History of the Hindustan Motors Contessa

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 locally produced parts to replicate the interior and dashboard; this was done as a further. The car was manufactured in Uttarpara manufacturing plant. The Contessa was manufactured in India at a time when the manufacturing was very primitive, hence the cars lacked the finesse that the FE VX had. But this was not an issue to us Indian buyers at the time as it was almost space age when compared to the Ambassador. The only competitor in India at the time was the Standard 2000.

What powered the Contessa?

The contessa had a modern look from the outside but the power house was far from modern. Hindustan’s locally produced 1489cc BMC B Series engine that dated back to 1953 and a version of a BMC 4 speed gearbox from the same era with no synchromesh on 1st gear. The engine made 50bhp with the standard compression ratio but a “high output” 54bhp engine was available with a higher 8.3:1 compression ratio. For the next model Hindustan motors had negotiated with Isuzu to provide an engine for the contessa. The later on B models were fitted with an Isuzu 1.8litre 4ZB1 petrol engine and associated 5 speed gearboxes. The year 1987 saw the contessa classic with a 1.8L petrol engine, through the years of production the basic ex-BMC engine was canceled. Throughout the model years there were very few changes with things like AC being added to keep it as a premium as possible. In 1990 the contessa got a 2.0L Isuzu 4FC1 diesel engine, and in 1996 a turbo-diesel was also added. The 2.0L diesel produced 70 hp, 123Nm of torque and was efficient. The maximum power from the 1.8L engine was 88 BHP in the earlier models and later on 75 BHP for the locally manufactured engines. The year 2000 saw the 1.8L engine get fuel injection to meet emission norms.

Ride and handling

The contessa was fitted with rack and pinion steering setup, the rear suspension was a 5-link suspension setup with Panhard rods preventing the axle from flexing thus leading to instability. The car had a wide track giving it a very wide stance. The contessa classic had double wish bone suspension for maximum comfort. The Contessa classic was advertised as a highway cruiser. 

Comfort and interiors

The interiors had a lot of space as it was a very big car for its time. It had deep contoured bucket seats unlike some of the other cars that had bench seats, the rear seat even came with an armrest, and the front seats had retractable function. The car had an AC option and the windows were later on power operated as well. The Contessa is now turning out to be a desirable classic car that car enthusiasts would want to own. sadly 2002 was the final year of production as the car just was not selling with all the competition.