How many cars live up literally to their names? The Rolls Royce Ghost can’t be turned invisible; the Dodge Viper doesn’t transform itself into a snake; but the Hindustan Ambassador? Now that is one car that personifies its nomenclature. Staying true to its name, the Hindustan Ambassador kept the entire subcontinent on wheels, ferrying people from all walks of life.

 Though to be fair, the Ambassador had the luxury of time in its hand to cater to possibly every section of the society with its production run spanning 57 years! It became the longest production car in India, with the Maruti Omni racking up second place with 30 years. During its peak, the Ambassador became a status symbol as takers for this Indian sedan comprised bureaucrats, highly-ranked officials and the first-ever Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Upper-class citizens had to fight to acquire an Ambassador for them as the waiting period reportedly stretched up to eight years! The car was a true icon.
 
Until the 90s, when India opened its markets for the world to invest, the Ambassador reigned supreme in the local automotive market. It was also the first car to get powered by a diesel engine in India and the only one manufactured entirely in India until 1983, when Suzuki entered the market to produce the Maruti 800. So it wouldn’t be wrong to say the Ambassador preemptively promoted PM Modi’s “Make in India” campaign even before the idea came into existence.

British Roots
The aristocratic family of Birlas owned the Hindustan Motor (HM) company. They utilised an assembling facility in Port Okha, Gujarat, to build the Morris Oxford Series I under license as Hindustan 10 up until 1948. The same year saw them shift to a full-blown manufacturing facility in Uttarpara, West Bengal, making it the first and only integrated automobile plant in India.
 
The Ambassador’s innings started out under the Hindustan ‘Landmaster’ nameplate, which itself was based on the British-originated Morris Oxford Series II. It had similar looks to the original Amby except for a more rounded boot. But the Birlas wanted to replace the older car, which resulted in the Indianised Morris Oxford Series III or the Hindustan Ambassador getting conceived. The year 1957 saw the Ambassador move through the Uttarpara plant’s production line, and the car remained in production up until 2014 while undergoing minor revisions throughout its life cycle.

 A millennial may see the Ambassador as a scarcely equipped car, but back in the golden days, the Ambassador was way ahead of its time. It was built on a fully enclosed monocoque chassis, a production method followed in the modern era to build cars, ensuring safety and a spacious cabin. Among numerous upgrades received during its lifetime, the Ambassador nestled some foreign motors such as the 1489cc BMW B-Series diesel engine and the 1817cc Isuzu inline-four engine. The fitment of the former enabled the Ambassador to become the first diesel-powered car in the country, while the latter was lifted off the Contessa and powered the models specially-ordered for VIP customers.

Ambassador’s Diversity
Indians would mostly recall the Ambassador as the official ‘laal batti gaadi’ or the ‘yellow taxi’ commuter of Calcutta. However, the Ambassador’s legacy also diversifies into the service sector, known only to a few. Hindustan Motors introduced the Ambassador in numerous variations to extract the maximum potential from this bulbous sedan, ranging from a station wagon, goods carrier, and even a pickup truck.
 
The station wagon was advertised as a people carrier, capable of accommodating as many as 14 passengers including the driver. Larger interior dimensions meant the cabin could be overhauled entirely to make room for an ambulance setup or as a windowless goods carrier by decoupling the bench seats behind the driver. The year 2011 saw HM devise one last attempt to market the Ambassador’s versatility by introducing the Ambassador-based Veer pickup truck. With only a handful of takers, the Veer tanked at the market.

Ambassador’s Importance To Hindustan
“King of Indian Roads”. That’s the title it received in its hay days for carrying a sturdy built quality, springy bench seats and a spacious cabin. These further implied the car didn’t just have takers from the wealthy private sector, but also the public segment. In the early years of Independent India, one had to be a high-ranked official or a distinguished politician to ride in one of these. Later, a significant chunk of the public fleet comprised only Ambassadors. Since its inception, as much as 16 per cent of the total units produced were bought by the Indian Government.

According to sources, former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was using an Ambassador for his daily commutes but would opt for a Cadillac whenever any foreign dignitaries visited him. The reason, as mentioned by then External Affairs Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, stated that Pandit Nehru wanted “to let them know that the Indian Prime Minister could also be driven in a Cadillac.” Though when Shastri took over the role of the Prime Minister in 1964, he stuck with the Ambassador, regardless of the stature of his guests. He went on to explain, “Pandit Nehru was a great man, and it is difficult to emulate him. It makes no difference to me what the foreign dignitaries think of me as long as they know that the Indian Prime Minister is travelling in a car which is made in India.” The indigenous nature of the Ambassador made it represent a nation still reeling to establish its own identity on a global scale.

Amby in Modern Day India and Kolkata
To this day, several government officials continue to use their Ambassadors as their official transport. Many refer to these ‘laal batti gaari’ or red siren equipped official cars as ‘white elephants'. One may argue the Ambassador’s exteriors hasn’t been altered much in these 50 years and on the surface, it might appear so too. The silhouette of the original Ambassador has been retained, and so has the overall design. Hindustan Motors did little to change its best-selling model in the final years of the 20th century. Though when shove came to push with all modern offerings from new entrants in the Indian market, Hindustan Motors finally introduced alterations that spawned beyond basic fog light and bumper tweaks.

The final-generation Ambassador Grand launched in 2003 came with more than a hundred tweaks from its predecessor. Bigger rear wheel drums, improved suspension, upgraded modern interiors with fabric seats, a central door lock, and a factory-fitted music system kept the Ambassador relevant in our developing nation. And to round off the mechanical upgrades, Hindustan Motors introduced the Ambassador Encore in 2013 with a 1.5-litre diesel engine that remained compliant with the BS-IV emission norms followed in metropolitan cities like Kolkata.
 
This allowed Amby to continue plying on Indian roads for another half a decade whilst also being synonymous with the city of Kolkata as its dedicated taxi. Maybe the local production facility played a part in substantiating the emotional connection between the car and the city. Operating with an iconic yellow livery, the Ambassador attracted tourists in almost the same magnitude as the Victoria Memorial. A city tour for tourists was considered incomplete without a ride in the iconic Ambassador cab. And why won’t it be considered a relic by itself? After all, the Ambassador was named the Best Taxi in the world by the biggest motoring show on the planet, TopGear, when pitted against the likes of London Black Cab, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Toyota HiAce, Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Crown Victoria and the Lincoln Town Car among others. Till today, the Ambassador serves Kolkattans while also being used in other smaller towns and cities across India as a taxi.

Suspension Of Production
The production of the Hindustan Ambassador got suspended in May 2014. Owing to weak demand, financial woes and labour strikes, what was once India’s largest carmaker now ceased to exist. The car’s non-compliance with emission norms was just the tip of the iceberg in the list of issues that led to the Ambassador’s demise. The reluctance to revise the exterior design as well as the cabin layout, no upgrades in the plastic-brimmed cabin quality, and almost none of the modern in-car entertainment features being provided meant India’s first indigenous car found little to no takers in the 21st century.

 In 2017, Hindustan Motors finally sold the Ambassador nameplate to the French manufacturer Peugeot for a nominal amount of $12 million (INR 91.59 crores in today’s valuation). Peugeot has been eyeing the massive Indian market but hasn’t been able to penetrate it. With the Ambassador badge, the French carmaker had a trusted product offering to commence its operations, and yet, five years since the purchase, the Peugeot is yet to offer their products in the ever growning Indian auto market. No word on the future of the Ambassador nameplate as well.

The Ambassador’s Electric Return
It’s been almost eight years since the Ambassador was axed, yet the people can’t seem to get around it. More specifically, Indian design stalwart Dilip Chhabria of DC Designs appears smitten by the Indian sedan. In 2012, his firm came up with the Amberoid concept, or DC’s vision of a futuristic Ambassador. The DC Amberoid concept tried to recreate the original silhouette with a radical design theme comprising gullwing doors, massive wheels and lounge-like seating for four. DC never put the Amberoid into production, but they did break the internet last year when they unveiled another iteration of the Ambassador concept.
 
This relatively modern avatar was said to be an all-electric derivative of the Amberoid concept with design tweaks and plans of being put in production. An undisclosed Swiss company was given the task of production with the retention of the gullwing doors in the final product. A monthly target of 5,000 units was set for retail in India and overseas export. The estimated price of the all-electric Amberoid was set around the INR 30-35 lakh mark, with launch scheduled for 2021 end. However, a recent scam allegation on the company and the owner entails that such projects have been deferred indefinitely, and so is the dream of seeing the Ambassador nameplate resurrected.