Obsolete 1956 Morris Oxford car built for over 50 years by Hindustani Motors. I bet these cars are awful to drive or ride in.
When half the people in India have no access to indoor plumbing it’s good that the Ambassador proudly drives a product from his country.
George, are you thinking back fondly to the ** Nash** Ambassador?
The Hindustan Ambassador doesn’t do anything for me. If you like them so much, you could start a collection. There are plenty of them available for import, And they are old enough that you don’t need to meet US safety standards.
To quote The World’s Worst Cars…
“The car is not so much based on the 1954 Morris Oxford as it is a carbon copy of the Morris, despite being more than a half century old. In that time, you’d expect something in the way of development, but short of wider bumpers to satisfy crash regulations and a catalytic converter to reduce emissions, the Ambassador remains very much an undeveloped relic, right down to the lead-heavy steering and brakes that have never heard the term emergency stop”
When designed by a committee of bean counters any performance, accelerating, stopping or cornering standard above barely adequate is a waste when the cars are to be owned and driven by common people.
I agree, it looks cute.
I could imagine fitting the body over a golf cart chassis and driving it around a retirement community.
Does anyone really need more than this
for their daily driver and go getter in the suburbs @circuitsmith?
I have actually seen these little Japanese mini-trucks as on-property run-abouts. Daihatsus mostly. Large gated retirement communities, golf courses and some other large properties needing grounds-keeping equipment. Not street legal so no license plates (may have seen 1 or 2 plates… not sure how they got them).
If you could find one 25 years old and import it, you could get it licensed under the vintage import laws. I’d avoid the highways, though!
It seems a few states will tag them @Mustangman
and it does make sense to only allow them on residential and rural streets where the speed limit is quite slow. I see them locally on rural roads even though Mississippi doesn’t officially allow them. Of course Mississippi does have laws allowing farm equipment to operate
Not surprised to see Florida allow these. I think you could license a Big Wheel with a lawnmower engine here! Or a Radio Flyer Wagon!
In my not so humble opinion golf carts capable of 40 mph with 4 wheel brakes should be allowed on suburban streets @Mustangman. It’s the ATVs that seem to be a big problem but of course it’s mostly the drivers who are the problem there.
I agree, at least up to about 30 mph. My neighborhood, like many in Florida allow golf cars on the road. Not really a problem except when they try to drive them to the market on a 45 mph road. That’ll get you a ticket!
Good. They deserve a ticket.
Some urban areas have something similar - kids on dirt bikes. The similarity is that they aren’t road vehicles, and of course aren’t registered for the road. The difference, I hope, is that the kids often form a gang and harass a neighborhood. They ride off before the police can catch them, and the cops aren’t going to do a high speed chase on city streets. It’s quite a problem in Baltimore City.
Long ago when I was driving a parcel delivery route while on a very rural stretch of 2 lane a kid pulled in front of me on a 3 wheeler in a wild turn and continued ahead moving from side to side having some fun. A pickup pulled up behind me and at under 45 I knew he would pass so I straddled the center line until there was enough shoulder to pull off and leave the situation for the truck driver to deal with. Soon we approached a country store and I followed the ATV and pickup into the parking lot to add my voice to the complaining but before I could get on the ground I saw the man swinging his belt across the boys back and yanking the key out of the ATV and it became obvious that the boy had been caught by his dad. I hope he grew up to appreciate that he lived through his foolishness and that his dad was doing all he could to help him survive even if he had to beat him half to death himself.
Tell me about it!
I’m always amazed when we go back to South Dakota to visit my wife’s family to see all the ATVs running around in the city. With license plates. Seriously?
ATVs and jet skis seem to bring out the worst in people.