Focus On Vintage vans
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
The the third iteration of the Ford Transit was released in 1999.
Zodiac V6 engine to special order requirements (and what a van that made!) but when it came to offering a diesel, Ford hit a problem. The rough V4 was even rougher in experimental diesel format, forcing Ford to opt for the trusty Perkins 4/99 powerplant which was hardly cutting edge even for 1966. However, the long in-line engine meant it wouldn’t fit unless either the front was altered or the engine found half a home in that civilised cab. Ford rejected the latter option out of hand, albeit mostly due to production ease where it was vital that the basic transmission location remained unchanged. Thus, diesel Transits gained a longer nose and a prominent snout remained until the 1978 facelift arrived.
Apart from becoming an instant hit with commerce and criminals, the Transit was also hugely popular with specialist bodybuilders for a massive variety of uses and it’s fair to say that many businesses over the last 60 years have owed their existence to the Transit, which in van, pick-up or
22 WhatVan? July 2023
chassis cab formats made many light lorries redundant. To keep the Transit ahead of a rapidly improving van market – not least from Vauxhall Bedford which, after being shocked by the Transit’s prowess, immediately scrapped its planned replacement for the CA to design the all new CF by 1969 – Ford evolved the Transit; front disc brakes, retuned suspension and radial tyres were added before its 1978 facelift while the V4 engine was ditched. By then, options included automatic transmission (complete with a dash-mounted selector) and even four-wheel drive, the latter a special order from Ford’s SVO division. It was then 20 years before Ford got around to making an all new Transit known as VE6 – and talk about giving buyers what they want! Rather than engineers spouting out radical new ideas, Ford spoke to existing customers, asking them what they needed from a new Transit and the six-year research included going out with typical drivers and noting how many gear changes, U
turns and so on were made during a working day. Successive Transits have seen the design go from strength to strength culminating in the current front-wheel drive Transit Custom, which harks back to the original with its ‘Custom Cab’ badging. And like the original, Transits are still roundly praised for their car-like manners – being just like a giant Focus to drive. With sales approaching the thick end of nine million, so successful is Transit, that if it was a car brand, it would figure in the annual top 10 UK sales list!
SUPER VAN! The Transit cost roughly the same price as a Ford Anglia when launched, but one that money couldn’t buy was the Supervan, effectively a racing car in a Transit bodyshell that Ford first showed off in 1971, making a different one each decade up to 2000 to highlight a new replacement.
Not that the best-selling Transit needed much publicity, but Supervan certainly grabbed valued column inches
in the press and was a real crowd puller when unleashed at special events. Supervan 1 used a mix of GT40 sports car and Formula 1 parts, powered by a 5.0-litre V8! Supervan 2 surfaced in May 1984 and this time it was mostly Ford’s own work, albeit with the help of esteemed F1 designer Tony Southgate. It was essentially the canned C100 sports car racer Ford intended to run with a specially styled body and an F1 Cosworth engine. Supervan 3 appeared in 1995 and was the same structure topped by the latest (VE83) Transit body and powered by the latest Cosworth HB F1 engine which Ford said was good for 200mph – 50mph more than the first Supervan! Transit was well established by the time the diesel version joined the range in 1966, a year which also saw the Aberfan, Merthyr Tydfil mining disaster, the first televising of the opening of Parliament and England winning the football World Cup. The rest, as they say, is history.
www.whatvan.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
