One of the oldest designed cars still being manufactured
today is the infamous "Indian taxi", the Hindustan
Ambassador.
Based on the 1948 Morris Oxford, the current
Ambassador now features a
diesel engine, heavy-duty
gearbox and even power steering.
The original engine owes its design origins to the
BMC 1500cc motor of that time, however it has recently
been replaced with an Isuzu 1800cc
diesel.
Regardless of which motor is fitted to the humble Hindustan, performance
will never be overwhelming, with the body weight coming
in at 1554 kg!!
The majority of Ambassadors on Indian roads feature
drum brakes, unassisted steering and tyres with tubes
- hardly features that a classic car collector would
be looking for but surely making this car very unique!
(and dangerous?)
The longevity of the design can no doubt be attributed
to the Indian governments prohibitive import tarrifs,
which has seen the Ambassador compete in the Indian
market relatively unchallenged.
Even more suprising is that the Ambassador remains the Indian Prime Ministers
official car.
