My earliest memory of the
Ambassador car ( Amby to car lovers ), was when I was maybe 8 or 10 years old. My uncle had one, blue in
colour with a silver top. Oh, the rides we took in it. The drives from Chennai
to Nellore (about 168 kms) and Chennai to Tirupati (about 125 kms) used to take
a jolly good 6 to 8 hours, with the engine frequently overheating. To cool it
we used to park under the trees (where are they now ?? ) on the so called
highways, (or rather they were dirt tracks in those days.) and eat our home
packed tamarind rice and curd rice.
We ( my brother and me)
used to sit in the car for hours and take pseudo rides. It was the friendly
grandpa, grandma & beast all rolled into one. Come rain or shine, and it
would trundle along. Mechanical troubles?
The friendly local mechanic was enough to get you back on the road.
The back seat was a
bedroom, and I remember sleeping there so many, many times. I dreamt then of
having one of my own.
My dream was realized in
the late 90’s when I bought my own Amby. (A second hand diesel car)..Just
cannot forget the rides in my AMBY ( my very own S class) . 7 to 8 of the family crammed into the seats.
The trunk and top packed with luggage; and the car used to merrily chug along. (Believe
me, we would be doing 40 kmph, and it would seem like 90.)
Just fill diesel in the
tank, and it would rattle along gloriously with all sorts of noises coming from
the engine and the underbody. But , as surely as the sun will rise in the east
, the Amby used to take us home without a breakdown anywhere. Sold it in the
late 2000’s, due to increased traffic and pollution problems.
Sad that HM stopped production
in 2014. Just thought of the Amby this morning. Hence writing this piece. Hope
to buy one for keeps before it become a museum piece.
By,
An AMBY Fan
Vinod Kumar. P
