Site icon Occasional Digest

15 reasons why the Ford Transit is the GOAT of the van world – from transporting rock bands, elephants and even ROYALS

Travel Desk
Occasional Digest - a story for you

WE could argue all night about who is the GOAT. 

Messi or Ronaldo? Senna or Schumacher? Tiger or Jack? Ant or Dec? 

15

The first Ford Transit was built at Langley, Berks, an old Hawker Hurricane factory, on August 9, 1965. It cost £542 and had a 610g payload

15

If the Pepsi van was not spectacular enough from the outside, the interior featured a mirrored cocktail bar with luxury seats and disco lights. It was the 70s, man

15

Wills and Kate had a transit on Anglesey to avoid getting spotted

But when it comes to vehicles, it’s not even a debate. 

Greatest Of All Transit. 

The humble Ford Transit has been Britain’s best-selling van since day one – August 9, 1965. 

That’s like Liverpool winning the Prem for 60 years on the bounce. Everyone else might as well give up and go home. 

To celebrate Transit’s 60th, we’ve peppered today’s column with quirky facts, as well as hearing from owners with a cherished van from each decade. 

Ford’s famous Backbone Of Britain telly ad from the Eighties was genius marketing. Yet also 100 per cent true. Transit keeps this country ticking. 

Everything we see and touch was transported in a van. 

15

Every rock band travelled to gigs in a van, here’s Slade with their Transit

15

Two baby elephants once hitched a ride at London’s Regent’s Park Zoo

15

Boxing legend Henry Cooper drove a Transit pick-up, delivering fruit and veg

One reason Transit is successful is that Ford engineers sit with owners to find ways of making the next model even more useful.

Like the bloke who shoved a lump of wood through the bottom of the steering wheel to make a lunch table.

The latest Transit Custom has a tilt-up steering wheel with a tray for his quinoa tuna salad. Bosh. 

Ford’s insane V8 1971 Transit Supervan

Retired builder Peter Lee, founder of the Transit Van Club, said: “Transit is like a forklift with two doors.

“Built to work. They’re good honest vans that will do the job.” 

The OG and still the best. 3 MILLION UK sales and counting. Always available in white. 

15

Even Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was built on a Transit chassis

15

Dinky produced 104 toy vans with 1,000,000 Transit stickers on the sides for factory execs

15

Capital Radio circled the new M25 for seven days and nights in 1986

15

A stuntman jumped over 15 cars in a Transit in 1985 to raise money for cancer research

15

Gamers can drive an Mk1 Transit in Forza Horizon 4

15

Today’s Transit can power your work tools and lights

15

A 15-metre, 1.5-ton Cetiosaurus was driven from Kent to Scotland on a Transit

15

The Monster Transit was mounted on axles from a US military vehicle

15

Supervan 4.2 won Goodwood’s 2024 King of the Hill shootout against some pretty senior race cars

FORD TRANSIT FACTS

  • Ford took £33million of orders before production had even started
  • The Transit is nudging 3 million UK sales and 13 million worldwide
  • The largest 2t Transit can swallow 236,000 ping pong balls
  • There are 1,300 variations of the 2t Transit – before picking a colour
  • Cheapest baby Transit Courier costs £17,700 excl VAT

Source link

Exit mobile version