The Flood and its Aftermath
That is where the beauty of the Hindustan Ambassador internal cabin design was such a help. The Ambassador has no frills. Unlike modern cars which have a whole console between the driver’s and passenger’s seat over which it is simply impossible to climb, in the Ambassador there is a straight-backed, non-reclining bench seat in the front and another behind. Each is supposed to seat three people. But in a pinch, you can easily fit in a few more. Climbing over the back of the front seat onto the driver’s side was a simple maneuver. Then I put the car in reverse gear and turned the ignition key. That way every time the starter took a turn, the car moved back a foot or two. This doesn’t do any favors for the starter which may get totally burned out, but in our case, it got the car out of the main flow of the river.
