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AHMEDABAD: From politicians to babus to cabbies, her buxom curves have charmed them all. Now, an event manager from Italy, the land of Fiat and
Ferrari, has fallen head over heels for this ageing dream on wheels, which has been in production since 1957 and takes after the Morris Oxford model.
Gian Rampoldi, 42, found the chubby looks of the former queen of Indian roads — the ubiquitous Ambassador or Amby — quite irresistible. He decided to own one, even though there aren’t many takers now for this relic in India. And like the Indian political class, he has chosen a white one.
After coming to India in July last year, he set his sights on acquiring the Classic model of Ambassador. After an eight-month wait, he got all legal clearances to take it back home on Friday. Rampoldi will now drive through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria before showing it off on the streets of Milan.
“During my first visit to India six years ago, I enjoyed travelling around in an Ambassador. After going back when I looked at the pictures, its beauty and bulge haunted me and I became nostalgic,” he told TOI.
Rampoldi sought advice from an Ahmedabad-based consultant over internet on how to go about acquiring the car. Rampoldi registered a company here which bought the car from Kolkata with a Gujarat registration number. He bought the car for Rs 4.5 lakh and gave a bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh, necessary to get passage through different countries.
On Friday, he got final clearances from Mumbai and is ready to tour around India for a month before he drives out of the country. “It will take me three months to reach Italy by road,” said Rampoldi, who can’t wait to flaunt his latest acquisition on the fashion-conscious Milan streets.
“People are mad after cars in Italy and this Indian beauty will definitely turn a few heads there,” he says.
Ferrari, has fallen head over heels for this ageing dream on wheels, which has been in production since 1957 and takes after the Morris Oxford model.
Gian Rampoldi, 42, found the chubby looks of the former queen of Indian roads — the ubiquitous Ambassador or Amby — quite irresistible. He decided to own one, even though there aren’t many takers now for this relic in India. And like the Indian political class, he has chosen a white one.
After coming to India in July last year, he set his sights on acquiring the Classic model of Ambassador. After an eight-month wait, he got all legal clearances to take it back home on Friday. Rampoldi will now drive through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria before showing it off on the streets of Milan.
“During my first visit to India six years ago, I enjoyed travelling around in an Ambassador. After going back when I looked at the pictures, its beauty and bulge haunted me and I became nostalgic,” he told TOI.
Rampoldi sought advice from an Ahmedabad-based consultant over internet on how to go about acquiring the car. Rampoldi registered a company here which bought the car from Kolkata with a Gujarat registration number. He bought the car for Rs 4.5 lakh and gave a bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh, necessary to get passage through different countries.
On Friday, he got final clearances from Mumbai and is ready to tour around India for a month before he drives out of the country. “It will take me three months to reach Italy by road,” said Rampoldi, who can’t wait to flaunt his latest acquisition on the fashion-conscious Milan streets.
“People are mad after cars in Italy and this Indian beauty will definitely turn a few heads there,” he says.
