Tuticorin Salt Businessman is well into his 70s and now has a wide range of modern cars in his portfolio but the Mark IV Ambassador of 1984 remains his favourite and continues to run on the streets of Mylapore
While his kids, relatives and friends have anointed him with the 'Old Fashioned' Tag, he has derived the greatest driving pleasure from the Amby and is unwilling to let it go
On the last day of December 1984, MLM Lakshmanan Chettiar, a Salt Manufacturer from Tuticorin took the decision to buy a Mark IV Dow Grey Ambassador. Almost four decades later after the rugged Ambi has run 5Lakh kms, he still passionately drives his all time favourite car. He has bought many other cars in the last four decades including those with the latest modern technology, but his love for the Ambi remains unmatched.
The Temple Car of the MLM Family
He told this writer on a long ‘test’ drive to the Appar Samadhi in Thiruvanmiyur from his home in Luz Avenue that he has taken care of the Ambi as if it was his own child“Our first long trip in May 1985 was a self driven trip to Vaitheeswaran Koil from Mylapore with our family. Five people could easily sit. It had a large boot space and could carry our luggage on long trips. We have driven across the entire South India including to all temples in Karnataka and Kerala. My daughter Saraswathi named it as the ‘Temple Car’ as we did all our temple trips in this car.”
The First Woman Amby driver in Tuticorin
Within six months, he took the car to Tuticorin where he continues to run a Salt business “That year, I taught my wife, Janaki, driving near the Tuticorin Port and helped her secure her car driving license. She was the first lady to drive an Ambi in Tuticorin. Over the next 15years, she too drove the ambi on national highways on our long drives.”
The Old Fashioned Tag that he doesn't mind
Lakshmanan himself would have driven over 3lakh kms on this Ambi across the four Southern States. “My kids think I am a bit old fashioned to be still driving this car but this is a car that has given me great driving satisfaction. For almost two decades, both my wife and I drove it ourselves across the length and breadth of the Southern States.”
He says the secret of decades long endurance lies in the way he has maintained the car “Like how you would take care of even a small wound of your child, I attend to even minor repair immediately. The 1984 Ambi has become one in my family. It may come as a surprise to many in the new gen that I have consistently done 100 KMPH on the national highways. Service maintenance is the secret for this car to last this long. ”
During this long four decades span, Lakshmanan has used this Mark IV Amby to teach driving to 300 people including to all his family members. “It has given me great satisfaction that this car has served as the learning board for new entrants to driving both in my family as well as in my wide friends circle in the last four decades.”
Over the last decade with the entry of new technology, he converted the Ambi to a power steering 5 gear model and also installed an AC.
Every Anusham to Kanchi
As one enters his Palatial house in Luz Avenue opposite the Nageswara Rao Park, there is a wide array of cars parked including the latest launches but for Lakshmanan, the Amby remains his all time favourite. Every Anusham, he drives this car to Kanchipuram for the celebration of Periyava’s monthly star in an almost thanking gesture for providing him with great driving delight for almost four decades.
This Salt Manufacturer from Tuticorin considers the 1984 Mark IV Amby as a rare treasure in his life