NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Since the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee opted for a sleek custom-made BMW in 2003, it's been steadily downhill for the grand old lady that had once ruled Indian roads. The common man had given up much earlier, eagerly embracing the zippier Maruti 800 when it was launched in 1983.Now seven decades after the first Ambassador rolled out, Hindustan Motors has put the brakes on its Uttarpara, West Bengal factory. "The company's best efforts to revive the unit have failed. Given the circumstances, it has no alternative but to declare suspension of work at the plant with effect from May 24, 2014," a spokesperson from the CK Birla Group company said in a statement on Saturday.Modelled on the British Morris Oxford III, the Ambassador commanded a lion's share of the fledgling Indian car market of the '70s and early '80s but lost its lead when companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Ford came to India, relegating it to a mere 'sarkari' (government) vehicle. Sporting a red beacon, the vehicle had come to personify political and administrative status since its launch. Though it is still the official vehicle for some of the country's elite, including the Army chief and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, most politicians have moved on to safer and luxurious SUVs and sedans from the likes of Mercedes Benz, Audi and BMW.With Amby sales declining rapidly from a high of 24,000 units a year in the mid-1980s to under 12,000 a decade later and less than 6,000 in the mid-2000s, the HM management struggled to position the car. In the final days of the Uttarpara plant, the 2,600-odd workers were manufacturing just five cars a day; Maruti Suzuki, which snatched the status of India's leading carmaker from HM in the 1980s, manufactures 5,000 vehicles daily.There are still a few devoted "Amby" fans who talk fondly of the heavy steering, the smoking radiator and other defects but for the car-buying public, it has lost its shine."RIP Amby, your time's up," said vintage and classic car collector Saloo Choudhury, who believes the Amby ought to have been consigned to the history books long ago. The circumnavigator, who drove the Contessa around the world in 69 days and took the Ambassador to the Old Car Lap of Texas, a 4,000-mile run in the southern American state in 1987, said poor built quality was responsible for the Ambassador's rapid decline. India's leading auto designer Dilip Chhabria, who had expressed a keen interest in redesigning the classic car, said the Amby still had it in its genes to wow the market. "Had HM continued to evolve the Amby over the past 60 years without changing the DNA, it would have been the Rolls Royce of India," he says, concluding, "It can still turn the clock around and become a best-seller in a new avatar that exudes contemporariness and quality."Despite his confidence, it's going to be a near-impossible task. HM has been referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) which is meant for sick units. "Efforts to find strategic investors have not materialized and the company faces a critical shortage of funds. The company's efforts are falling short of the large liabilities that have been accumulated," the statement issued by HM. Company officials hope to focus on restructuring the organization and hunt for a strategic partner.However, chances of revival are slim. Lack of fresh investments by the promoters, who now manufacture cars for Mitsubishi and Isuzu at a plant near Chennai, saw the Uttarpara factory fall on bad days. While there were attempts to fall in line with present day realities, they were just not enough. Failing to take their cues from rapid changes in the industry, the management remained content selling Ambassadors. Perhaps, the flop experiment with the Contessa discouraged further investment so when India moved to hatchbacks, HM had nothing to offer. Even their BSIV emission car came in only last year, two years after stricter emission norms were implemented across the major metros. Sales as yellow cabs too ended with the entry of Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Tata Indigo CS.Sources said that the poor financial position has resulted in delays in salary that in some cases has not been paid for over five months. And despite being a loss-making unit, the staff strength at Uttarpara is still very high as it is difficult to lay off workers in the politically-charged state of West Bengal. While the company has assured they will pay accumulated liabilities, the suspension came as a shock, not only for workers but also the neighbourhood. "We live near the Ambassador factory," has been a proud refrain for decades. The Uttarpara plant dates back to 1942, making it the second oldest in Asia after Japanese giant Toyota.(With additional reporting from Kolkata)