Facts about Ambassador -- once upon a time, India's favourite car -- you should know.

1. Facts every Indian should know
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2. 1942: The company (Hindustan Motors)
was founded by BM Birla at
Port Okha in Gujarat as a small assembly
plant for passenger cars. Hindustan Motors
was set up during the Second World War
in order to produce motor vehicles
for the burgeoning Indian middle-classes.
Source: HM
The beginnings
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3. Shortly after its inception in 1942, Hindustan started working on their
first model, the Landmaster with technology borrowed from British
manufacturer Morris.
Source: AutoEvolution.com
The Landmaster
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4. During the early 1950s Hindustan Motors introduced the Morris Minor
as “Baby Hindustan”.
Baby Hindustan
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5. The Morris Oxford Series III entered production in India in 1957,
following its withdrawal from the UK market. This arrangement made a
lot of sense because the car's tooling was moved lock, stock and barrel
from the UK and it enabled Hindustan Motors to produce the car very
much on their own terms. This new model was named Ambassador,
and would prove to be the mainstay of Hindustan's production well into
the new millennium.
The Ambassador is born!
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6. By the 1950s, the Okha assembly unit could not meet the market’s
demand. And so, in 1952 was established a factory at Uttarpara by the
Birla group.
This factory has recently issued a ‘work suspension’ notice.
The Uttarpara factory
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7. In 2003, the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a BMW his official
vehicle, probably a milestone in Ambassador’s downfall. Though later
Dr. Manmohan Singh used an Ambassador as his official vehicle, it is
said that Narendra Modi’s official vehicle would be a Mahindra Scorpio.
Source: Sarkari status lost
Losing the ‘sarkari status’
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8. In a show, which is being aired on the BBC, Top Gear's executive
director Richard Hammond organised a world taxi shootout in which
Ambassador emerged a winner, beating competitors from all over the
globe.
Source: World’s taxi
2013: Ambassador car ranked the best taxi in
the world by Top Gear
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9. Porter, HM’s LCV of the 1980s.
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10. Ambassador once came up with a DDLJ ad
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“Bollywood’s best loved love story
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was
released in 1995. This
advertisement for Hindustan
Motors Ambassador car is from
late 1998.”
Source: Cutting the Chai

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