The Austin Ambassador is a

large family car The D-segment is the 4th category of the European segments for passenger cars, and is described as "large cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "large family car" size class, and the present-day definition of the mid-size car category us ...

that was introduced by the

Austin Rover Group The Austin Rover Group (abbreviated ARG) was a British motor manufacturer. It was created in 1982 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland (BL). Previously, this entity had been known as BL Cars Ltd (formerly Leyland ...

subsidiary of

British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

in March 1982. The vehicle was a heavily updated version of the

Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

, a saloon car that had lacked a hatchback, the car that "the Princess should have been right from the word go" according to one company manager. British Leyland changed the name to underscore the depths of the changes - only the doors and inner structure were carried over, but the wedge-shaped side profile betrayed the car's Princess origins, and buyers did not consider it a truly new model. The Princess had been out of production for four months by the time that the Ambassador went on sale. To some extent a car that bridged the gap between the smaller Morris Ital and the Rover SD1, sales were low and the model was discontinued in 1984 with 43,427 cars built.

Design

Unlike the Princess, a six-cylinder 2.2-litre version was not available; the Ambassador was offered only as a four-cylinder, initially with either a 1.7-litre or a 2.0-litre variant in "L", "HL", "HLS", and "Vanden Plas" trims. The single carburettor, 1.7-litre engine generates at 5200 rpm, while the 2.0-litre engine delivers at 4900 rpm. In the HLS and Vanden Plas trims, the Ambassador was equipped with a 2.0-litre engine sporting twin carburettors - this replaced the earlier "six" and allowed a power increase to with torque measuring . A benefit of not having to accommodate the taller E6 engine was that the bonnet could be made lower and flatter, although this meant that the wipers were now no longer concealed (unlike those of the Princess). In 1983, the 2.0-litre HL was upgraded to also use the more powerful twin-carburettor engine. A four-speed manual gearbox (and automatic) were the only transmissions offered, with commentators citing the lack of a fifth gear (available in other BL models) for the manual transmission, as one of the car's drawbacks. Despite prototypes being built in left-hand drive, production versions of the Ambassador were only built in right-hand drive form and thus were not exported to continental Europe. Just 14 Ambassadors remain taxed and on the roads in Britain in 2023, out of 43,500 built; compared to around 225,000 for the Princess. As of 2023, 338 Princesses remain in active service in the UK with a MOT. Aside from the Ambassador's connections to the lowly repute of the Princess, commentators point out that its sedate image and driving characteristics (and low performance) also mitigate against its success in a market where performance and taut handling were becoming more important. Some components, such as the headlights, were shared with the Morris Ital. Other minor components, including much of the interior trim, was also shared with other BL products, such as the

Allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking that indicates to playing quickly and brightly (from Italian meaning ''cheerful'') * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem b ...

. The redesigned interior was generally not considered an improvement over that of the Princess, feeling cheap and lacking a rev counter – even in the top HLS model. According to

, only the front door skins were directly shared with the Princess. The rear part of the chassis was modified to accommodate the opening hatch, and there were windows in the C-pillars which did make for an airier cabin. The Ambassador only served as a stop-gap in the Austin range, being discontinued in March 1984 (after exactly two years in production), with no official replacement. The gap it left in the Austin-Rover range was effectively filled by the slightly smaller Montego, and by lower-specced versions of the new Rover 800 series.

Sales

The Ambassador achieved domestic sales of 43,427 in the two years in which it was available.

References

{{British Motor Holdings and British Leyland cars, 1966-1986 Austin vehicles British Leyland vehicles Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1982 Cars discontinued in 1984 Hatchbacks