Hindustan Motors Ambassador and its column mounted gears

Yet, young Promit insisted I guide him so that he could pursue his dream of becoming a good auto journalist.  I gave him an assignment which, I must say, he completed fairly decently. I asked him to get his hands on an old Ambassador with column mounted gears and do a video showing how an Ambassador looks and feels, compared to modern cars. He said he was good with a camera taking still pictures, but had never done a video assignment. I gave him some tips. Do watch the video on the Motown India YouTube channel.

At one point the Ambassador car was manufactured by Hindustan Motors, a CK Birla company from their plant in Uttarpara in West Bengal. Did you all know that Hindustan Motors has a railway station named after it in Uttarpara? How many auto companies can boast of this honour? 

The Ambassador brand is now part of Citroen brand which is part of PSA Group of France and is again part of the overall Stellantis group which was formed with the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group.

The Hindustan Motors Ambassador was based on the Morris Oxford series III model. The Ambassador car which is fondly called Amby, went through seven generations throughout its production and till its fourth generation had column mounted gears which cannot be seen in modern cars. Modern cars today have floor mounted gears that can either be manual or automatic. Some top end cars have column mounted gears but these are automatic.

In column mounted gears, the gear level was mounted on the steering column behind the steering wheel. The gears were changed by shifting the gear lever up or down. Reverse could be engaged by pushing the gear down and then shifting it to one side. These column mounted gears had their own problems.

Here is what Tutu Dhawan, a Delhi based car restorer, former motorsports rallyist and one who has lots of hands-on experience with cars says about these column mounted gears. Let’s hear him out.

 “Floor mounted gears last longer and it’s a sure shift. In column mounted gear shifts, there are lots of linkages in that. And each of the linkages there are bushes. In the good old days there used to be rubber and metal bushes, which within a year or two they used to get worn out. One had to fight with the gears in the column shift, especially in the Ambassador car.  For manual there is 100pc floor shift. For automatics there is a stick shift on the column.” 

Recalling his experience with column mounted gears, Tutu says, “When I used to drive cars with column shift, they were not quick. Especially for motorsport, you need quick gear shifts. Column shift gears were not the ideal system for changing gears when it came to motorsport. It was never a swift change. There used to be a lag. For racing and rallying you require a sure shot slotting of gears.”

The new generation may not be able to comprehend how vehicles and its technology have evolved in the last few decades. Compared to modern cars, the old erstwhile Ambassador car was quite boxy looking with sparse interiors, archaic technology and limited engine finesse.

But during its heydays, the Ambassador had its own unique characteristics and temperament. It was fun to drive, comfortable and quite spacious. In fact, it was never a dull moment with the Ambassador.

Inputs from Promit Hazra. Promit has completed his graduation from St Xavier's University (B.A.  Mass Communication) in December 2021. He is a petrol head and a motorsports enthusiast. His areas of interest are Formula One , World Rally championship and Formula E . He considers himself to be a complete "car nerd".