Enid blyton's Noddy drove one, so did Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Jyoti Basu of West Bengal still has one. The Ambassador was the undisputed king of the Indian roads, inextricably linked to many an influential person's childhood memories of pleasurable events and grand excursions to hill stations…
When the car first hit Indian roads it was not far behind its time in terms of automobile design. The cost was high, about 20 times the annual average wage, so it remained the preserve of bureaucrats and government servants. The inefficiencies in manufacture were not considered to be a problem because the commoner was never intended to own an Ambassador. Short production runs and over-staffing legislated by government fiat, ensured that the manufacturers were beholden to the bureaucrats who were the biggest customers.
Of course, the Ambassador could be fixed almost anywhere in India. The fact that it required repair almost anywhere in India seemed to be overlooked. The mechanic was not concerned with the cost of the large inventories of parts sitting on the shelf, so long as the machines continued to break down and he was able to realise a good margin on his stock. The spares makers were happy with faulty design and the manufacturers did not care about after-sales service. Only the private owners felt the pinch of continuous trips to the mechanic, but then private owners of luxury goods were considered to have stolen their money from the poor, so their interests in value for money were not an issue.
Most people who owned an Ambassador never drove it. The chauffeur did. Therefore driver-comfort was not considered an issue to the purchaser. This meant that the off-centre pedals and oblique steering wheel angle continued to be a feature, to the present day even. From experience one can say that this leads to driver fatigue as well as back pain. Thus, the need for hourly tea stops, much to the benefit of the roadside dhaba.