The great Indian car!

the great Indian car!
Originally uploaded by naturewalker

The Great Indian Car- Amby, as it is affectionately called, has been plying on Indian roads since 1948. then, it used to be the Morris. It got its present shape ( more or less) around 1958. Since then, it has been practically the same car with only technological updates.

It weighs more than 1500 kilos and looks every bit each ounce that it has on its frame. Nothing lean about our very old and very shweet Amby! So tough and strong is the car that it is the favoured vehicle by the bosses of the Indian government and the Indian Army.

It was the first car to be manufactured in India and one that has been on for more than half a century.

It is the quintessentially Indian car. Large, spacious, plush and comfortable... That is the car that was more a drawing room to lounge in than a car to travel by.

The car is big enough for Dada and dadi, chacha and chachi, taaya and taayi, and the several cousins who are equally an integral part of the great Indian experience. And it has a boot big enough for all the family's luggage, too!

There is always someone or the other to good naturedly remark about the size and look of an Indian- No! not really fat...only plump!! Ambassador is the same... Not really fat... just plump!!

It is a car with no sharp edges. It has a nice round shape. And it is huge! You could sink into a seat and be lost to the world outside. Comfort and paradise are not another world when you ride an Amby.

I have often looked at the FACE of a car and imagined what it appears to say. The penultimate model of the Honda City seemed to be a sophisticated lady with just a hint of a smile. A pleasant face. The present model however, appears to be baring its teeth! Our Amby? It is a nice fat lady. She is so welcoming and so accommodating that it literally beckons and entices you to board the car! And the ride it seems to promise is fulfilled in a satisfying, enchanting encounter!

There have been several words used to describe the car- reliable, sturdy, tough, all terrain, all purpose, roomy, and lucky. Yes! I still remember those days when we used to wish upon an Amby! We used to wish upon a solid black Amby. And it had to be followed by a mail wagon- totally red. And it always worked! The black Ambassador was somewhat of a rarity. So it was considered a stroke of luck to see one. And to have it followed be a mail wagon was considered doubly lucky.

The Amby is one of the two cars we used to see on the Indian roads a few decades ago- along with the Fiat. The Fiat disappeared in its antique form long time ago with the entry of the Maruti.

But... Amby lives on...