OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Other Walk-Behind Rotary Mowers The Elusive Masport - Masport Ambassador 21" Self Drive Mower

Greetings all,

After some deliberation and a rather long time since I last participated in any sort of forum discussion, I have decided to "log" some history regarding a rare and seldom discussed machine.

The Masport Ambassador 21" self propelled rotary mower.

I acquired three of these machines earlier this year. I've spent almost 15 straight years collecting, fixing and restoring old lawn equipment here in NZ and can't recall the last time I saw just one of these for sale.

These three mowers were headed to the grave short of a reasonable offer. The seller was super co-operative and willing to drop them off to my work, so early hours on a Monday morning, I found myself looking at three rather sad examples of NZ lawn-mowing history.

After a quick assessment it became apparent that only one mower was in a restorable condition, whilst the remaining two are a bit past the repair stage.

The catalog (and my master parts catalog) indicate that these were only offered with the 4HP (100000 series) Briggs. All three of these mowers seem to have 5HP (130000 series) engines. Not necessarily a bad thing, considering they're visually identical (minus the blower housing and some small casting differences).

I'll begin to reply to this thread with updates once the resto begins. For now, enjoy a touch of NZ mower history!

I should note that I have had trouble uploading images to outdoorking, should they not work I'll find another way to get them uploaded

Oddly enough, I acquired another Ambassador today...



...well, sort of!

Apparently this pristine body was destined for the scrap heap. Conveniently, it's actually in better shape than any of the three I already have.

The idea is to turn this one into a pristine unit, and then piece together another good mower, meaning I'll eventually have two working units out of 3 and a half.

Not bad going!

I also sent Masport NZ an email requesting any information they may have on the model. They kindly provided this promotional image, which going by the handlebars and painted raised "masport" nameplate, I would say is most definitely an earlier iteration. I had some "rotarolla" mowers, another interesting Masport product, with the same handlebars, so my best guess is that the clipping they've sent me is circa 1966-1968. Neat!

Hi jackeo21,

Below is a parts list for the mower.