Real Road Test: Ambassador vs Princess Pt2: Ambassador time!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ต.ค. 2019
- The final part of this two-car battle comes to an end, not without difficulty! Which Wedge is best? Will the Austin Ambassador Vanden Plas shine? Will it actually even work?
Part One: • Real Road Test: Ambass...
The Austin Ambassador seen here is the last one built, and has a remarkable story all of its own. It is not a Y-reg. The Ambassador was only in production from 1982 until late 1983. This example was registered in February 1984. It has hydragas suspension, styling by Harris Mann and a hatchback!
Leyland Princess Enthusiasts' Club is at: www.leylandprincess.co.uk/leyl...
Also, many thanks to AR Online for much of the history. www.aronline.co.uk
#BritishLeyland #Wedge #Oldcarsarethebest - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
The car is 40 years old so it is always going to be prone to trim rattles. I ran a 1.7 litre Ambassador for four years and was never bothered with any such noises, never found the manual gearchange any worse than any other FWD car and found the car to quiet, comfortable, held the road well, was extremely reliable and handled far better than anything Ford had at the time. In 50+ years of motoring it still ranks as one of the best most unforgettable cars I've ever owned.
My grandfather, a manager in the foundry at Leyland motors, had a long string of 'BL' vehicles and bought a cream A reg ambassador vandem plas with a cream interior to replace an Ital estate. My family owned an A reg metro 1.0L, but we borrowed the ambassador with attached caravan on a yearly basis. My father never stopped talking about the wizardry which was the automatic choke. My other grandfather owned a white Y reg ambassador with burgundy interior I traveled in frequently also. What a time it was to be alive
Birmid or Darcast?
My father and grandfather were both engineers at OPEL and several of the models produced in the same period were available with fuel injection.
This useful info. ----> Nut files.. Today. Now..? The 70's was the best! Ok it was crap too.
But being a kid was good. ;)
I had an A reg SD1 Rover 2 litre with the auto choke. It didn't work properly, and would come on when the engine was hot, and make it run rough. The trick was to turn the engine off, then floor the accelerator and start it again. If I'd kept the car, I would have probably converted it to manual choke, but I PX'd it for a volvo.
kryzon daan was it leyland trucks leyland
My family were so loyal to BL for years. But the last British car that my Dad had was a Maestro. Every time you closed the door the dashboard popped up and down. He got a Datsun Cherry after that.
The first sight of the front mud flaps takes me back to when I thought I'd guaged a hole in the door of my Dad's Ambassador when reversing onto a drive. I was releived to discover I had just ripped off a front mudflap reversing up a full height curb. I learnt to drive in one of these. Happy days.
It’s funny,but when I first saw a Princess in the mid 70’s on my way to the paper shop with my Dad to get the Sunday Papers and my pick of one Matchbox toy Car in a small cardboard box, one drove past and as a six year old I thought it was the most fantastic looking car i’d ever seen.
It’s the kind of stupid thing you think of when your six living on a 1970’s Council Estate 🤷♂️
Ronnie Wilson
I've now got John Shuttleworth's song stuck in my head!
Hubnut hasn't loved this comment lol he mustn't approve 🤔 nevermind the hubnut man tho.. I found it funny dude .. 👍
Don't ask me y reg
It just happened to be that year.
I wondered when or if Shuttleworth's classic would get a mention 😁👍
It's a car that I revere...
A very well informed chap this , in regard to 1970s and 80s cars , and certainly an enthusiast . I've only been watching for a few weeks , but I really like his videos !
"A symphony of crap plastic" Brilliant!
My Dodge Charger has rattled like that since almost new. The defrost vent is molded out of the thinnest crap plastic imaginable, and the clips pop off and it loses its shape. They replaced it once under warranty, but it didn't last.
I had one of these at age 17 in 1993 was like a rolls to a new driver back then.
Definitely prefer the Wolseley Princess... I never liked the front end on the Ambassador. The ideal would have just been to do a Princess with a hatchback and rear quarterlights.
the end of the line for Wolseley sadly.. Lasted all of six months
IIRC, Crayford did a hatchback conversion of the Princess. Can anyone else confirm this?
@@cmartin_ok Torcars. They did Suntor Marina campers and Sherpas. Basted at High Bullen in By Torrington, Devon. There was a connection with Mumford of Plymouth.
@@cmartin_ok check www.aronline.com. They may be able to give you that info
Robin Forrest : Quite right. The Maxis 5 speed gear cluster which Lotus used in the Elite and Eclat was copied in the SD1 and TR7/TR8. Then the Borg Warner45 series 4speed auto or the AP 4 speed. The O series need not evet have been built. The Cowley/Speke/Longbridge labour wars and an inibility to rationalise the production and supply lines stopped Sir Michael Edwards. The basic parts were all present, and the detail work was stopped dead. Steering was exceptional. The Hedgehog (Harris Manning) was insightfull and visionary, but even the TR7 was designed as a reactionary response to the constant bedlam in the boardroom. If the debarcels that befell British Leyland and Austin Rover from the 16 years 68 to 84 happened in the USA, General Motors would have Chapter 11'd in 1984. The anti gassing plastics, the oval steering wheels, the leaking damper units and subcontracted parts...Jaguar at Browns Lane dealt with those, the rest of BL and AR, did not. The Rox Axe era marked more new conservative lines, and the advances of the "Hedgehog error" of the aggressive Harris Era flying wedge we never continued with. The P76, TR7/TR7 V8/ Princess/Ambassador...great designs, very blQQdy poor execution, endemic top down restructuring by logistical and monetary restrictions. Only with Egan at Jaguar did the engineering and finiacials work together. Jaguar just refused to spend money in new engines...instead, they consolidated and then rolled out gradual improvements. BL was to quote Sir M Edwards...the greatest finicial turkey ever. The basics of the A & P were really excellent. The bad parts were gearing, wasted engineering efforts and a lack of advancenent in how they were scewed together. It wasnt the 'Bob' Roberts fault...the guilt lay much higher on the totem pole.
Well done for rescuing these two cars from the scrap yard. They were built during a troubled times for British Leyland, so although not the greatest example of automotive engineering, they nonetheless should be preserved. Thanks for not dropping a piano on them!
This car was right next to where I used to work. Always wanted to buy it. Did knock and ask more than once. So glad to see it like this.
When I was young I considered this to be the most hideous car in existence.
With today's cars, it's roughly middling.
It's got nothing on a Nissan Puke.
@@chloedevereaux1801 I think the Multipla was so ugly it was beautiful.
Or maybe just 'interesting'.
Nissan Puke,closely followed by the Nissan Kashcow,ugly tin boxes the pair of them!.
@@k1ckyscotland988 yeah bloody true !!!ex Nissan owner of the past but me thinks Nissan must employ children of seventies ( Leyland austin rover.).designers..😝...
@@julianevans9548 - No car is as hideous as a Chrysler PT Cruiser. Not even a 1st Gen BMW X6, Or a Lamborghini Urus. The Juke is only mildly offensive in comparison to those hateful cars.
Used to hate the Multipla and whilst it's still ugly, it has an endearing quirkiness about it.
I love how you get a car that’s rare, then, then you get us a second one, how do you do it??? Brilliant.
Owners club.
If that was the Vanden Plas spec, I shudder to think what the base model was like. The cheap plastic VP badge on the steering wheel was monstrous and said a lot about BL.
I agree, very tacky. Badge-engineering at its worst.
The VdP Kingsbury Lane factory closed in 1979 and the great workforce was 'let go ' or took retirement. After that VdP became just a brand and the craftsmanship , the interior and paint, was lost.
This car shows the very worst of the BL>AR corporate nonsense.
Look back at the VdP 1300 automatic and weep!
@@rogerhudson9732 I remember the factory at NW9, and often walked past it, thinking to myself that it didn't look very big from the outside, but I guess it was quite large behind the frontage. Used to see many interesting vehicles parked on the frontage and through the windows, and they certainly looked special. Yes, after the 60s (if not before) BL debased most of what they touched and what was good, the names, the marques, the quality etc etc. So good were they at this, that they finally debased and destroyed themselves.
@@rogerhudson9732 Try and find the Thames Television visit to the Kingsbury factory here on YT - it's a piece on the VdP Allegro.
@@rogerhudson9732 I had a 1300 VDP very briefly, a terminally rusty scrapper bought for £50 from a colleague. I kept the 1300 engine & box for my Mini and the wonderful interior, it really was lovely, which I carefully removed and sold as complete set for extremely good money. That was one of my best amateur used car parts dealer efforts ever. Of course everything else went to the scrappy, took it there on my trailer as they would only collect complete cars.
At the time I had a day job where my allotted workload (it involved serving a lot of writs and summonses so evening work necessary) could be completed in 3.5 days and I would go to the scrappy every Thursday afternoon and or Friday morning to get to their new stock first before the weekend and remove and buy job lots of hopefully good and "desirable" used or "performance" A and B series parts of interest to the local boy racers. I had shelves of parts in my garage and would be answering the doorbell at 10pm some evenings to young impoverished blokes desperate for starter motors etc.
There was one young lad a "thalidomide baby" neighbour who had a Mk1 Sprite and I fitted a starter motor under torchlight for him - biggish job for a winter evening outside as had to swap end plate from starter to starter to enable fitment and also remove distributor to wangle starters out and in, and then retime the ignition of course by swinging the dizzy at idle.
An obscure upgrade of mine was Land Crab wiper (two speed?) motors fitted to Mini wiper racks - considerable performance increase.
Also Marina 1.8TC twin SU 1.5" carbs for hot 1.3 engine conversions - I would gas flow SU carbs for boy racers by smoothing the sharp edges of the venturi bridge, knife edging the butterfly, reducing the butterfly shaft thickness and soldering the butterfly to the shaft to produce a nice smooth flowing item without the huge flow disturbing screws.
I was always on the lookout for 12G295 and 12G940 cylinder heads for their big valves and much better castings.
These were all impoverished amateur Mini racer tricks.
Happy days from many years ago 😊.
It is AMAZING Ian, that throughout the 60s and 70s, Britain held to these strange little 4cyl, overtaking them with bigger bodies etc. I was lucky enough to grow up with 6 and 8cyl vehicles here in Australia. Mind you, Holden hung on to their 6cyl in various forms from 64 to85/86? Ford Australia however had the "Grandpa's axe" theory with their 6cyl starting in the early 60s till 2016!
A friend of a friend was a designer at BL. Apparently they were all 'gung ho' to do major work and designs but were only given tiny trim changes to do. They wanted to keep the designers but god forbid if they actually did any real work. Sounds more like management cowardice than anything else.
I wonder if it was management cowardice or just a lack of funds/poor management of money?
It has been charged that while BL had many clever cars in its portfolio, most of them were not designed to be built economically, with the Mini being a very expensive car to build versus it's competitors.
@@howardkerr8174 That expensive to build myth created by a "sour grapes" UK Ford exec when the Angular Anglia first appeared. What a basic step back in automotive excellence that was that compared to the genius of the Issigonis product. A concept since followed anD copied closely by most of the surviving automotive manufacturers of the world. After all, even a Golf MK1 etc is just a big Mini. Drove one back in the 70s, actually it was called a Rabbit the one I drove. I preferred my company Maxi. Another hugely underestimated car by the so called expert appraisers of the UK motoring media. Five gears when UK roads were full of Fords and Vauxhalls with THREE speed gearboxes. I actually had a car consumer tell me "who needs FIVE gears". I kid you not.
YES!!!! I had a friend (back in the day) who owned a Princess & replaced it with a brown Ambassador. It was a perfect for him - he was a market trader and the hatchback was like a dream come true!
Big cars like this need a sweet 6 under the bonnet. Just feels luxurious. The Princess also has nicer seats.
I had an early Sierra 2.0 GL auto, Y reg, bought 3 years old. Loved it. One of the best cars I have owned. However, it also had only 3 gears (the 4 speed auto came a bit later). And that was it's only weakness. For a fairly high spec model the revs at cruising speed were a bit high. (So the problem was not unique to the Ambassador). Interestingly, about the same time (83 model year I believe) Ford released a new 3 speed auto for the FWD Escort, which later I also owned. With that they gave it a very high final drive ratio. It made top gear like an overdrive. Lovely quiet cruising. But to achieve that, there was yawningly wide gaps in the ratios. I got on well with it though. Including 2 trips to Italy. I also towed my 4.8m caravan extensively around the UK. Interesting different approaches to engineering a 3 speed auto.
And these days we're up to 9 speed autos - Fiat 500X - some models.
I love seeing old family cars which have been cherished. Good to see both the Princess and Ambassador. Excellent video again :-)
Yet again an informative, interesting and fun video. Most importantly for me though is that every HubNut video makes me feel at home, no matter where in the world I am. Thanks Ian.
A pleasure to spend time with you. Glad I didn’t work for BL/Austin Rover, it must have been terribly frustrating!
Owned two Ambassadors and loved them both. One was written off when hit by a lorry, the other let me down when the suspension collapsed in Port Glasgow
The most eagerly-awaited Hubnut video, yet....
IN THE WOOOORLD.
Well worth the wait , thanks for going to all the trouble mr Hubnut!
Nice to see inside one of these properly. I remember them being about (in various states of decreptitude) when I was a lad (always the car nerd), but sadly by the time I was tall enough to look in they had all disappeared.
But im afraid the wolseley has it for me, ghost light on the grille? nuff said!
Father had a Princess 2.2 HLS manual but treated it like an automatic.
Now and then he'd say the car's not running right so older brother or I (both 6 foot plus) would take it out and thrash it making Auntie pick up her heels and take on various Fords/Vauxhalls. Dad always thought we'd cleaned the plugs!!! Then he'd complain about how we had moved the driver's seat back.
Winter is Coming, no knees and leaves on the ground. A refilm and two shoots in this one. What a man. Thank you.
Shame no one mixed the "best" of one with the best of the other. I have to admit I did think about purchasing a Princess with a hatch conversion. It was very expensive. Ended up with a Dolomite. Note the Princess had a lower lip on the hatchback
Practicality is not king, Spen is king.
The long awaited second part. Goody.
"You seen Bob's torque wrench, Bob?"
"No, Bob."
(Very obscure reference for those who know!)
Handbuilt by Roberts?
"Made by roberts"!
Mad Bob the manic mechanic,well kown for his multiple personalities?. And there's a Roberta in the mix somewhere.
Not the Nine O'clock News!
#13 The Larch.
What a lovely inviting interior, so bright and airy.
Finally ! Part 2 ! - I've been waiting weeks for this !
'Don't keep asking me why, Reg, it just happens to be that year . . '
Well researched and well presented , as always. Lovely to see those fine survivors, trim rattles and all. Thank you HubNut.
A piece of Leyland history saved, is better than one that is graved. A very difficult historic comparison, but made easier Hubnut style. Absolutely top notch Sir 👍 Tam.
Interesting, amusing and informative video for car enthusiasts, keep up the good work, and we love your commentary. Really pleased people look after, or preserve any car - these cars included. Kudos. Many thanks Ian.
glad you were able to get this one to us, we never had these and the Ambassador we had was made by American Motors (Nash, Rambler)...and it was huge.
Oh, my goodness! I didn't think we would ever see this, due to technical difficulties, but this may well be the best premiere on TH-cam ever. Not only do we have two Austin Ambassadors, both with Austin Rover fleet registrations, but one of them is a Y-Reg and the John Shuttleworth song was actually quoted. Does it get any better than this?
🤣 Love John Shuttleworth. Another classic is “can’t go back to savoury now” Don’t ask me why reg!
@@PeteCourtier, I remember it well!
have to say I love them both, wish modern cars had a soft ride and plush seats
@@TomAlter1000 I have resorted to putting a cushion on my driver's seat and strapping down a padded leather seat cover over that and it makes it much better.
Yep. Me too. Hate the firm hard rides of modern cars. Wooden planks. And driven on less than stellar roads they make the passenger experience really terrible.
I looked at buying a Passat once. An option was "Comfort" seats. No way would I buy a car where comfortable seats were an optional extra.
@@philiptownsend4026 agree 100%
That is the car I used to drive past everyday going to and from home. It was about 200 yards from where I lived in Tovil in Maidstone back in the early 2000's. Can't believe that it has so much history. I remember wishing I had the cash to buy it. I recall him having a Morris Ital estate there at some point as well.
Monsieur, with zis Ambassadors, you are really spoiling us!
14:52 "If only there were a magic cable to make it pop back up again" Ian! You missed the classic opportunity to run the "tape" backwards and we could have watched the seat magically go back into the upright position...
Ahhh finally part 2, reminds me of eagerly awaiting for sequels to films i liked back in the day..
Nice example in good nick,looks bigger than i remember and really like the simple clean dash binnacle layout and comfy seats.
This is a super informative, enjoyable vid. Thank you HN!
Bought back many happy memories. Dad bought both. A princess 1800 hl in sandglow. PYV 738 R followed by a 1700L ambassador in red with spotlights built into the grille. UBL 813 Y. At one point we had 4 BL products on the drive at the same time.
Thanks buddy enjoyed pt2 too. No worries on the mitakes, you're only human driving an inhumane thing! cheers fella!
This has got to be one of your best video,s ,information overload ! Great stuff matey !😀
Brilliant...great video.
Thanks for doing this!👍
I really like the looks of the ambassador now,yet when I was a youngen I would have been critical . I liked the princess as a friends mum had one and it was very comfortable
A great video Ian! I love wedges such a lot
Great to see the comparisons. A friend of mine was on the design team for the Ambassador and he was teling me quite recently that he remembers they had some great ideas for the car and it would have been much better had it not been for the management coming along saying no. no, no and definately not! Being less than perfect makes for a more interesting car, thank you.
I had a1.7 hl back in 1986, and to be honest, I loved it. I drove it often from Ipswich to KLB in Sutherland with the wife 3 kids 2 dogs and while I kept it to about 60 mph, it never rattled like the one in your video. I have to say it was under powered ( tried towing a caravan once ) it got you where you wanted to go, and it was comfortable. I whish I still had it, as it proved to be more reliable than my BMW E91 ( timing chain issue ).
Always really liked those alloys.
From that angle at the end the white one looks a little bit like an early Nissan bluebird. The big difference being that the Bluebird was reliable and it had a 5-speed box
Correct Bluebird radio/cassette heated front and rear windows and electric Windows . What did British Leyland give sweet fa unreliable awful it's like a bad dream
The video we've all been waiting for.
Love the Ambassador. All we were missing was the Terry and June soundtrack.
They did a very good job on the restoration, I like how clean the engine compartment is. I think it’s a very cool looking car.
Oh Ambassador, you are spoiling us. ; -)
I love this channel. Another fantastic video!
Your videos are such a delight. Wonderful gentle entertainment, in the very best possible sense. Thank you.
The first car I drove after passing my test was a Morris Princess 2200 auto. I can remember the lovely comfy seats, the smooth 6 cylinder engine and the pretty poor fuel economy. It was one of a fleet of ex-Wimbledon cars used to ferry players around. I think the Princess has aged better than the Ambassador!
Thank you so much for the two wedge tests! :-) I prefer the 6 cylinder sound of the original 2200 wedge from the 1970s :-)
Brilliant video as always.
The memories my dad had a blue A reg in the early 90s. Thanks ian fantastic video.
Austin Ambassador Y Reg is the car that I revere...
Don't keep asking me "Why?", Reg
It just happens to be that year
Always loved the styling of the Ambassador, it looked like a solid motorway cruiser of pure luxury from the outside, only today I realise it was fairly gutless with minimal trimmings. I don't understand the specification it clearly needed to be more powerful than it was with a bigger engine and 5 speed box. I loved so many of the British Leyland and Austin Rover cars but this one is a bit harder to love. I can see some charm in it but its annoyingly flawed in concept. Still very enjoyable to see one taken for a spin, very nostalgic.
If it had all that, it would be much more expensive.
The Princess was originally supposed to have the E series engine and 5 speed box from the Maxi but they didn't think the factory had enough capacity for this, the Maxi and the runaway success they thought the Allegro was going to be.
www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austin-morris/princess/ado71-development-story/
@@xyz2121 Definitely be more expensive yes but it's whether customers of the time would have paid for it, doesn't sound like the Ambassador as it was, was a sales success.
Worth the wait.
That feature of the folding seat handle in the boot in recent years has re appeared. The seats are also slightly under tension so that when you pull the handle they flip without assistance.
A splendid video Ian, worth the wait.
I refuse to be a number 2 primed and ready!
I've been looking forward to this since I watched the Princess review. Lovely motors these, I can't remember when I last saw one. Re the grille badge, I'm fairly sure this denotes Austin-Morris and was used in adverts from around the second half of the 1970s. I think the Austin-Rover badge has 2 extra green ticks and was used from 1987. How many were replaced on grilles upside down!
Back in the 80's a workmate of mine had a Metro, with the grill badge upside down! Typical BL 'quality control!'
KWAK I like the number plate...and an 'AWK. Ducks and so on. Or a new super hero for the auto Ambassador 'Awk Boy.
This was such a brilliant bit of motoring journalism. I really was in that car with you and enjoyed the ride very much. Thanks HubNut.
Cannot help think that a late Maxi 1750 top spec would be just as good if not better. We had the use of one a few years back with twin SU carbs. I really loved that car.
Agreed. Another channel reviewed the Maxi as you describe. I would choose the Maxi every time. That white Ambassador was terrible, especially for a VDP. Thankfully 80s synth pop made up for it.
Oh Joy! So good to see this Ian. You are a star.
Thing is, you've made me reassess my opinion of this car now. I fully intended to make some quip about 80's BL junk. After some more thought (which takes a while for me these days) I have decided that pehaps I shouldn't be so disingenuous towards that poor thing. After all, none of choose our parents, do we?
We all know tha BL and all its other iterations were a disaster. However, some of the cars could have been very nice given a better chance at life. I think that the Princess/Ambassador range is possibly one of the most "misunderstood" models of all. The shape could be said to be ugly or just plain daft but maybe the designers were being daring in trying to give us something different in a contemporary sea of dull. OK, the Wolesley was a bit ungainly at the front but the lesser models weren't so bad. When the body was redesigned as the Ambassador It looked a whole lot better with the adoption of the rear quarter glasss and it should have been a hatchback from the start really. The problem is that it just looked bland when compared to the Princess with the details being so plain as to be almost invisible. Look at the grille, plain is an understatement.
The intreior was very comfortable and spacious. With the sseats folded you had a pretty good van. I used ours to help move house. The build quality was junk of course. Bits constantly fell off or stopped working. I can't count how many times I had to reattach the plastic around the heater controls. The seats were very nice but, again, I was always fiddilinig with the runners to be able to move the seat backwards and forwards.
The suspension worked very well. It had a very good ride compared to my father's Hunter or the Cavalier that followed. It rolled around a bit in corners but it was never meant to be a sports car. On a good A road or motorway it was great. Even around town it smotthed the worst surfaces well.
We had the lowest of the low, 1.7L with no extras. The biggest problem was the lack of power steering. It was SO heavy when parking that my wife could not reverse out of a space herself. And she is a good driver so no comments please. I was speaking to a salesman at a BL (Rover) dealer a few years after we sold the car, and he told me that they inflated the front tyres to about 40 PSI so that anyone test driving that model could at least turn the steering wheel! Eeek!
Was it a bad car or just a car that was poorly developed and put toghether by a workforce who, by that time, couldn't give a damn about the company or its products? The basic elements were absolutely there. Yes, it needed a batter engine and a five speed box without doubt. Most of all, it needed a lot more money, or at least some money, spent on the development and tooling.
I kind of feel sorry for the poor Ambassador. Maybe it should have a party to celebrate it's differences. Just bring chocolates.
I love a beige dash. Especially in SD1s.
I love SD1s. Something about them :-)
@@Electrowave I had a 3500 SD1. In the first 12 months it went back to the supplier 11 times.
@@mscott3918 That's just the monthly service ;-) I remember two of my friends' dads had an SD1 back in the 80's and were constantly complaining about things going wrong but it was considered normal for a British car there (RSA). If you owned a British car that didn't leave an oil puddle on the driveway it was considered a Japanese knock-off (back when Japanese cars were known as Jap-crap). German cars were great until they broke, then we would have to trawl the country to find someone with the technological know how of how they worked. What I remember about the SD1s in RSA was alternators packing up, oil leaks, sand causing problems in the brakes (we lived in a very dry, sandy area). Both were V8s and despite all the problems those cars were well loved. Cars were great characters back then. Remember the Alfa GTV6? Also trouble but I loved them. A bit like a squashed SD1.
"That is loud, that's not even quiet" is the paradoxical quote of the vid Ian! What a horrid noise whose only virtue is that at least it drowns out the creaks.
Great review absolutely enjoyed it.👍
I like the interiors of those Ambassadors. Simple dash layout. Reminds me of the Tagora.
And very Renault of that era too (18, Fuego, 20/30)!
It could have been some of the same team as this was the time Peugeot started to close Whitley and Roy Axe took up his role at Canley. There began a slow migration of engineers up the A45.
Tagoras were built by militant French workers though, with French grade plastic, so you can see how they are superior...............
Cant you?
@@thebrosgaming7959 A snap then with Cowley Marxists and BL's grades of plastics which hit rock bottom with the Allegro 3 and Ambassador in those dark days of no cash between the end of the Ryder Plan and before Edward's got the Government to sign off the investment in the Metro.
It’s actually an appealing shape, also it looks more modern in white, a colour that I think really suits this car!!!.
Great come back! I live in Burton on Trent and I’ve never seen that car kicking about🙁
I shall certainly keep an eye out for it from now on...
0 to 60 didn’t seem too shabby! I do rather like the Ambassador despite its evident short comings.
I’m also delighted that the great Hubnut has graced the very streets I frequent daily (even if those streets aren’t the most pleasant in the country😂)
Im really loving your vids! riding along with you via the camera reminds me of the days when you only had the one mate with a car and you would stick 3 quid the tank and drive around,love it!
The front end of the Ambassador looks like a Mk3 Ford escort
And the rear lamps are more than a bit '80s Ford-ish, too.
I actually thought the Ambassador was a lot more graceful than the Princess when it came out. Mind you, I loved the Morris Ital, so who am I :-)
Great video, full on Hubnut material here. I remember both Princess and Ambassador and whilst pretty poor in their day, they have a certain charm now. Oh dear Mr HubNut, every video sees me heading off to eBay to see whether any of your wondrous choices survive and are affordable!
PS - calendar arrived today - ITS ACE!
Brings back memories, I owned a Pricess 2.0HL then also had a couple of Ambassadors a 2.0HL then a 2.0VP in the same red colour you have.. Not sure about the HLS versions but the VP had twin carbs vs single in the L & HL if I recall. Chrome strip on bonnet and the wooden capping in the interiors were actually very nice.
Old man had the 2.0 HLS, Thought it was great, huge room in the back,
Only a four speed gearbox? There's an opportunity missed.
Yeah when the BL Maxi was one of the first five speeders they take a step back was a four speed and the very vocal 1.7 & 2.0 O series engines.
@@jbz2079 One of the reasons why my dad had a maxi was the 5 speeder.
that's was back in 1980 (v plate)
@@jbz2079 They recycled the Land Crab B series transmission for the Princess 2 and Ambassador with their O Series. Would not have been that hard to more the casings and add a 5th gear, something you can get for the A series now. But BL was just too strapped for cash just to do that!
The Maxi/Allegro 5 speed box (made by Beans Industries) couldn't handle any more power/torque than the 1750 E series pumped out, allegedly yet the innards of the box were used in Lotus Elan/ Europa 5 speed models...
I had the late Austin ambassador Vanden plans, i never understood with ARG didn't fit door bins to the car, however I bought door bins in the same grey colour for a Austin metro from at the time Beadles in Dartford on very long time ago. I fitted them so the right hand side end of the flush end of the door. By doing this it look if it was fitted in the factory. This gave me lots of space to fit pioneer door speakers too.
This is my preference out of the two of them and much more comfortable and handling. When you get back from your jollies I’ll get in touch about road testing my Reno’s etc. Great video as always.
At one point i thought it sounded like there was an old Perkings diesel lurking under the bonnet.
There was a Princess driving around in the Netherlands with a diesel engine.
I was told it was a testing bed.
The Ambassador's reception was bad because you didn't have any Ferrero Rocher :-)
Don’t joke the joke mate
What a beautiful car! Never seen one live.
Well worth the wait!!
Well I like it. Especially so because the body styling is absolutely unique and imaginative. Top spec, nice colour and wheels. For its time quite acceptable and a great example of motor industry heritage. In my opinion.
I beg to differ young hubnut, my auris hybrid has remote seat release levers by the tailgate, so some manufacturers still do it and yes very handy 😊
Also some Subarus and Hondas.
Thanks Hubnut that was a joy to watch - my dad had a princess then an ambassador 🤔
Just rewatched the Princess video, can’t believe how much better the older car is, dash easier to operate, love the armrest mechanism, why wasn’t the lower boot sill carried over to the Ambassador. Easy to see why it all went wrong for British Leyland.
I'd like to see you review the Ford Cortina mk4/5 from the same era. My dad had a 2.0 Ghia KUU954X (long since gone to the scrapyard I believe) but I seem to recall it was a much smoother car than the Ambassador seems to have been. Both cars from the era of deep velour trim and auto gearboxes where 3 gears were deemed to be more than enough. (My current car has 8 and I see there's a 10 speed auto in some new vehicles.... more than my first bike!)
Automatics (except the original 4 speed GM Hydramatic and the one in the Austin 1300 sold as an Austin America in the US, also 4 speed, both with straight fluid couplings) generally have torque converters which add a sliding scale 2:1 or so ratio to the three speeds, so equivalent to a four speed minus inefficiency. Oh, the Hydramatics last forever and the Austin thing was good for maybe 30K miles.
Mazda does the easy drop rear seats arrangement. Fold 'em from boot or rear passenger space. AR certainly got ahead of itself with some features.
Yes. My 2005 Mazda 6 has pull handles in the boot and it's so easy to drop the seats.
@@andrewhaines8603 I have a 2012 version.
@@andrewhaines8603 Not so the '06 Mazda 3 which just has buttons on the top of the seat backs, but those are easily reachable from the hatch. But it does have the problem of the rear seat head restraint hitting the driver's seat back even at its lowest height. I'm not that tall at 5'10 but have to move the driver's seat forward to drop the rear seat back, then have to find which one of the two possibles is the position I have it in.
Great video, love these sort of cars.
Lovely rare vehicle - so pleased it's been preserved.