewhere in the upper reaches of the middle class. Ambassadors like ‘Chaat’ and ‘Bhelpuri’ are a cultivated taste, those who own them, love them and excuse their foibles as inbuilt into it..
It is basically, a mechanical car with conventional suspension that gives a loose sogginess after 2 months of driving; it is a cross country mechanical workhorse that can generate speed of 60 K.M..P.H over a long stretch which on Indian roads is pretty fast. As for road holding well it’s prone to turn turtle, if you corner at more than 40 Kmph, but then any driver with a modicum of skill would be able to sense, the inherent instability of the car, and lift his leg, from the accelerator, while cornering. And Birla, bless his soul, must have a warm feeling that this car is the hub of the transport system in India. Without the Ambassador, transport would come to a grinding halt, people would be Geostationary, corpses would rot in the houses and morgues, unemployment, would swell, as mechanic’s & taxi drivers joined the ranks. Not for the Ambassador, frills, like anti-lock brakes, power steering, McPherson struts, or central locking. The horn ring, is the most sophisticated part of the car, it is pressure sensitive, and blares out the moment you hit a pot-hole and on bumpy/bouncy roads keeps on in canting its own Sa Re Ga Ma. Pity for all those home grown vintage car collectors even after 67 years the Ambassador is the latest model. Even though the Govt, has recently liberalized its Industrial policy, and we may have car phones and GPS in about a year, the manufacturers, are not worried, and are not scouting for state of-the-art car technology, as they have a social obligation, the emission standards from the car’s exhausts are guaranteed to reduce the country’s population by the turn of the next century. This also meets the urgent objectives of the government’s population control, so we can’t ask for more, or can we?-Vinay-