John Shuttleworths Austin Ambasador

[cjhillman]

Went to see John Shuttleworth last night, obviously he did his "hit" song "Austin Ambasador" Y Reg. I've never seen one before, did anyone own one except mr Shuttlworth? We're they awful? Does anyone still have one?

Incase you don't know what I'm talking about...

Chris

[Ryannn]

There's always one parked across the road from one of the motor factors I use. Looks tidy still!

[joe90]

My first car was an Austin Ambassador 2.0, bought it off a teacher at school for £50.

Bryan

[grifterkid]

I wonder what happened to the Shuttleworth Ambassador...?! I imagine he's traded up to a Rover 200 or something similar now...!!!

[GT4ME]

Love the song

[120y]

They came in 1.7 and 2.0 versions, for me the one to have would be a vandan plas that was nicely appointed.
No they where not awful infact they where very comfy cars and nice to drive.
Was supposed to be an update of the princess but by the time they came along people had moved on and lost interest they never sold that well.
Basically an ambassador had the back end the princess was crying out for and never got (hatchback) but as I say the car turned out to be another BL failure.
I would love one myself but I can already hear the wife.............

[1900sr]

My dad bought a 2.0l one second hand. It would randomly smoke really badly so he took it back to the dealer (an old workmate of his) who changed the engine for a second hand one. It did exactly the same so the dealer took it back and my dad chose another one, a very low mileage 2.0HLS in beige, the same colour as John Shuttleworth's. I thought it was awful to drive, very over assisted power steering with no feel.

[MK2VR6]

Personally can't stand the things. However, if you squint a bit, it looks exactly like a DeLorean*


* Try squinting again. And again. And drink some wine. And try again.

[bortaf]

MIL had a 1.7, even she hated it, she loved her alegro, the agro was cute (apparently), the amby was just a total POS, BL managed to take a princess which was pretty woefull and make it worse somehow? (her word not mine)
I've had the pleasure of driving, servicing and up keeping both and at least the princess has some build quality to it, they made the ambasador seem even cheaper inside and built it even more slapdash, who'd have thunk it was possable, amazed me at the time.

[cjhillman]

I'm glad some people are interested in this thread haha. I searched the original Shuttleworth Ambassador and it was scrapped in 1997... it apparently gets scrapped in the first episode of his tv show "500 bus stops" as it breaks down.. hence the title of the program. Bought one of his other later DVDs at the gig and he had one with a different plate on it... which is sorn now.

[DavidB]

My dad had one in gold in the early 90's (a c reg I think?)

My mate always used to say it looked like an Amiga 500 mouse.

(Which is really does):



I think they're quite tidy, I reckon I could drive one for a bit. They're probably really awful compared to other cars of the era.

[vulgalour]

British Leyland death rattle. Like anything you do on a budget it either ends up being surprisingly good or predictably bad. In some ways the Ambassador manages to be both.

By modernising the interior and the bodywork they effectively stripped all the charm and quirk out of them that set the Princess apart. But because they modernised the car you got that much needed tailgate and folding rear seat, one of the big reasons people bought them at all as they became ridiculously practical as a load lugger, especially with the Hydragas suspension and the torquey O series engine.

Just bear in mind that they're getting on a bit now and they had an incredibly short production run. Although they look a lot like a Princess, the shell is heavily modified to put the strength in for that tailgate and I'm led to believe the Hydragas displacers were improved for the added weight which gave them a slightly better ride with tougher suspension units. Luckily, much of the things that made the Princess interesting, like the front sheet metal and the interior, can be swapped over relatively easily if you're handy with that sort of thing, the shell is the right shape in the right places to allow it. This is something I still want to do some day but time will tell if I manage it.

Best of all though, the Ambassador is cheap. Buy the best you can and be prepared to unbodge previous owner fixes - again like any other early eighties car - and you could have yourself a very comfortable practical barge. Expect too much of it and you will be disappointed.

Time will tell what happens to the values on Ambassadors. My gut feeling is that they'll disappear into obscurity, maintained only by a handful of die-hard enthusiasts. While ever the Princess exists, the Ambassador will always play second fiddle.

[grifterkid]

I love the fact that Mr.S references a Morris Ital...!!! Those could be the only cars he could ever drive...! As I said though, I'd love to know what car he'd have now...?! What do you lot think...?! I'm still sticking with a Rover 200 or 25...!

[cjhillman]

in the show before playing that song, he said 'you don't know what car ive come in do you? it could have been Kens Honda Civic, or Alan the Opera singers Citroen Berlingo...' so hes deffinitly modernised. i like to think a begie or white Montego but it would probably be a mondeo haha

[Rob M]

Nov 25, 2014 20:16:39 GMT MK2VR6 said:

Personally can't stand the things. However, if you squint a bit, it looks exactly like a DeLorean*


* Try squinting again. And again. And drink some wine. And try again.

It would have been a bit s**t back in 1983 but in 2014 it looks seriously cool.
Well I think so, massive potential!!!