In India you’ll rarely find anyone who does not know what a Hindustan Ambassador sedan is. It was in fact one of the first made-in-India cars. The bulky looking sedan was used by the diplomats, ministers and many government officers for decades. Finally with the entry of foreign brands in the market, Ambassador started losing its market and was finally discontinued in 2014. The sedan is so popular that even today there are many car collectors not just in India but, around the world who own this in their garage. Here we have one such video where a YouTuber from UK drives an Ambassador and shares her thoughts.
The video has been shared by idriveaclassic on their YouTube channel. In this video, the YouTuber from UK is seen doing a quick walkaround of the car and then taking the car for a drive. She starts by talking about the car’s design. As we already know, the car has been taken inspiration from Morris Oxford Series III. In fact, the Ambassador seen here in the video is actually repainted in such a manner that it looks like a Morris.
The car has been restored or customised by its current owner in the UK. The car gets a black and beige dual-tone paint job with steel rims and chrome hub caps. The car is kept in great condition and we see that the owner has tried to maintain the character of the car for all these years.
The round headlamps with chrome garnish, chrome front grille, metal bumpers, bulky looking front and rear fenders all remain the same as stock Ambassador. The interior on this sedan however was customised by the owner.
He actually got the dashoard on this car replaced with another unit. The vlogger noticed the wide seats inside the Ambassador was extremely happy and satisfied with it.
She can be heard saying in the video that she is getting a clear view of the road ahead while sitting on the driver seat. The car comes with aftermarket fuel gauges on the dashboard along with the stock ones.
After checking out the car, she then starts the Ambassador. This one is a petrol version which uses a 1.8 litre unit sourced from Isuzu. It was in fact one of the fastest production car in India at one point of time. This engine generated around 74 Bhp when new. The vlogger mentions that she really like the gear shift on this Ambassador. She calls it effortless and she didn’t have to worry about slotting the car into a wrong gear while driving uphill in the countryside.
The steering felt very light and responsive and the drum brakes were doing their job just fine. The engine felt peppy even after so many years and she liked the overall experience. She mentions that it felt like a 50s car that was dropped in the market at the 90s.
It is actually a classic car of modern times and that is how she likes to describe it. She really loved the car and even says in the video that it is one of those cars she feels she should own.