Watch: An interesting 2002 ad that links Peugeot and Ambassador

Moneycontrol BureauFrench carmaker Peugeot yesterday announced it was buying the iconic car brand Ambassador from India's Hindustan Motors.But did the firm have the car, which once ruled Indian roads before falling into oblivion, on its radar since long?In a 2002 ad made by marketing communications agency Euro RSCG Milan, Peugeot featured the Amby, albeit in not such a great light.

The commercial, ‘The sculptor’, features a young man as he takes his Ambassador for a violent ride. He smashes it into walls, has an elephant sit on its hood, and smoothens out its iconic curvy shape with a saw.The end result of this seemingly bewildering act? The Amby starts to resemble Peugeot's famous 206 model, something that the man had seen in a newspaper and taken a fancy to.

The ad may not have gone down well with the fans of the Ambassador, of which there are many in India.From being a favourite of Kolkata's taxi operators (the yellow colour the fleet operators used is even today identified as the everlasting image of an Ambassador) to politicians (for whom a white Amby with a red beacon atop it was the ultimate display of power), the car had plenty of takers.The car fell from glory thanks to a number of factors: tightening emission norms that it could not keep pace with, changing consumer preferences and increased competition from newer, better foreign cars that made their way into India.It is not clear what plans Peugeot, which has already made clear it wants to enter the Indian market, has for the Ambassador. But should it, ahem, resculpt the car into a modern, better-looking version and upgrade its specifications and engines to align them to today's versions, the erstwhile king of the Indian roads could give other cars a run for their money.(A previous version of this piece erroneously said the ad was released in 2008. It has been corrected.)