The Contessa has recently struck the hearts of many Indian car enthusiasts, the upright A pillar, along with a C pillar that merges with the trunk gives it that 80’s muscle car look. Agreed it came in an under powered diesel which is far from a 327, let alone a V6. Vauxhall FE VX The start of the Contessa The Contessa starts it life as a Vauxhall FE VX, the production of the Vauxhall was stopped in the year 1978, however they agreed to manufacture parts until 1994, but in the year 1979 Hindustan Motors the manufacturers of the Ambassador approached Vauxhall for the body for production in India as it wanted to launch a premium sedan in the Indian market. The production of the car in India started only in the year 1984.The cost to Hindustan was £1.5m including all the blueprints for manufacture. In August 1980 an engineering team was tasked with making the mechanical changes which was mainly the engine & transmission. The engineers also used as many
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