[Babyhindusthan]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

That wasn't much of a visit, was it? Unless you explore the insides of the compound at a leisurely pace, and manage to see the insides of the factory if you can make the right connections, what is the fun?

I've been inside the factory when it was working many years ago, thanks to an uncle who used to work there and took us on a guided tour (those days, hardly anyone had a readily available camera). Later, very recently, I had the honour of visiting Distinguished BHPian Samba, who lives a stone's throw away from the factory. We had taken a quick tour of the Hindmotor compound then, and here are a few more pics from my side.

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Thank you for the inside pictures! We weren't allowed to go inside as the plant is defunct and the management strictly doesn't allow people to go inside. Still intend to go inside using a scooter and sneaking in posing as locals.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Babyhindusthan

Thank you for the inside pictures! We weren't allowed to go inside as the plant is defunct and the management strictly doesn't allow people to go inside. Still intend to go inside using a scooter and sneaking in posing as locals.

Great thread.
Pm me when you plan to visit next time. Will take you on my bike.

[sam_machine]

Wonderful and nostalgic at the same time. I was born in Rishra which is just few Kms from Uttarpara. I have one instance which I could never forget of HM factory back when I have just finished my boards . Every summer vacation we would visit our grandparents at Rishra. One summer after noon nothing to do myself ,my brother and local friends visited HM factory. Unfortunately my brother met with an accident inside the premises, while riding his bike since he was a newbie . It was head on collision with a worker and we had a good altercation with others afterwards . There is testing road inside which was build for cars to test it's rigidity and performance. Don't know if it is still there and someone can access it. The testing road had all kind of terrain rough & good with some gigantic curves but we rode our bajaj boxer like Valentino Rossi. It was so much fun ,sadly we had no cameras to document some of that. . Ambassador and Contessa will always remind me of my roots.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by sam_machine

There is testing road inside which was build for cars to test it's rigidity and performance. Don't know if it is still there and someone can access it. The testing road had all kind of terrain rough & good with some gigantic curves but we rode our bajaj boxer like Valentino Rossi. It was so much fun ,sadly we had no cameras to document some of that. . Ambassador and Contessa will always remind me of my roots.

It's pretty much there.
I did a photo-shoot of my bike over there-

[sam_machine]

Originally Posted by Samba

It's pretty much there.
I did a photo-shoot of my bike over there-

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Will surely make a visit next time I am in Rishra. Just for the sake revisiting old memories.

[sandeepmohan]

As a car enthusiast, it is sad HM is no more. Thinking about it though, I am glad they are gone. The company did not do enough with their bread and butter offering. There was opportunity, just not the right people tasked to do the job. Vehicles like the Veer, even at the time they tried to sell it, was unacceptable.

HM sold a car where it was required by the owner to weld the rain gutters, cause the factory could not be bothered to finish the job. A company like this has no place in the automobile world.

The last iteration of the Ambassador went down hill. They did better stamping of the body panels but fit and finish went further south. It was horrendous.

I find it quite amazing that for a company that had experience building a car like the Contessa, could not learn anything from it and make progress. They did a better job with this car than anything else they ever made.

[ishan12]

More than the nostalgia, these pictures are a reminder of all that was wrong not just with the Indian auto industry but with the overall Indian industries and economy in general.
With the government making everything from cars to toilet soaps, these images are a living proof that the economic path we chose as a country was going to get us into this kind of doom. Luckily better sense prevailed in the 90s (Partly thanks to IMF) and we are a vastly different country today.
The Yellow Ambassadors in Kolkata and the Fiats (Kaali-Peeli) in Mumbai will always serve as a reminder of the massive blunders of the past.

[vsomareddy]

I wish HM comes back just like how Royal Enfield did. One thing I loved about the good old Ambassador was the ride quality. About 11 years ago we got into an Ambassador taxi after over night train journey to get home which was 18 KM away through bad roads and the Ambassador made us feel like we were driving on a very good section of Autobahn or an Interstate highway. Believe me I am not exaggerating, this taxi from the outside looked to be in such bad condition that after reaching home my parents could not understand why we hired such a bad vehicle when there were so many modern taxis available. We took the Ambassador purely for the nostalgia and we were pleasantly surprised by its ride quality.

[Wanderers]

The HM factory was self sufficient automobile plant and not just assembly plant like modern automobile factories. It had foundry for engine castings, forging plant for shafts, gears, huge body shop with forming, press, welding and painting line. Engine sub-assembly, gear-biz assembly and chassis assembly were stand alone units. All finally catering to 2 parallel assembly lines from which the car rolled out. In 1996, the capacity was in range of 105-125 cars per day.

Apart from plant, the place had integrated township with huge sewage treatment, club with bar (big privilege being one in may be entire Hooghly district) sports complex with couple of tennis courts and cricket pitch, theatre cum auditorium, shopping area, colony maintenance department like municipal body along with a trade mark Birla temple, which is now in sad state today although there is a Pujariji assigned.



This is the neighbourhood I have lived best part of my life and friends. There was never a day without me visiting the colony to meet my friends and classmate, come what it may rain/storm or intense summer. Only my friends knew that I don’t live there, other thought my father worked in HM. Thanks to my friend father (who became my local guardian) I had access to all close facilities like theatre and club, which needed signature as dependent.

This is the place I learnt driving 4 wheelers, did my engineering implant training and perhaps only reason I go to Kolkata once a while to relieve the good old memories.

[soumobakshi]

Originally Posted by Samba

Great thread.
Pm me when you plan to visit next time. Will take you on my bike.

Advance booking
Location set for our meetup

[Babyhindusthan]

Some more photos from our photographer Deepanjan Sarkars camera.

[Lalvaz]

Lovely thread, takes one down memory lane. Like most other Indians of my age, I had grown up with the Ambassador and Fiat too. Great cars for its time. I learnt driving on the Padmini and have some very nice experiences of long road trips in these cars. Infact, one of my uncles even bought a pre-owned Landmaster in 2003 and it was such a different driving experience. Loved the fact that Amby's weren't a 5 seater and could just swallow people and goods like no other car.

Shame that PAL and HM didn't manage to innovate and change with the times. A large part of the blame undoubtedly rests with the erstwhile managements, but one mustn't forget the license Raj, which required permits to be able to make any changes in the manufacturing lines, capacity, etc. And Maruti was favored, while PAL and HM were deliberately hassled. So some of the blame should be shared by the government and its bureaucracy too. Anyways, the history of modern India wont be complete without HM and PAL. They've helped lay the foundations of the Indian automobile industry and take one back to simpler times, when a roadside mechanic could fix your car. Seems crazy that in 2021, we are more reliant on imported components for our automobiles, than in the 70's.

[Abhisheknott]

Thanks for the post. Brings back a lot of memories as we had a Mark II of the same colour. Wish the column shifters are back.

[Gypsian]

Technically, owners were fed up with feeding the thirsty radiators every now and then in the midst of journeys. Which is when the Maruti 800 parachuted to India and provided real sense of reliability. The imagination of not having to raise the hood quite often was a sigh of relief for Indian consumers.
The introduction of Isuzu engines in HM cars was time - barred as the Suzuki, Honda and Hyundai had taken the ball too far for HM to reach.