Fifty-eight years after the first car rolled out of a factory in Uttarpara and less than a year after its production stopped, the Ambassador has made a journey from being an Everyman car to a classic one. A city-based collector recently restored a 1965 Ambassador Mark II - the first such attempt in Calcutta.

Shrivardhan Kanoria's family had owned Ambassadors through the Fifties and Sixties. "We owned a number of them, right from the Landmaster to Mark I, II, III, IV and lastly Nova. When my father, car collector Shashi Kanoria, was 18, he totally remodelled a Mark II 1966 model in red and shell white," said Shrivardhan, who learnt to drive in a 1989 Ambassador Nova.

With time, the family switched to Esteems and Honda Cities, but Shrivardhan retained a fondness for the car modelled on Morris Oxford. "Hindustan Motors just couldn't keep up with the times. The built quality, mechanics, interiors, everything was below par. People didn't feel good driving the Amby anymore," he said. "It wasn't like that when the Amby first came. The Mark I and II had sheet metals of thicker gauge. The company could have kept the shell intact and modernised the mechanics and interiors like the London taxis have been modernised but have retained their look."

Hindustan Motors stopped production of Ambassadors last year, citing weak demand among other reasons, and soon after the car found a place in the newly introduced Indian Heritage Classic category at vintage shows.

"Ambassadors are now being collected and shown in vintage car rallies under the Indian Heritage Classic Category. Many collectors in the north, west and south are showing their Landmasters and Mark Is and IIs at shows around the country," said Shrivardhan, who has bagged top trophies in the last two Cartier Concours vintage car shows. "A lot of money is being spent on restoring these cars, more than their value. There are clubs and unions of Amby owners who take out their cars for drives. And for those starting out, Ambassador Mark I and II are relatively manageable to restore and maintain."

Shrivardhan himself had been looking for an Ambassador for his fleet, which also includes models of the Fiat family. "I was keen on this 1965 model Ambassador Mark II that I trailed from the airport one day to its garage. It was very well maintained. It was owned by a Bengali who was not willing to sell," he said.

In July last year, a local dealer told Shrivardhan about a Mark II on sale and curiously it turned out to be the one he had followed from the airport. "I closed the deal immediately, without even having a look at the car or finding out its condition," said the restorer who lives on Southern Avenue.

What had appealed to Shrivardhan when he first set his eyes on the car was that 70 per cent of the car was in original condition. "When I picked it up, it wasn't in good shape though. But it had all the papers with taxes and insurance paid."

Shrivardhan started off by overhauling the entire drive train, from the 1.5 litre BMC engine to the gearbox, suspension and brakes. The tyres were changed. For the right look, he added a few original fitments such as gear knob, dashboard switch and tail lamps. It was also fitted with authentic period accessories such as front wing mirrors, front sunshade, wheel trims, Whitehall tyres. Shrivardhan then rewired the car, touched it up and polished it. He also tuned the engine himself so that it now gives a mileage of 9kmpl. Shrivardhan is now the proud owner of a gleaming new 1965 car with authentic features.

In the first year, Shrivardhan drove the classic Amby for 6,000km. "I drove it to work and back, took it to the market, to parties, for evening drives on the highway. It performed wonderfully. I have driven it at up to 120kmph without trouble," he said. The speedometer has 140 kmph as top speed.

But now Shrivardhan wants to strip the Amby down to the bare metal and do a "factory fresh restoration". While scraping the paint, he hopes to get the original paint shade of the car. A bit of bodywork is also on the cards. The car currently has velvet upholstery and a one-piece ceiling, which Shrivardhan wants to replace with the original red and grey vinyl upholstery.