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Van Clan Come of Age; The Ford Transit Has Been Britain's Top-Selling Van

Posted on: Friday, 1 July 2005, 06:00 CDT

WHEN a van is kind of box-shaped and bigger than an estate car but smaller than a truck, then people will call it a Transit - even if it doesn't have a Ford badge It is a measure of the model's success that Transit has become a description of an entireclass of commercial vehicles.

Since the first Trannie rolled off the production line 40 years ago, around five million have been built at 22 factories across the world. They've included straightforward vans, panel vans, flatbeds, minibuses, emergency vehicles and camper vans.

Here's how the Transit developed over the past four decades

1965

PRODUCTION begins on August 9. The options list includes a steering lock and seat belt attachment points - not seatbelts, note. Engine choices are a wheezy 73bhp 1.7-litre, a zesty 85bhp two- litre or a scalding 43bhp Perkins diesel. More innovationsfollow, such as tubeless tyres and weight-saving leaf springs

1971

A CAR-LIKE grille is introduced. The five-litre Transit Supervan I, based on a Ford GT and capable of 150mph is revealed at Brands Hatch. To the disappointment of a generation of apprentice plumbers it isn't put into production

1972

FRONT disc brakes are introduced. The one millionth Transit is sold and production starts at Southampton

1976

A NEW 3.5 tonne model arrives to take advantage of the weight breakpoint affecting fitment of tacographs and drivers' hours

1978

THE Transit gets a significant facelift. The bonnet is lengthened to accomodate new, more fuel-efficient OHC engines

1981

CYLINDER head developed for LPG use

1984

THE Transit gets Ford's own Dagenham 2.5-litre direct-injection diesel. Supervan II, based on ex-Le Mans car the C100 and powered by DFY Cosworth V8, is clocked at 178mph at Silverstone

1985

TWO millionth Transit produced

1986

AN all-new Transit with a streamlined cab is introduced. The drag coefficient of 0.37 is better than that of many cars

1987

HIGH roof cab on both short and long wheelbase models

1988

NINE-SEAT Transit minibus launched. Power steering an option on LWB Transit

1989

EXECUTIVE minibus and low roof 12-seat minibus introduced

1991

FIRST turbo- diesel, which also features drive-by-wire engine control, arrives

1994

AN update reduces interior noise, introduces central locking, a perimeter alarm and a new climate control system. Three millionth Transit produced

1995

SUPERVAN III appears powered by a 3.5-litre Cosworth HB F1 V8 engine producing 650bhp at 13,000rpm

1996

THE 17-seater Transit minibus debuts

1998

THE semi-automatic Autoclutch system is introduced

2000

THE all-new front-wheel drive Ford Transit goes on sale

2001

F1-style push button gearchange introduced

2003

IN an industry first, ABS becomes standard

2004

THE new 2.4 TDCI engine is the most powerful in production van with more than 300ft lbs of torque.

Five millionth Transit built

Factfile

Ford Transit.

Model: Ford Ranger Thunder Engine: 2.5-litre turbo diesel Power: 108bhp Economy: 30mpg Warranty: Three years/60,000 miles Price: pounds 20,150 On sale: Now

Source: Daily Record; Glasgow (UK)

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