All Goods Foreign

hamidm,

The only people who drive Ambassadors anymore are tour operators and lower-down politicans (higher ups get Skodas and Merc C-s). The fact that HM still produces some 18,000 of them a year is worth admiring, even if the car in question looks like a pregnant hippo and all all the road manners of one.

Ambys and ``Fiats`` (what we call Premier`s now-defunct Padmini model) were supposed to have vanished the time the Maruti 800 made its appearance 20-odd years ago, so Amby`s
continued patronage is amazing.

It`s a deserving winner, though. I drove a Fiat for 7 years. It has equipped me to drive any car in the world, anywhere. My worst experience in that car (for want of a better word) was having the hand-operated gear lever pop out in a burst of nuts and bolts when I attempted to shift to neutral. It was not funny.

Now we drive Toyotas and Hyundais like the rest of the world, and the Fiat Palio has redeemed the good name of that blighted Italian firm somewhat.

This is one funny thread LOL

Author#14: ``My only humble request is to keep this discussion clean without offending any religions.``

Since when do we care what a friggin bawa thinks? MWAHAHAHAHA!

Re: # 15

This board ceased to be of interest when i saw interact #14....

Hello folks -
Glad that you are all having fun discussing this article. I can see both views - agreement and disagreement.

My only humble request is to keep this discussion clean without offending any religions.

Have fun!

I`m sure the author meant this ``lite`` effort of his to be taken seriously. But it seems most of the posters are enjoying their own little efforts. Not very foreign at chowk.

It is not your grandfather`s kurta/pajama anymore........Even gori maiman are wearing em - i see several a day........every major store in US now carries the Pbi. juti.......and it doesn`t pinch.

....ambassador is now run on Japanese Isuzu (??) engine.....I took one above Manali towards Rohtang Pass.....got rammed by a Gypsy on the way....only damage was a broken light........honda would`ve peeled like a banana and ended up in the valley 2000 ft below......

....heaven is ambasador on pastoral pbi roads.......and see nothing wrong with squatting in the fields.........actually it is kind of an erotic experience.........releiving oneself in the fresh air....and the fresh air is good for the cheeks........the tubewell serves as a bidet........

Re: # 9
No wonder hook worm and iron deficiency is universal.
PRK

It`s indeed an irony how even the poorest quality stuff from China and Taiwan, far worse than even the locally made one, is drooled at in our countries, on account of merely bearing the tag `imported`.

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The qality of Indian products was very poor, and the ``style`` drab. We also waited for the uncles and aunts. I`ve 20 year old clothes that refuse to tear or fade. The clothes imported to US today are not as good. I shop in Chandigarh on trips there.

The open market was a mixed blessing. It added quality and style to the Indian products and value too.

India has also become use and throw culture, and brand worshippers - in about 5 decades they will find out just like Americans today.....all that glitters is not gold.


I would rather drive Ambassador (older models) than Hondas or Toyotas. and wear Kurta and Pajama than Levis etc.

Re: # 1
Arre Saab: Dio you chew Banarasi Paan too?

Re: # 1

Kaur,

``I would rather drive Ambassador (older models) than Hondas or Toyotas. and wear Kurta and Pajama than Levis etc.``

......... you are not serious !......... nostalgia is fine but this is morbid - nobody in their right senses would run around in their sleeping suit or ride in a car that should have been shot and put out of its misery thirty years ago ........

........... sometimes desis get carried away with their sentimentality - no wonder most of us are still squatting on the ground and have yet to discover deodrant !

Re: # 4 The Amby is to indians what the London taxicab is to the Brits and the 1970 chassis/dye Crown Vic is to the Yanks.The car has been updated and a retro version is being marketed for those who really wanna stand out from the crowd of Mercs and BMW`s.Well, HM sold 18000 Amby`s last year, compared to Maruti(506,000) TATA Motors 155,000, Hyundai 155,000 etc.Most Amby`s are taxicabs and serve rough rural roads, like the TATA Sumo.

What is great in India now is CHOICE.When we moved here we brought nothing.Everything that one can get in the developed world is also available in India and at affordable prices, by local standards.I have a Compaq PC made in India.That says it all to me.If not for the commies and the breeding masses, India would have reached developed country status a long time ago.C`est la vie.We can still work around this.

For nostalgia fans..........

http://www.hmambassador.com/

Re: # 5

i like fiat premier padmini, my mama paid 25000 rs for it long time.
yuppp.

Re: # 5


running naked .........

...... a lot of people also thought that the trabant and the yugo were also ``cars`` ! ........... i am sorry, but the ambassador was, and is, a disgrace - like the dhoti, beedi, bad teeth, and the ubiquitous lota............ this strange mindset probably has something to do with gandhiji who ran around half naked just to prove a point !

Re: # 8 Hey!!.Don`t diss the Amby!.This is one quirkly car that serves the rural masses and other quirky indians.We have also developed our own signature indian brand of autos that ply many streets around the world.The Amby is to be likened to the london cab and the Ford crown Vic.Our desi version.

Some cool links to India, includes pic of ``Burma Bazaar`` in Chennai........

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=230896

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=232528

http://www.tatamotors.com/home.php

http://www.mahindraworld.com/mahindras/sectors/as_gatewaypage.htm

http://autoindex.org/makelist.plt?cntr=32&letter=All