Team-BHP - OMG Scoop Pics! HM Ambassador PICK-UP TRUCK spotted. EDIT : Launched as the Veer!

as mentioned earlier, why not take a contessa cab and build something like the beautiful chevy El Camino??

Ambeys are present in abundant quantities across the nation. but india's first 'muscle car' is fast becoming extinct. Finding a second hand contessa is a nightmare! a pickup up version of the contessa would be pretty cool. or even a sleek four door pickup as a lifestyle vehicle

But guess HM is not going to do that as manufacturing such a thing would require huge tooling investments to make the sleek bodywork...and they seem to be more interested in doing 'jugaads' for the timebeing...

I think this is a poor effort to make a budget pickup truck. And again I am not worried about the Amby face its gonna have, cos frankly speaking there are better trucks for the same money from Mahindra and Tata and they will be much more reliable than the piece of crap that looks like a truck crashed into an amby's back side.

Again we really dont have to bother about this. The reason, if there are 2 things HM doesnt know to do they are 1. Manufacture something with decent quality and 2. if by accident they have manufactured something, they have no idea about how to market it or even worse, sell it. So I am very optimistic I wouldn't see much of these heart breakers on the road.

I would definitely want to meet the so called "designer" of this vehicle and throw him in the bay of bengal (thats closer for his convenience) with a stone tied on his neck. This is such a bad way to kill an iconic car of the last 3 or 4 or may be even more decades.

That designer has a spot reserved in hell for this.

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Originally Posted by CADAVER (Post 2388504)

Hi everybody i was thinking of similar design i used ms-paint and created this
please give feedback

This is better than the current design, and you did it on what..MS paint!! It just shows HM's lack of vision for the classic Ambassador.

The worst part is what if this pick up becomes a success? They will continue dolling out half baked fruit cakes with their smug faces..maybe the rural market which will make it a success deserves it but does the legendary Ambassador deserve this fate?

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Originally Posted by dhawcash (Post 2388219)

as mentioned earlier, why not take a contessa cab and build something like the beautiful chevy El Camino??

Attachment 558711

Finding a second hand contessa is a nightmare! a pickup up version of the contessa would be pretty cool. or even a sleek four door pickup as a lifestyle vehicle

But guess HM is not going to do that as manufacturing such a thing would require huge tooling investments to make the sleek bodywork...and they seem to be more interested in doing 'jugaads' for the timebeing...

Have you considered the size? Its not like in the US where bigger is better. In India, Japanese designs work coz they are built for cramped roads.

Im sure if the Conti-Pick ups ever make it to indian roads you will hate them for the space they will take up.:D

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Originally Posted by adidac369 (Post 2389369)

well in a way you are right. the El Camino is almost 5 meters long and 1.7 meters wide. The width is on par with other vehicles in india but that length is goinig to be a problem here!!
but still when it comes to passion, that is not going to stop enthusiasts. even the contessa is considered huge in dimensions and it still has a fan following. so do many huge SUVs. In fact many contessa owners swear by the 'lambi gaadi' feel it provides. makes u feel you are driving something especial! It (and the better built ambassador based retro pickup) would be suitable as a second vehicle, and will be an emotional buy not a practical buy and in no way targeted to rule the commercial market, but something like the mahindra Getaway which targets more 'niche' buyers who are looking for style and feel with a bit of practicality (read bed space) thrown in. Anyways who is going to use a beautifully built pickup with a shiny paintjob for heavyduty commercial use where a newly painted loading bay would look secondhand after a week of use.

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Originally Posted by RS_DEL (Post 2388458)

You will keep on seeing such moronic moves from the CKB group ( the branch of the Birlas that controls HM). Eventually it is going to be rigor mortis and then asset liquidation.

These people give the term "cerebrally challenged " a whole new dimension!

You are spot on, Sir, with your pithy comment.

I at the risk of inviting ire, indignation, furore etc of fellow BHPians, would like to say that HM shut Ambassador out. Ambassador cannot be tinkered like, say a Bolero / Camper, Scorpio / Getaway, Tata's various versions and all.

It is a waste of time at HM trying to do something more ridiculous than before. And waste of electronic space here on the forum to discuss it.

Do not get me wrong. I had a beloved Ambassador, model 1971 Mark III, for very many years.

And now the times are different.

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Please also view this link for more pictures of the Morris Oxford Series II, 1.5 ton pick up truck and van.These looked graceful during their times 55 years ago and even now, but look at what HM has done to the design today?
Team-BHP - The Definitive Indian Car Community

sir (and all fellow BHPians), maybe i'm wrong, but just wondering, waren't these pickups intended for a different segment of the market? as far as i know, these pickups served as family cars/work cars in a market where being a plumber or an electrician or a construction worker is not considered cheap/low class or whatever you may call it. The buyers expected good luggage carrying capacity to help them with their business and were also classy enough to demand a graceful looking vehicle, in which they could go to the beach for the weekend.

But here in India, things are different. Nobody (with rare exceptions) wants to have a pickup as a personal vehicle. Pickups are supposed to be overloaded and thrashed with the primary aim being to get the job done as cheaply as possible. If you drive a pickup here, you are treated as a nobody by the society. In such a market , who is going to shell out a few extra bucks for graceful design? and after i realised this, i kind of see HMs point in doing such a poor design (which may not be that poor functionally)

And regarding the Iconic Ambassador's cab for the pickup, lets face it, very few people in the country (Team-BHPians included) appreciate the worth and sentimental values of such vehicles. Even i think its not a right thing to do. But what about the other 99% of the population who have no regard to such things and consider the ambassador as only an outdated 'Khatara gadi'? a pickup with an ambassador's nose(or for that matter, even a merc W201's) is not going to bother them, or if its successful, its not going to bother the buyers who are more focused on getting a cheap reliable and frugal truck to help them grow their business.

just my views, do correct me if im wrong.

PS:i'm in no way associated with HM!!!

dhawcash:

You speak my mind probably few others mind too. If this is to be a retro pickup of the older one, then we welcome but then the rear is no way in sync with the classy design of the front. There are very few people (example small farm owners) who need pickups to ferry their materials in style and in that tribe a fraction would love to have a retro machine.

Any way kudos for the HM team for thinking of that miniscule market size in a totally wrong way :D. May be by doing this they are thinking that their PINS (Percentage of Industry Sales) will increase. If they have projected "1", I agree:).

dhawcash:

Do you think HM is in the race even with the Saloon? If they wanted to keep their market share they would have worked harder. They have accepted their fate as Superstars of yesteryears, hoping their legacy can sustain them and some how they are surviving.

Their current design (Pick up) is confusing..the back looks like they are targetting the no frills economy segment where as the front seems to be targetting the "Heart" buyer. Using the same front does save on cost but what message are they sending out?? Until they come up with an exciting product sales will be.."unexciting"