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| Transit was popular among larger commercial bus conversion companies |
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It also looked quite good, something of a first for this size of commercial vehicle in the '60s, when most of its rivals looked liked breeze blocks on wheels. The Transit had actually been styled, but was still entirely practical; wide, roomy and very accessible with sliding door options and a variety of payloads: the ones with the twin rear wheels could take the most weight.
The first examples were powered by the Ford V4 petrol engine (from the now forgotten Corsair) which lacked smoothness but was pokey and very compact, freeing more space for cargo. For 1978 an in-line Pinto engine from the Cortina/Capri became the staple Transit lump.
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| Myriad Transit interior conversions only limited by imagination of owners |
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The availability of diesel power - by Perkins at first - was another innovation on a van of this size. Later on came the option of a 3-litre V6, mainly for use in ambulance conversions, special police crowd control units (remember those, light blue with the observation turrets on the top?) or motor homes where the hefty fuel consumption didn't matter.
The basic shape remained unchanged until 1986 although facelifts in 1971, 1978 and 1983 kept the Transits look contemporary with Fords car line-up. Subsequent Transits, post 1986, have been based around a more slippery wedge-shaped profile as the brand moved into an era of thrifty turbodiesels that offered more power and relative refinement than the builder in the '60s Perkins-engined oil-burner could ever have dreamed of.
These Transits were bigger but more fuel efficient and with an increasing emphasis on luxury for the occupants and the driver with pampering fitments like air conditioning and power steering. A major redesign in 1995 included airbags and central locking in the specification and the latest post-2000 Transits even come with front-wheel drive; to white van men of 40 years ago such things would have seemed like been witchcraft.
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