HINDUSTAN CONTESSA
Hindustan Contessa - India's very own muscle carIn the era when other companies were struggling for theirsales Hindustan motors introduced a very nice, affordableand a car with amazing aerodynamic. Contessa was broughtin front of the people in 1984. The Hindustan Contessa is oneof the most iconic cars to be manufactured in India. It has a cult following even today, and still holds a lot of value in theused car market. In fact, there are new cars that are cheaperto buy than an old, second-hand (or third-hand) Contessa!. By mid-70s, Hindustan Motors was looking to add a vehicle totheir line-up. The only other car they had in production atthat time was the Ambassador, which was introduced back in1958 and had been largely unchanged since. In 1978,Vauxhall of Britain discontinued their Victor series of cars.HM saw their chance, swooped in to negotiate a license agreement, and then acquired all the production tools andcast-dies. In 1982, the company had managed tomanufacture test vehicles in their Uttarpara plant in West Bengal. As the time passed, when the youngster came to know about contessa this car got a different craze among them. But unfortunately when the car was discontinued, they stared by doing basic modification like just colouring the car in dual tone. After sometime it stared growing up to changing the interior, alloys/mag wheels, etc.
● Engine specifications
Contessa Classic (1990 to 2002)
The original Contessa, introduced in 1984, was quite a large car, even by international standards. To keep the cost of production in check, HM decided not to manufacture new engines, but rather use the same engines they already had in their arsenal. As such, the then-new Contessa got a 1.5-litre (sourced from BMC Austin) petrol motor. This was quite significantly smaller than the Vauxhall Victor’s engines (1.8, 2.2, 2.8, and 3.2 litre units, all petrol). As such, the Contessa felt underpowered, which was the biggest complaint the critics had at the time. Thankfully, the car was extremely spacious and refined, which made it a big hit among the chauffeur-driven type. As regards the performance, the HM Contessa is powered by both petrol and diesel options. The former is a 1.8L 4ZB1 petrol motor with four cylinders which can deliver 85hp of maximum power and 135 Nm of peak torque. The latter is a 2.0 L Isuzu 4FC1 diesel unit,also with 4 cylinders, which isgood for 55 hp against 107 Nm. The transmission duties on both of the two variants are implemented by a 5-speed MT gearbox Apart from the engine, the Contessa also shared its gearbox and rear-wheel-drive system with the Ambassador. The RWD format was much more expensive to manufacture than FWD, which hurt the car’s sales a bit.Apart from the engine, the Contessa also shared its gearbox and rear-wheel-drive system with the Ambassador. The RWD format was much more expensive to manufacture than FWD, which hurt the car’s sales a bit.
Hindustan contessa (1.5 petrol) specs
Engine size- 1,4890 cc
Engine type- Carburetted, inline, naturally
aspirated (BMC B-series)
No. of cylinders- 4
Max. power- 50 PS
Max. torque- 100 nm
Gearbox- 4 speed manual
● Prices
Priced at about Rs. 4.84 lakh to Rs. 5.42 lakh (Ex-showroom,Delhi), which was quite expensive then, the Contessa was considered to be as a premium luxury sedan in the Indian auto market at that time. The vehicle targeted at the buyers who were looking for something better than the normal Padmini and the Ambassador. Deserving this high price, the Contessa offered a luxurious cabin with premium features. Unfortunately enough, the popularity of the vehicle began to fade away by the turn of the decade since better and more affordable alternatives with more decent mileage were Introduced by newer automakers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Hyundai, etc.. Although the Contessa has been shelved, it remains to be one of the most memorable vehicles among the Indian auto enthusiasts and still fetches a good price in the used car market.
