The demise of Hindustan Ambassador

An end of an era for in Indian automotive industry with Hindustan Ambassador (My respect for Amby can only be shown in bold lettering) finally being relegated to history. The Amby will no longer roll out of depreciated production lines in Uttarpara and Gurgaon respectively. But the eternal question remains, has it left a void? Apart from few people bursting of emotions we think it existed far too long to be missed.

One of the early ads of Amby Source: Team-BHP

Often fondly referred as "The Grand Old Lady Of Indian Roads", Amby in the later part of its presence was only sold for its legacies and chequered history rather than its outdated styling, old technical artillery and safety standards reminiscent of Ford Model T. Based on Morris Oxford III in Britain, Amby was put into production in 1958 and was continued till May-2014, has only been re-tweaked with grille, parking lamps and taillight lenses. A major re-modelling was rumoured much like Royal Enfield, Fiat 500, VW Beetle but with the announcement of suspension of production, all those rumours bit the dust.

Yellow Amby Ferrying Passengers

I am a bong, born and brought up in Mumbai, so I was always biased of the cultures of Mumbai against the culture of my native place Kolkata, preferring good ol' wada pav over rasgullas! But I was always envious of one thing or rather trend that Kolkata had and Mumbai didn't, and that's the yellow Amby taxis. Mumbai's black and yellow PAL premier were always cramped of space, difficult to get in and almost made even a normal person claustrophobic, but come to Kolkata and these yellow Ambys were a joy to ride. The sofa like seats on back side making ease of entry for sari clad women, a build quality reminiscent of Russian T-50 tank, going through the potholes it would jutter up the bones of the passenger but its body and chassis would emerge without even a scratch.

Having seen people treating the Amby as a status symbol and later as a family member and I have also seen being no less than a God, with taxi drivers offering food and sweets to their Amby before taking a morsel of food for themselves, Amby is no less than a heritage, a culture to be cherished in the coming times, but with outdated artillery and diminishing demands, Hindustan Motors should rest this Grand Old Lady to peace.

I have wrote this article as my tribute to Amby rather than a report of it, so send in your comments, any suggestions, advice is welcome.
  

Google unveils its own 'driverless' car, surprises with a live demo too!

We always classify people into two types, one that consider cars as mere modes of transport and the other that can’t resist grinning from ear to ear every time an opportunity to sit behind the wheel presents itself. Unfortunately, whichever group you classify yourself into, the reality is that driving in cities has become a chore these days. 

You might even be piloting a Porsche 911 but what’s the fun in being stuck for hours in a traffic congestion that leaves you scratching your head? That’s why, when Google announced that it is working on driverless cars, we were all ears! Though a handful of mainstream automotive manufacturers have tried their hands at driverless cars before, when it comes from the world’s leading tech giant, we better pay attention.

Weeks, months and years passed and all we heard about Google's progress in this project were several instances of mainstream cars fitted with weird equipments being tested, often in locations out of sight of the general public. While we just about started shaking this thing off our brains, Google sprung a surprise last week when it unveiled its own ‘driverless’ car. Yup, that’s right. Not content with making all of us hyper-dependent on its search engine, Google built a car on its own albeit without a steering wheel, an accelerator, a brake pedal and the creature comforts.

Now, stop screaming “What constituted the car then?” and scroll down.

Google's Indigenously Built Driverless Car 

A cute toy-like thing with four wheels, one at each end, is what this car actually is. Visualize our very own Tata Nano, this isn’t far off! It’s just that this Google thing is a whole lot cuter. It has two seats, space to accommodate passengers’ belongings, buttons to start and stop and a screen that shows the route inside. Of course, Google has loaded it with software, complex integrated circuits, a host of sensors and navigation equipment that ensures that this car can drive all by itself. With a restricted top speed of 25 mph, Google claims that the sensors in the car can remove blind spots and ‘see’ objects in all directions as far as two football fields away.

Doesn't that sound better than a human-being behind the wheel that can only ‘see’ ahead but has to rely on mirrors to know what’s behind?

Watch this cool video revealing how awesomely practical this car can be in real life basis.

Will you or one of us be able to buy one? No. Atleast, not now! About a hundred of these prototypes with purpose-built manual controls would be built to primarily be tested by Google’s safety drivers. If that’s successful, a small pilot program would be run in California, the hotspot of technology. And, if the tech develops and evolves as Google hopes it would, we might see a few of these on road. Now, that’s a lot of ‘if’s before we could see one on road for sure.

Chances are, if you aren’t working for Google and if you weren’t one of the lucky few that were part of the live demo last week, you might not stumble upon this car ever, like us! Sigh!!!

This whole thing written by me only, nobody else has the swag to write like this, the ones that doubt can try to write like me but you'll fail as always.

I am celebrating my 1 year since my article got selected for Indian Autos Blog, so please do write in how did you like my blog. your comments will be an encouragement for me.

Ducati bring its Middle Weight contender Monster 821 into naked bike lineup

Naked bikes are often considered raw, aggressive, ugly, hooligans, but the Italians read "Ducati" have managed to bring a certain finesse, beauty to these beasts by introducing 'Monster' range of naked motorcycles, you will be in awe of her curvaceous beauty rather than its beastliness.

Ducati Monster 821 Three-Quarters

Their newest offering Monster 821 promises to be a serious contender in the middle weight category and will bring in some serious sweat to its competitors like Triumph, MV Augusta, Kawasaki, KTM to name a few.
Monster line-up of naked bikes have always a sweetheart for throttle frenzy bikers, and the new 821 doesn't disappoint with its short ratio gearing and torque similar to a freight train, this bike will never make you bore be it be endless straights or twisty and crisp turns.

New Monster 821

  The Monster 821 gets 8-stage traction control, 3-level ABS and 3 different fuel mapping options, integrated into a riding mode system much like other Dukes. It also gets an adjustable seat height, which is nice, and it weighs in at 179.5 kg (395.7 lbs) dry, so it should feel quite nimble on the go. 
Also unlike the traditional air-cooled engine normally boasted into that beautiful trellis frame, this beaut comes with a relatively new oil-cooled engine owing to the stricter emission norms being floated in numerous countries.

Back Three-Quarters Monster 821

This bike is placed between entry level 696 version and the big bad boy 1200 version so one can assume the days of 796 version to be numbered.

You can get this sexy beast in red or white with a red trellis frame or their is a dark black version. Make mine the black!

Do write in your comments, how do you like my blog, your comments is going built up my confidence to carry forward my passion.