A Nostalgic poll : Premier Padmini or Hindustan Ambassador. Which would you choose?

[karthik_ag1]

I prefer the amby. Have had many a long drives on bad indian roads on a good amby

[kkr2k2]

For a moment i thought this thread was started by Rudra sir . (well the words 'nostalgic and 'amby' made me think so )
I voted for the padmini,
i would see myself in a padmini than in an amby, in the stock form the padmini performs better than an amby. and ofcourse the exhaust sound....love it. I feel the padmini handles better than the amby.

padmini is in my list to restore an old one, just like this one:

Originally Posted by Rtech

Which planet are you from?!? Living in India and you haven't even sat in a Padmini?!?

well buddy, may be by the time he was born , the padmini was out of production.

if it were to be the M800, he wouldnt have said so.

[karlosdeville]

ah, another fiat thread...im loving it!

while it is a surprsingly close fight (even for such different cars...), i have to go with the Fiat...so much more compact and practical to drive, still has tremendous hauling abilities, and so much potential for tuning...and i still havent enjoyed a corner as much on any other car (well, except my old herald maybe...)

And lets not forget the Italian lines...the amby has its charm no doubt, but im a sucker for italians...

The Amby soldiers on only because of the government, (dont get me wrong, im glad it does), and that too in a much more modern avatar....the fiat had very minor changes over the years, which is testimony to its brilliant engineering...the enigne has its roots to 1938!

A coupla years ago Autocar India (i think) had a Fiat vs landmaster piece...something ive always wanted to read, along with a Morris minor vs Standard 10, the other 2 arch rivals available a little earlier...

[scooby05]

Karlos,
Am I right in saying that:- the Fiat engine is a Half Ferrari V8, 2750cc of the late '40s early '50s, with a new designed block?? This is what I have been told in the Old days in '60s!!
or am I
we had blown this engine up to 1250 cc with twin carbs, tuned by Srikant Shah, for Rallying, and used to test touching upto 150kmph, and rock steady[with skill offcourse]. Just that in one race the engine had to be reopened everytime.

[Dippy]

After reading the many replies I'm still confused as to which car to choose. I love them both. the Premier for it being my family's first car in India and the Amby for the amazing times I have had in it thanks to Aditya. Will reserve my vote for now

How come Rudra the Amby man hasnt replied yet?

@scooby05 : The Amby on two wheels at Haji Ali must have been some experience

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by scooby05

Karlos,
Am I right in saying that:- the Fiat engine is a Half Ferrari V8, 2750cc of the late '40s early '50s, with a new designed block?? This is what I have been told in the Old days in '60s!!
.

well, the essentials of the evergreen 1098cc Fiat 1100 103 series engine had its roots in the 1938 Balila...before the fiat ferrari equation came into the picture...So, dare i say, the Ferrari v8 just might be two Fiat engines put together...
Boy, am i gonna get a hiding for saying that...hehe!

I suppose only the legendary Dante Giosca would have been able to shed light on this...

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

well, the essentials of the evergreen 1098cc Fiat 1100 103 series engine had its roots in the 1938 Balila...before the fiat ferrari equation came into the picture...So, dare i say, the Ferrari v8 just might be two Fiat engines put together...
Boy, am i gonna get a hiding for saying that...hehe!

I suppose only the legendary Dante Giosca would have been able to shed light on this...

Dear Friend, For sure I Have heard from many old tuners about this story that " the ferrari V8 was cut into half and redesigned and detuned for use by fiat in their normal passenger cars!" in the early '50s.
Please try and talk to Chubi/Nazir/Srikant and sure one of them will give u the story!!

[scooby05]

1956/D50: Con il ritiro della Lancia dalla attività agonistiche, la Ferrari ne eredità tutte le conoscenze ed i materiali. Nasce così la D50 che trionfa nel 1956 con Fangio rimanendo in attività anche per i due anni successivi. Motore 8 cilindri a V di 90 gradi, cilindrata 2485.98 cc., potenza 265 CV, rapporto di compressione 11,9:1.


If I'm not very wrong, this was the engine!! which also used till 1958 on ferrari race cars in V8 form and in fiat in half form!
Please someone throw light on this.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by scooby05

Dear Friend, For sure I Have heard from many old tuners about this story that " the ferrari V8 was cut into half and redesigned and detuned for use by fiat in their normal passenger cars!" in the early '50s.
Please try and talk to Chubi/Nazir/Srikant and sure one of them will give u the story!!

well, perhaps they were used in some other passenger cars of fiat, but im quite positive it couldnt be the 1100 103...like i said, this engine dates back to 1938, before ferrari came into the picture...so how could it be? the 1100 103 engine in current avtaar was introduced as the millecento in 53, which was an all new design, with engine carried over from the previous gen balila, albeit heavily worked upon...

Old time stories do have a way of getting embellished over the years...with all due to respect to the stalwarts of course...

I think we have Niaz on the forum, hope hes reading this!

[Surprise]

I voted for Fiat for its compactness & slimmer design comparatively. Also it was FIAT 118 NE, the first car which I tried out from drivers seat. Hence soft corner for Padmini

[man23ish]

I voted for the AMBY, simply because its well an AMBY.. It is also known as "RAJAH gaadi" in some parts of the country, for its back seat comfort, leg room, etc.

Also, i took my first driving lessons in an Amby, so have a soft corner for it.

[ad75]

its premier padmini.

learnt driving in one & that was my first car with my money.

[1100D]

Well the First Ferrari was indeed not a Ferrari but a AAC, the AAC 815. It was AAC because Enzo Ferrari did not have the rights to use his name on his cars at that time.

The AAC 815 had the chassis internals of the 508C Balila (which was the mother of 103E which was the mother of the Delite, the sister of Padmini) and the 815 had two 508c engines coupled together (but not before extensive block-head piston work, so in essense these engines were actually different from the ones used in the 508C).

Those are just my "2 cents" on this but unfortunately there are a lot of those brass colored cents troubling my pocket, home and work desk.... yeah I know ....OT!

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Those are just my "2 cents" on this but unfortunately there are a lot of those brass colored cents troubling my pocket, home and work desk.... yeah I know ....OT!

heheh....great stuff...glad you could enlighten us...

[esteem_lover]

My father had a 1959 Amby & i drove it quite a lot. Actually I was the designated driver at home. I loved that car, but my world was rocked one day when my dad brought his friend's Padmini with AC & bucket seats. The roar of the exhaust had me falling all over this car & the pick up was to die for. I used to revv it in lower gears just to hear that exhaust. Offlate, I tried getting into a padmini & found that it is not so easy for a bulk to get in & out whereas the amby can take an elephant for a ride anyday. I would still vote for the padmini just because of the fun to drive it provides.