The 1983 Austin Ambassador: A Car That Time Forgot
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- Part 4 - Ambassador
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#Leyland #britishleyland #BL #Morris # Austin #mini #Morris #Morris #Morris Marina #AustinAmbassador #Austin Princess
ps - re the pronunciation of 'VP' - firstly, you say it how you like - it's your channel 👍But secondly, I'm with you being old enough to remember. Back in the 1980's everyone, including the Dealers said it that way. I know from the supporters groups these days that the 'Plas' is very much with the 's' but in the 80's you would have been mocked for saying it that way🤣
That is so true
just look at all those colours
My Mum had a 1977 R reg 2200HLS Princess in white with blue vinyl roof. My favourite car after a series of Cortinas. Masses of space inside, huge luxury velour seats and that 6 cylinder engine was quick and smooth.
Lovely
Well, speaking of myself, I saw the last Ambassador at my visit of London back in 1983. Later, I haven't encountered any on the road. For me, at that time growing up in a part of ex-Yugoslavia called Slovenia, full of Minis, 1300s and Maxis made in the later Renault's site of Novo Mesto, the Princess (let alone the Ambassador) was a space ship. Back then, we had no clue about what was going on at British Leyland while our locally assembled BLMC cars had a very good reputation. By the time the Princess was launched, our local site was already producing Renaults, mostly 4s. So, when I saw the Ambassador live, with its wedge shape, its enormous hatch and its airy interior, it was kind of dream car.
Hi another great interesting video I had a a reg vplas with the wooden trims and silver leaf metallic, but it didn’t have door bins, Ifor some reason , fitted ones from metro I bought from dealer with right matching colour , very good drive but the gearbox was not good had to get it fixed, I had an accident in it but replaced the dark grill for a silver one and really set the car off. I agree it didn’t have rev counter but an economy meter . I agree with the princess look better , I have a late ember glow hls . Regards mark
Hi another great interesting video I had a a reg vplas with the wooden trims, but it didn’t have door bins, I fitted ones from metro I bought from dealer with right matching colour , my car was in silver , very good drive but the gearbox was not good had to get it fixed, I had an accident in it but replaced the dark grill for a silver one and really set the car off. I agree it didn’t have rev counter but an economy meter . From your video yiu described the earlier model. Regards mark
Thank you
A missed opportunity if only they gave it a 2300 and 2600 Rover engines,a 5 speed box and rev counter on top models then it might have sold in higher numbers?
Good review-The V/p seemed very posh back then with all its toys. We have to remember these were not common place or everyday at this time. Cashmere was a very popular colour and so was Oporto red(lovely colour). You may recall Crayford made a hatchback version of the Princess.
Had an Oporto red one A reg built Nov 83 one of the last was loaded wiv all extras was a nice first car 2.0HL
Hi - and another great video. I've only recently discovered your channel and have enjoyed watching some of your back catalogue as well as new releases. Well done and thanks
Thank you so much appreciate that
My father in law had an Ambassador 1.7 HL in champagne beige towards the end of the 1980s. A spacious car especially the rear and the hatch back and folding seat made it versatile. However it was definitely not cool like an equivalent Ford or other makes. He actually traded it in for an 1989 G reg Ford Granada 2.0 GL saloon. I agree with you that I preferred the Princess and my mates dad had a 1977 R reg 2200 HL which I recall was very smooth and torquey being a straight 6 when we occasionally got a lift to school in it. Was never a big fan of either cars really.
Ferrero Roche ready for the Ambassador's reception!
The front seats on the higher spec Ambassadors look like the same as fitted to the big Rovers. Piddly looking head restraints though.
Great video, thank you. Please do the HB Viva.
Will certainly keep that in mind
Early 1983, that would make it the most famous of all; an Austin Ambassador Y-reg. Cue John Shuttleworth! th-cam.com/video/pM1RrkW_vSs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=wrutJqwmthuhq458
My father had an identical VP Ambassador back in the mid 80’s
I took my test in my dad’s Ambassador Vanden Plas and remember the auto choke sticking on while I was on my driving test,so keeping it running was a bit of a nightmare.
It did me a favour though as the examiner had previously owned one with the same electronic auto choke twin carb setup & passed me and told me to scrap the F£&@ing car lol.
For some reason it would eat fan belt’s, which no garage could work out why, so in the end we just bought every fan belt for the car we could find in South London and replaced it when it snapped, about every week or two.
I must of been in the Guinness Book of records for changing fan belts on a 2 litre O series lol.
I also still have the scar on the back of my head as well, when the hatch struts decided to pack up lol.
RDW 75Y gone but not forgotten.
Wow what memories
Opaline and Cashmere were indeed paint colours most often applied to Vanden Plas and the less-common HLS. But I do remember Nautilus and Emberglow Red being very common colours for the more basic versions. Although not available, Primula would have looked good.
BL learned half a lesson from the Princess too late. This was a hatchback with decent equipment levels but still no five speed or Rev counter. BL lacked the commitment to make the Princess / Ambassador to work which is shame because Harris Mann designed it well. Through Terry and June television was willing to promote it.
The Princess is a much nicer car, more exclusive and the cabin in one, in my opinion, made with more beautiful materials. The bodywork also has more details and the car overall appears more exclusive and well-built. Here in Denmark, the Princess was a relatively popular car, it was almost in the same price range as the Rover, therefore it was a car that was primarily bought by accountants, lawyers and business people. My father had an acquaintance who had a princess in beige with a vinyl roof, it was really nice. The Ambassador was never introduced on the Danish market.
I think it was a much more successful modernisation than the Ital because the modern styling blended in more with the wedge shape, but you're right, it didn't seem as classy as the Princess. Maybe it was a deliberate move to take it downmarket. It would have been interesting to see what the Princess would have looked like if they'd retained the original styling and modernised it with new colours and bumpers like the Rover SD1, Jaguar XJ6, Range Rover and Citroen CX. You used to see an awful lot of beige Ambassadors which didn't help its image.
I attended a flower show in London Uk )with my mum in summer of 1989) and the late actor Sir john mills arrived as a passenger in a gold ambassdor VDP) to open it , i believe it was also a charity event / Gala/ his driver/ the person who brought him there even parked next to my ambassador, i always remember this, funny i mentioned this to my mum recently and i often wonder whether it was a car that belonged to him or it was just somebody who drove him there or whatever.
Aw very interesting
Brilliant review, we've had lots of what ifs with this brochure. The Vanden Plas spec could have been something really special, but as usual, it missed the mark. Note the 2 extra blank electric window switches. It was meant to have all-around electric windows on the VP.
Yea very weird having blanking plugs on your top model
In this brochure they had rev counter on Metro vanden plas, but they an econometer in same place weird.
The Ambassador for me was the car the Princess should have been. Shame it came so late in the car's life. My grandmother's brother Charlie owned a Princess 2.2 HLS back in the early 1980s in Alves, Morayshire. We visited them in 1981 and I remember going in it thinking it was a good car, the seats were so much better than my parent's Hillman Imp at the time. I agree that the Ambassador was sold on price as you got a huge bargain for the price. I wonder what the final price of the 1.7L vs the Maestro 1.3L would be? You got a larger car with more room and a bigger engine for probably not much more money. Very nice video as always.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting as always.
I owned several ageing princess' in the late 80's then in 1989 i bought 83 A reg) Austin ambassador 2:0 HLS) in green with elec windows & Power steering, it was a lovely comfy car i also preferred the princess as it felt more special / interesting / i have the same opinion regarding the marina v ital. I enjoyed this video much more interesting than the Morris ital ) I've a interesting story about a ambassador VDP and a late actor and a flower show from 1989 i will write a little later on , thanks for the video broucher review.
Thank you
Eclipse blue would be the best choice for the ambassador as it wouldn't show the rust coming through later in its life lol, i liked the extra rear windows which would have improved the visibility too somewhat
I rember going to Wimbledon to watch the tennis around 1982, and they used Ambassadors as courtesy cars for the players! So the likes of McEnroe, Connors, Navratilova etc must have experienced the delights of BL cars......I wonder how that felt when they were probably more used to Cadillacs and Chevrolets....😂
An interesting experience
Plastic blanking plugs and keep-fit rear windows on a big Austin Vanden Plas would be inappropriate and quite disappointing for some customers, without a doubt. All won't be lost though, since I can't wait to see the four electric window switches inside the aspirational Acclaim CD in next Monday's episode, hopefully.
Indeed - unusual electric window switches on the CD
In 1981, I was with a friend of mine when her father arrived from the dealership in his brand new Princess lol. Towards the end, I wonder if the "new" Ambassador really sold in very large numbers for BL? Big by British standards - spongy old designs that were probably not nearly so bad as the press used to say. Excellent value for what they were. While good things were often said about the ageing Maxi, the Princess/Ambassador was always kind of unloved. But as a self confessed BL fanatic, call me mad, but I quite liked them at the time.
I like them too
It would have made sense to introduce the Princess as a hatchback, knowing the length of time BL always kept their models in production. Obviously some daft geezers in BL management failed to remember that the Maxi was nearing the end of its run, and made the bizarre choice to introduce the Princess as a saloon only. Years later they wake up, spend a lot of money retooling it as a hatchback and calling it the Ambassador, and only producing it for a few years. Only BL could have been so stupid. Looking at the styling of the Ambassador, it was quite similar to other small-medium hatchbacks of the time. It does remind me a bit of the Mazda 323 and Ford Laser hatchbacks that were sold in Australia at the time.
The interior is not dissimilar to the Talbot Tagora, especially the dashboard layout from behind the wheel. If only the Ambassador's engines were as interesting as the Tagora, then the Ambassador would have received higher ratings from the critics of the day (ok, maybe not!) It's also strange how the cheapest L model has more equipment than the Sierra Base, yet posh alloy wheels aside the most expensive Vanden Plas has less luxury equipment than the Sierra Ghia, which is a bit unusual. What is even more unusual is that 5-speed gearboxes were not offered at all on the Ambassador, yet the same firm's Austin Maxi from the late '60s had 5-speed gearboxes from launch, as standard.
Indeed they could have done this so much better
Ambassador a good motor. Build quality defo not as good as later Princesses, very sadly…