Ford transit gets 60 by band and bank robbers

Climbing in Ford Transit of 1965 is like stepping into a time capsule on wheels.

Forget your modern high -tech surnames such as satnavs and touchscreens. All of you have a steering wheel, a large chrome-line speedometer dial and a chunky heater control. There is also no radio.

On the road, it tinge and bang and sometimes jumps out of gear.

Disappointing, there is no seatbelt, the seat has a dangerous tendency to roam itself, and brakes do not do much.

As beautiful, it is difficult to imagine that this elderly machine was ever a state of art.

Yet when the original transit first rolled out the production line at Ford’s plant in Langley, Berkshire on 9 August 1965, it was a revelation.

From the standards of the day, it was remarkably spacious, powerful and practical. It was comfortable, sharp handling, and existing vans such as Morris J4 firmly put in shade.

Sixty years later, transit is designed several times again, but the brand is still getting stronger. It remains a head for many small businesses, even at an age when the “white van” is ten paisa, and the market is prevalent with competition.

It is the world’s best -selling van – and so far more than 13 million has been constructed.

AA President Edmund King says, “There are a lot of iconic cars: Morris Minor, Mini, Land Rover, VW Betal, but only a prestigious van, and it is transit.”

“This is probably the only van that people really know”.

Originally a collaboration between Ford’s engineers in the UK and Germany, and mainly aimed at British and European markets, transit was designed to be as versatile as much as possible.

It rapidly became a head for traditions including builders, carpentry, electricians and delivery drivers.

But it also appealed to other people who are looking for huge, cheap transport – including rock bands. It was almost a rites to pass. Among those who spent time on the road in one black SabbathLED zepelin, small faces and sladed.

Peter Lee, founder of the transit van club, says, “When you want, there was freedom to go. When you want. Petrol was much cheaper than now,” says Peter Lee, founder of The Transit van Club.

“I finished in Spain, lived in one for 13 months as hippie on a strawberry farm, then came back and started a business. Before you know it, I had 180 workers in 28 transit vans who driving around London.”

The speed of the transit and the loading space also appealed to the people on the wrong side of the law.

In 1972, therefore the story goes on, a metropolitan police spokesperson claimed that the transit was being used in a 95% bank raid, saying that its speed and loading space meant that it had become the right gate -vehicle. This, he said that it made “the most wanted van of Britain”.

Meanwhile, the stereotype of the bullying “White Van Man”, In 1997 by Sunday Times reporter Jonathan Leak, as “as a tattoo species, with a cigarette in his mouth, which is prone to brighten his light, because he landed on his prey”.

But given that how many of them were on the road, this is a proper bet they were implicated.

For about half a century, the transit was created in Britain – first in Langle, then in a factory just outside Southampton. But it stopped in 2013, as Ford removed the production to Türkiye, where it was said that the cost was “quite low”. It was a controversial step that excluded hundreds of employees from work. It was described as ‘betrayal’ by unions.

Today, Ford continues to highlight both the British heritage and work of the transit that still occurs here, especially at its UK headquarters in Dunton, Essex.

“Dunon is the home of transit,” the UK Managing Director, Lisa emphasizes Brankin’s Ford

“This is where we manage all engineering and design work for the new van. But we also manufacture our diesel engine in Daganham, just under the road, and we make a power pack for electric vans in Helwood near Liverpool.”

Most European production of the company remains in Türkiye, and it is unlikely to change.

“It is about efficiency and focuses construction at one place instead of several sites just across Europe,” Ms. Brankin explains.

Most of Dunton’s activity is now focused on what the next generation transit van will bring. But will there be another radical game-changer like the original model?

“We are working on this,” says the director of the commercial vehicle development Seemus McDermot, when I ask him this question.

He believes that what customers from a van want have not actually changed in 60 years. It is still about being a reliable set of all wheels that are versatile and cheap to run. But the way the target is achieved is now very different.

“Electric vehicles are cheap and cheap to repair,” they say.

“In addition, when we define more software, the ‘smarter’ vehicle, the ability to manage the fleet will help reduce costs. So revolution will be about propulsion and software.”

According to AA President Edmund King, the transit brand has already ended for 60 years, today it is going in an uncertain future.

“In the 60s, 70s and 80s, if someone’s father had transit, he would get a transit,” he says.

“I think it’s changing now. The van is more competition in the market, and so the loyalty of the brand is definitely not as strong as it used to.”