With over 8 million sold, the Ford Transit is the third most popular van of all time and the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for four decades. Amazingly, it was only introduced officially by Ford US in 2013, but it’s been a familiar sight on British and European streets since the mid-sixties.
The secret of its success has been its flexibility, adaptability and – ultimately – its almost car-like performance. It’s been a chart-topping hit with low-budget touring rock bands, a steal as the ultimate low-key getaway vehicle for villains and a visibly bio-degradable rust-chariot for new-age travellers.
More than that, it’s been the bedrock of local commerce for as long as most of us can remember. The Transit as we know it was officially born in 1965 (there was an unrelated German Ford Taunus Transit before this, but it was not widely seen or exported outside Germany), and it was a revelation compared to other light commercial vehicles on sale at the time. It replaced the narrow-track Ford Thames and competed with the bulbous but oddly appealing Commer van and the pug-faced Bedford CA.
The Transit outshone them all with a wide-track chassis for a much better load area, easily sourced mechanical components from existing car ranges and a huge array of body styles and configurations that made the Transit supremely versatile. It’s been used as a regular cargo van, a pickup/flatbed truck, a minibus and a cutaway chassis for custom van builders.
Over its history it’s come in short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase versions, with rear wheel drive, front wheel drive and even four-wheel drive. And latest versions can boast truly car-like performance, as demonstrated by German race driver Sabine Schmitz as she hurled a 2005 Transit round the legendary Nürburgring in just 10 minutes and 8 seconds for the BBC’s Top Gear programme.
There have been countless Transit versions and variations since its 1965 launch but they can be organised into a pattern. Essentially, there have been four distinct generations, and each one has had a mid-life ‘facelift’. The first generation ran the longest, from 1965 to 1986. This is the one that had the traditional two-box design with a short bonnet/hood to accommodate the engine.
Early Transits used V4 engines shorter than a regular in-line design, which minimised the bonnet length – though diesel versions needed a longer bonnet. It was the second generation, introduced in 1986, that brought the modern ‘one-box’ design with the sharply-sloping nose shape blending the bonnet and the windscreen.
Engine upgrades brought the old Transit powertrains up to date and new luxuries like aircon and central locking were added as optional extras. The handling was improved too, as the old Transit’s front beam axle was replaced with a more modern independent suspension design.
The third generation of Transit arrived in 2000, and despite any superficial similarities, this was designed by Ford US. It came with some major engine upgrades, including Ford’s Duratorq turbo-diesel, and genuinely car-like performance. And, for the first time, it became available in both rear-wheel and front-wheel drive versions. The fourth Transit generation arrived in 2013. It’s a ‘OneFord’ design from Ford Europe but co-developed with Ford US.
It’s now available in two forms: a mid-size front-wheel drive version, and a full-size rear-wheel drive model. European vehicles get much the same powertrain choices as the previous models, but US models are the larger rear-wheel drive variants and come with automatic transmission and much more powerful engines, including a 3.7-litre 275hp V6 and an optional 3.5-litre 350hp EcoBoost V6.
The Transit has come a long way since 1965, and it’s amazing to think that it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2015. It might not be the most glamorous vehicle on the planet, but the Ford Transit has surely been one of the most influential.