The first Ford Transit (1961-65)

Known in Germany as the "first generation" Transit Unlike the British-built Transit "family", the first production Ford to wear the "Transit" badge was a van built in Ford's Köln (Cologne) plant in Germany. It was introduced in 1953 as FK 1000 (Ford Köln carrying 1000 kg). From 1961, this vehicle was called the Ford Taunus Transit. Production of this model ceased in 1965.

Naming system

Origins of the name

Ford Transit 1965-78

UK "Mark 1"; Germany "Second generation" The first Ford Transit proper was introduced in October 1965, and has been in continuous production in three basic generations to the present day. The van was produced initially at Ford's Langley facility in Berkshire, England (a former Second World War aircraft factory which had produced Hawker Hurricane fighters), but as demand outstripped the capability of the plant, production was moved to Southampton, where it has remained ever since. Transits have also been produced in Ford's Genk factory in Belgium and also Turkey. The Transit is also produced in China for the Chinese market.
   The Transit was introduced to replace the Ford Thames 400E, a small mid-engined Zephyr based forward control van noted for its narrow track which was in direct competition with similar looking vehicles from Rootes's Commer range. In a UK market segment then dominated by a Bedford offering, the Thames failed to win over company users in sufficient numbers, so Ford went back to the drawing board and switched to a front engined configuration, along the lines pioneered during the 1950s by Bedford with their well regarded CA series vans. Henry Ford II's revolutionary step was to combine the engineering effort of Ford of Britain, and Ford of Germany together to create a prototype for the Ford of Europe of today — previously the two subsidiaries had been in direct competition with each other.
   The Transit was a huge departure from the European commercial vehicles of the day — its broad track and American-inspired styling gave it a huge advantage in carrying capacity over comparable vehicles of the day and revolutionised light goods transport. Most of the Transit's mechanical components were adapted from Ford's car range of the time. Another key to the Transit's success was the sheer number of different body styles: panel vans in long and short wheelbase forms, pick-up truck, minibuses, crew-cabs to name but a few. The engines used in the UK were the Essex V4 for the petrol engined version in 1.7 L and 2.0 L capacities, while a 41 bhp (31 kW) diesel unit sourced from Perkins was also offered. The Perkins diesel engine was too long to fit under the Transit's stubby nose section, which had to be restyled for the diesel version. Producing just, the Perkins unit wasn't popular, and was replaced by Ford's own "York" unit in 1974. For the mainland Europe the Transit had the German Ford Taunus V4 engine in 1.7 or 2.0 litre versions.
   The long nose front was also used to accommodate the Ford 3.0 litre V6 which was ordered by police and ambulance services.
   In Australia, the long-nose diesel front was used to accommodate an inline 6-cylinder engine derived from the Ford Falcon.

Ford Transit 1978-86

UK "Mark 2"; Germany "Third generation" In March 1978, a facelifted version – commonly known in some markets as the "Mark 2" model – debuted with a restyled nose section, new interior, and the introduction of the Pinto engine from the Cortina in place of the Essex V4. High performance versions intended for police or ambulance use used the 3.0 L V6 version of the Essex engine. In 1984, the York diesel engine was redesigned into the 2.4 L "DI" (direct injection) unit. Late in its life this generation received a minor facelift including a black rubberised front grille with integrated headlamp surrounds, which had previously been body-coloured. This facelift didn't commonly result in a new "Mark" number being applied.

Ford Transit 1986-91 & minor facelift 1991-94

UK "Mark 3" and "Mark 4" after facelift; Germany "Fourth generation" What proved to be the second generation Transit platform appeared in January 1986 and was notable for its all-new bodyshell which was of "one-box" design (for example the windscreen and bonnet are at the same angle), and the front suspension was changed to a fully independent configuration on all but chassis cab and LWB versions. The engine range was carried over largely unchanged from the last of the 1978-85 generation models, although in 1989 the high performance 3.0 V6 petrol was replaced by the cologne 2.9 EFI V6. A subtle facelift in 1992 saw the fully independent front suspension rolled out across the range, whilst a redesigned floorpan allowed the use of single rear wheels on the LWB derivative, further increasing payload — these models are identifiable by the slightly more rounded front headlamps.

Ford Transit 1994-2000

UK "Mark 5"; Germany "Fifth generation" A major facelift to the Transit in 1994/5 gave the Transit a new nose and dashboard, along with the 2.0 L DOHC 8-valve engine as found in the 1994 - 98 Ford Scorpio. It is similar to the earlier Sierra DOHC unit but without the distributor and uses the updated EECV ECU. It is also OBD2 compliant. (Some of Ford's 16-valve engines, such as those found in the Scorpio, Escort RS2000 and Galaxy were also based on this block.) At the same time air conditioning, electric windows, central locking, electric mirrors and airbags were all made available as optional extras.
   Nickname: “Smiley” because of the grills resemblance of a smiling face.
   The turbo diesel version came in 85ps, 100ps and 115ps version with a electronic fuel pump.
   There was only 600 limited edition Transit Hallmarks ever made.

Ford Transit 2000-06 (V184/5)

UK "Mark 6"; Germany "Sixth generation" The next Transit introduced in July 2000 was the third all-new design, and borrowed styling cues from Ford's "New Edge" designs like the Focus, and Ka. Developed by Ford in the United States, the main innovation is that it's available in either front or rear-wheel drive. Ford nomenclature makes this the V184 (RWD) or V185 (FWD) model. This model features the "Puma"-type Duratorq turbo diesel engine also used in the 2000 Mondeo and Jaguar X-Type, with the petrol versions moving up to the 2.3 L 16-Valve edition of the I4 engine. This Transit can hit in 21 seconds and reach a top speed of 93 mph (150 km/h), as was shown on the Top Gear television programme in 2005. Top Gear attempted to drive this model around the Nürburgring in 9 minutes 59 seconds, (a time achieved by Jeremy Clarkson driving a diesel powered S type Jaguar in a previous episode) but were unsuccessful.(Maximum power output model. six speed gearbox model)
   This version won the international "Van Of The Year" 2001.
   The Durashift EST automatic transmission (optional on all rear-wheel drive and standard on the 2.4 L, 125 bhp (93 kW) Duratorq TDdi engines) features controls mounted on the dashboard, a specially adapted manual mode, tow-haul mode, economy mode and winter mode.
   Two years later, Ford introduced the Transit Connect, a smaller panel van aimed at replacing the older Escort and Fiesta based models. It shares very little with the full-size Transit in terms of engineering, although is produced alongside the larger van in a new purpose built facility in Turkey.
   2002 saw the introduction of the first High Pressure Commion Rail diesel engine in the Transit, with the launch of the 125PS HPCR 2.0 litre in the FWD.
   2004 saw the launch of the first RWD HPCR, the 135PS 2.4 litre variant that also introduced the 6-speed MT-82 RWD gearbox.
   The five-millionth Transit rolled off the Southampton line on Monday, 18 July 2005 and was donated to an English charity.

Ford Transit 2006-Present (V347/8)

UK "Mark 7"; Germany "Seventh generation" In August 2006 the Transit received a facelift to the body, including new front and rear lights, a new front end and a new interior featuring the gearstick on the dashboard as well as incorporating Ford's new corporate radio design. As well as the styling changes, the powertrains were all revised. The old petrol engine was replaced with one from the Ford Ranger. The FWD Diesel went from 2.0 to 2.2 litre capacity and all the diesel engines were now High Pressure Common Rail (Turbo Direct Common Injection) versions. The powertrains were changed to meet new emissions legislation. The new version (Ford nomenclature V347 ) won the International Van Of The Year 2007 award despite tough competition from several all-new rivals.
   Mid 2006 saw the launch of the "Sport Van", a limited production Van featuring the 130PS engine with additional styling parts, "Le Mans" stripes and 18" alloy wheels.
   Late 2007 saw the launch of the 140PS FWD engine (replacing the 130PS) complete with the VMT6 6-speed transaxle to cope with the extra power.
   The 6-speed transaxle is expected to be introduced on the mid-power FWD in early 2008 when the 110PS engine is upped to 115PS.
Further Information

Get more info on 'Ford Transit'.