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View Poll Results: Padmini or Ambassador which would you choose?
Premier Padmini 300 55.56%
Hindustan Ambassador 240 44.44%
Voters: 540. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 5th June 2007, 17:16   #31
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Amby any day..especially if you have a driver...with all that plush velvet seatcovers and roof. Amby has the best rear seat comfort among the all the taxiable cars...
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Old 5th June 2007, 17:31   #32
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Amby baby! In its current avatar, the car can be a lot of fun to drive and is a lightyear ahead of the Mark IVs. Plus there is always the fab back seat and magic carpet ride to be chauffeur-driven.
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Old 5th June 2007, 17:37   #33
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Learned driving in our 1976 Petrol Amby Mk III. Still have it in perfect condition back home.

Did some mods to that car later in early 90s by modifiying the front bench to bucket seats and gear shift moved to floor from steering column. And yes it does have very loud and illegal musical air horns and bumper mounted "bosch" horns in addition to the stock ones!

Engine was overhauled only once in the last 30 years! It has run over 140k kms so far. Had many niggling problems mainly around electricals and cooling system. Nothing major.

Even though I hate driving it because of the tough gear shift and clutch and weak brakes, the engine is still amazing and easily pulls with 5 people in the 4th gear on a gradient near my home, where my new Verna struggles at 3rd gear with similar loads. I wonder what was the power characterstics of these models.

Padmini always had a "premium small car" image during that period and was mostly preferred by like doctors and even among ladies, similar to the old Zen. But I found them to be more troublesome than Ambys.

Last edited by appuchan : 5th June 2007 at 17:41.
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Old 5th June 2007, 19:48   #34
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Amby for me....!!!


Am I serious, well how could I be? That Fat lady is only good as a sofa and a big living room, but for the fun part behind the wheel its always made me look elsewhere. Someone said that Padmini steers like a ship, well its easy to make those observations given the encounters with the undermaintained or wrongly maintained cars. Padmini in its stock setup, with fresh suspension components and following the right suspension fitting procedures, turns as if telepathic and stops on a dime.

My love for this car is not limited to anything specific but the entire package, everything I dont like in it, is purely a problem with my expectation from it rather than a shortcoming from the car.

However it is possible to tidy up the handling of an Amby, but that heavy head never goes out anywhere. But simply 20kmph cruise on 4th gear nothing beats the Amby.
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Old 5th June 2007, 20:43   #35
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1100 D for me

we have 68 FIAT 1100D back at my home...still in good working condition..did a chennai trip & a Bangalore trip..last year..just to prove that a well maintained car can go anywhere anyday..& it did...

Now safely at my home parked besides a new generation FIAT(palio 1.2ELX 2001)...planning to do a double color paint job & new upholstery..in coming months..

I am going to preserve this & probably pass it to next generation
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Old 5th June 2007, 21:13   #36
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The good old Amby for me. I have an emotional link with the car.

My uncle owned a mechanic shop when I was very young. Whenever we came to India on vacations, I spend all my time at his shop.
I used to sit with the mechs working on the cars and kill them with questions. By evening, I would be soiled with grease and dust from the Ambys being worked on.

My uncle personally owned dozens of Ambys, and I had a chance to sample most, although I couldnt drive at that time. He used to undertake engine conversions from the OE BMC to Matador, Isuzu, Toyota etc. Once I saw a Mark III Amby with a small cooler, , TV, CD changer , Koyas premium upholsery etc. These luxuries were unheard of in those days. He converted the running board and body panels to brass metal!!!!!

Inspite of all this nostalgic memories, I do not like driving the Amby. I would prefer being chauffered.

My inlaw had a Padmini which he picked for 20K. I kept off from the car because of the rust it had on the body. Good pickup and sound. I hated the gears.

I want to see Rudra sir's comment on this poll.

Last edited by mail4ajo : 5th June 2007 at 21:17.
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Old 5th June 2007, 21:29   #37
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amby - because it was our college days favorite.
one of our friends dad was a lawyer and he would bring the car quite sometime. good fun for 4 couples (teen build) the rear seat with tinted side windows was a perfect hideout on the road. and love that FAN inside the car. the boot had a bar fridge with 8 chilled Golden Eagles anytime. This car is good as long its petrol the diesel is as good as sitting in a truck cabin.
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Old 5th June 2007, 21:57   #38
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Premier any day......
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Old 5th June 2007, 22:43   #39
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Ahh...Amby. No two ways about that...my first babeay...although I'd give anything for an Amby with the exhaust note of a Fiat, and the shifter of an NE..


Quote:
Originally Posted by appuchan
I wonder what was the power characterstics of these models.
It's actually more to do with the gearing...the Amby used to top out at about 120-pedal to metal. The Verna tops out at 190+....
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Old 5th June 2007, 23:00   #40
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Amby for me anyday. Even today when I go to Kolkata the rides on the local taxicabs is fabulous. The enormously spacious backseat, gliding over the potholes experience... it beats everything else. The way these lumbering giants pickup speed is something to experience. The original tank like build is also amazing.

From a practical point of view also Amby being still very much in production is easy to maintain than the defunct padmini.
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Old 6th June 2007, 00:07   #41
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Driving the Padmini up and down the mountains is such a pleasure especially on the downhill slopes (near about Gangtok, Kalimpong Darjeeling where our car had done quite a few trips apart from doing the ghat sections between Bombay and Calcutta), just setup for a downhill corner, turn in to the apex, you can feel the available grip through the steering, the tail comes around nicely and then just press the throttle and go gun for the next corner (and all this pretty much staying in your side of the road).

Now Imagine all this with an Amby, yes in an Amby see the corner, downshift, downshift further hit the brakes, crawling speed, take a picture of the squirrel that has come to see a possible "Amby jumps the cliff" "or Amby wants its underbelly scratched" , upshift (cos you downshifted too much for the corner exit speed) and then hit the throttle (what nothing happened!, well sqeeze it). But all the while the Babu in the backseat will be saying nice comfy ride Baby, what a Sofa!

Yeah this thread is my favourite childhood arguments, thanks for bringing it on, I feel I have been transported back to class I.

He He, but then its now I realised that these two cars although they vouched for each others market share actually belonged to different target audiences. I loved the childhood long distances in the Amby but my granddad, who is the real owner of my Avatar, always used to prefer driving the Fiat. However being from Bengal, I used to find most of my arguments counterproductive mainly because most of the Amby patrons never even had a taste of the Fiat experience but would still pass a verdict as to how small or difficult it is to maintain a Fiat with respect to the Amby.
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Old 6th June 2007, 00:38   #42
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@ 1100D - you are right in a way (not because we both own fiats). there is only one fiat (oops! am i bragging?) in Cal which used to drift around the driveway in 22 Camac Street (during monsson) and for that they constructed those damn speed breakers around it. its fun to see the tail going out all the time even on dry sandy surface. both of these cars had / has their own class and they hold good in the respective ways.

since the fiat / PP is out of production the hunt for spare parts makes my car so important - its like doing something for your own baby. i am waiting for grandpa to hand over the keys to his '87 fiat to me - yes i will love to own and care for another one.

sorry if i am going beyond the limits.
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Old 6th June 2007, 00:44   #43
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Definately a premier Padmani, the exhaust sound is very good. When ever i hear the roar of our taxi's i wonder which V8 is making it.
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Old 6th June 2007, 01:00   #44
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Padmini it is..The simplest car yet deliver what is required !..any day I would say the best car to learn Driving
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Old 6th June 2007, 01:02   #45
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Padmani.. my first car .. my baby... Would love to make a sleeper car on day - money and time permitting.
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