Last of the very few left Ambassadors

Painted black and yellow, she braves the sun and rain in the corner of a stand. She seldom goes out, unless she gets a calling from her true fans.

That’s the iconic Ambassador car, which defined the class from top echelons to common man, for nearly five decades -- much before high end cars from foreign makers started hitting the city roads a decade ago. Ambassador is the proud product of indigenous Hindustan Motors started in the year 1957.

Among the numerous Ambassador cars that once dotted the city’s good old taxi stand (earlier at Makkaji Chowka near K R Circle), near people’s park opposite KSRTC sub-urban bus stand on Bangalore - Nilgiri road, what remains now is the lone 1962 model car. 

A taxi, painted black and yellow, it is owned by Akram who has been a cabbie for nearly three decades. Ask him about his Ambassador, also known as ‘Grand old lady’, Akram says, “Jeene ke liye ambassador, marne ke liye...”
 For taxi drivers, and also passengers -- especially senior citizens, an Ambassador is synonymous with the word ‘safety’. “However, ever since high end cars hit the market, promising an over the moon experience, Ambassadors started waning.
For the young today, this car is a jalopy that rattles at the turn of the ignition,” he added. 

Akram has also bought a car of a different make, trying to keep up with changing times. But to date, Grand old lady is his first love. 

Alongside Akram’s car, stands a relatively younger and recent model of Ambassador. Wajid, who owns the car, got rid of the previous version of Ambassador to buy the latest version, a few years ago. He said that his car was more popular for playing the role of an ambulance, as it had ferried hundreds of ailing people to hospitals. 

Both Akram and Wajid said that the Ambassador defined the concept of ‘taxi’ in Mysore in the early 70’s, when there were close to 1,000 cars of the said make in the transport sector alone. 

Owing to poor demand, now there were less than 30 cars in the city. Barring railway station, MMC and RI mortuary (as people from rural parts opt for the car instead of ambulance to transport bodies of kith and kin) and Gandhi Square, it is rare to see Ambassadors elsewhere, they said.