IN THIS FEATURE 40 years on the job Early examples Gaining car-like luxuries Looks and practicality Here to stay

The Transit is here to stay but I can't help wondering what has happened to all those classic Mk 1s. Built for a remarkable 21 years its shape is still instantly recognisable yet rarely seen on our streets in 2005. Like any workhorse it was built to be abused, not saved for posterity. While American enthusiasts seem to have a residual affection for their classic pick-ups, the Transit doesn't really have the same romance about it; if a Chevy step-side makes you think of hunky Marlboro men herding cattle on a Californian ranch the Transit tends to conjure up an image of a builder with his arse hanging out of his jeans doing your grouting in Croydon.

So only a few enlightened souls have preserved these little pieces of our social history. A few do still work for a living though: Ford, as part of this years 40th anniversary celebrations, tracked down Britain's oldest Transit, a 1966 twin rear wheel 'bull nose' diesel belonging to Preston builder Neil Cottam who still runs a 1971 diesel Transit as a daily workhorse.

No doubt about it. In the world of vans Transit has become a piece of street furniture, a part of our culture. What other van has had a 45-minute BBC2 Arena documentary devoted to its life, times and iconic significance?