The Austin Ambassador is a large family car that was introduced by the Austin Rover Group subsidiary of British Leyland in March 1982. The vehicle was a heavily updated version of the Princess, 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.
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. 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.