[kreddy]

Spotted this new ambassador being driven from showroom near Jayanagar 9th Block in Bangalore. A very rare occurance these days.

[rajeev k]

Quite true. For the last five months there is no official sales figures of the Amby and perhaps that makes one for December.
For Amby, one thing has not changed in all these years. Ambassador cars come with factory fitted Number Plates.

[mints21]

What a nice picture and of course, a rare one these days. Trust me this is one of the best cars which is loosing its sheen. We may have moved ahead in terms of technology and advancement but when it comes to pricing, durability, sitting comfort, boot space, engine power the car stands tall among all.

Originally Posted by rajeev k

One thing has not changed all these years. Ambassador cars come with factory fitted Number Plates.

Yes Rajeev, very nice observation, I think they are never available off the shelf, you have to place an order then have to wait for the delivery as well.

[Steeroid]

I suppose the ribbon keeps it from falling apart on the way home?

[Karthik1100]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Quite true. For the last five months there is no official sales figures of the Amby and perhaps that makes one for December.

AFAIK, the sales figures are the number of cars that rolled out of the factory to the dealers, and not that being sold to the customer.

[vinair]

Good catch mate! This seems more exciting than a spy shot!!

What a contrasting picture! There is the XUV on the other side that is taking Indian engineering to new heights and the Amby (or read it as Hindustan Motors), wandering completely lost in its home turf with no clue of its existence on the long run!!

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I suppose the ribbon keeps it from falling apart on the way home?

Home? Aren't these supposed to be first driven to the Welding shop?
It's high time someone sent this to a grave and built an un-removable tombstone over it.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by mints21

What a nice picture and of course, a rare one these days. Trust me this is one of the best cars which is loosing its sheen. We may have moved ahead in terms of technology and advancement but when it comes to pricing, durability, sitting comfort, boot space, engine power the car stands tall among all.

Pricing a car that is 50 years old competitively shouldn't be a problem, durable is the last thing an Amby is, a trip to the mechanic every fortnight is compulsory just to make sure the damn thing starts when you want it to. Seating comfort is nothing great, especially on a rattling wreck which it is the day it comes from the showroom. Engine power? I agree with bootspace, maybe indians need to pack lighter.

Those eager to defend this car, please let me know when you had it as a primary vehicle at home, we had it as recently as 2003. The car is a disgrace to this country, and probably one reason my dad is willing to try any new car, he knows the Amby is just praised by people who never had to put up with it. I don't see why anyone should buy this junk when there are so many options in the market. Its high time safety regulations put an end to the production.

[Viju]

Can't help but wonder how much it would have depreciated by the time they got home.

Had the same thought when we took delivery of our Nano LX and drove home 9 months ago.

[mints21]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Pricing a car that is 50 years old competitively shouldn't be a problem, durable is the last thing an Amby is, a trip to the mechanic every fortnight is compulsory just to make sure the damn thing starts when you want it to. Seating comfort is nothing great, especially on a rattling wreck which it is the day it comes from the showroom. Engine power? I agree with bootspace, maybe indians need to pack lighter.

Those eager to defend this car, please let me know when you had it as a primary vehicle at home, we had it as recently as 2003. The car is a disgrace to this country, and probably one reason my dad is willing to try any new car, he knows the Amby is just praised by people who never had to put up with it. I don't see why anyone should buy this junk when there are so many options in the market. Its high time safety regulations put an end to the production.

Hi, Avira

I had learnt driving a four wheeler on this car, followed by Premier Padmini. we never had an Ambassador thereafter, because of the routine troubles one after the other and shifted to Premier Padmini. I had met many government people who feel that this car is now much better then it used to be during the time when I had learnt driving (around 1989). My feedback and post was based on that. May be the government officers, who made such comments are not used to the out of pocket routine repairs as mostly they are maintained by government. I agree with your point on more available options. This is one reason why even Government of India had moved to Hyundai Accent and now to Maruti SX4.

But, yes people who love it will always love it. You would recall that a BBC correspondent Mark Tully was a die-hard fan of an Ambassador and has written a lot about it.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Those eager to defend this car, please let me know when you had it as a primary vehicle at home, we had it as recently as 2003. The car is a disgrace to this country, and probably one reason my dad is willing to try any new car, he knows the Amby is just praised by people who never had to put up with it.

Bro, I learned driving in an Amby, we had an Amby (1984 model, converted to diesel in 1994 (iirc), running on Matador 304 engine) as our primary car till 2010 and my dad used to do lot of long drives including high range drives often (once in a month or in two months).

We were always proactive in maintaining the car - may be that is why the car never failed on us. We never got stranded on road, and never had to visit a mechanic on the way to fix any issues while on a long drive. Maybe it is because of the way we took care of her.

I am not saying the car do not have its pitfalls - look at it like you look at a cast iron engine Enfield. I would never say the car is a disgrace – I very much want to buy and maintain one even today, and I will do it the day I can afford an extra parking space and time to maintain the car properly.

If you want to see a proud owner of an Amby, no need to look further than this thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...-progress.html

So, let us agree to disagree to call the car a disgrace to India
--Anoop

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

We were always proactive in maintaining the car - may be that is why the car never failed on us. We never got stranded on road, and never had to visit a mechanic on the way to fix any issues while on a long drive. Maybe it is because of the way we took care of her.

So, let us agree to disagree to call the car a disgrace to India
--Anoop

Today's cars barely need that, I don't remember that last time I opened the Fiesta's bonnet for anything other than refilling the windshield washer reservoir. Proactive maintenance is not needed for any reliable machine, tomorrow if I wanted to drive to Goa, I am certain I don't need my car checked, an Amby will croak within 200km, experience makes me say that.

Matador engines by the way are reliable, but you know that isn't OEM. An Amby with its BMC will wear you out faster than travelling on a KSRTC ordinary.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Today's cars barely need that, I don't remember that last time I opened the Fiesta's bonnet for anything other than refilling the windshield washer reservoir. Proactive maintenance is not needed for any reliable machine, tomorrow if I wanted to drive to Goa, I am certain I don't need my car checked, an Amby will croak within 200km, experience makes me say that.

Bro, which is why I said, let us look Amby like we look at Cast Iron Enfield.

They are not the most reliable bikes; they do need some amount of maintenance. But just because they need proactive \ periodical maintenance, can we term them as a disgrace to India? Certainly not.

Similar way, an Ambassador also needs some maintenance, but I personally do not feel that it is justified to label Amby as a disgrace to India.

You are perfectly ok to agree \ believe that an Amby will croak within 200 km, people like us who have done much more long trips without any issues are also free to believe that Amby can do long distance runs with ease.
So, let us respectfully agree to disagree on this.

--Anoop

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

You are perfectly ok to agree \ believe that an Amby will croak within 200 km, people like us who have done much more long trips without any issues are also free to believe that Amby can do long distance runs with ease.

If I can venture a question - Is all of your Amby reliability experience based on the Amby with the Matador engine?

On RE - I own a RE for the last decade and while I love it for it's cult status and looks, I advise all my dear friends to not even consider one of these when buying new. It's an engineering disaster!

[Thad E Ginathom]

The boot space is less than it looks. I have had cases damaged in Amby boots on airport trips because of that curve of the boot.

Chennai airport cabs are now changing to Maruti. I'm sure that engines and mechanics may be more reliable, and the car is more attractive to everyone except foreign tourists, but I doubt that the body will give as along a service.