Ford Transit Fact File | News & FAQs

FORD TRANSIT FACT FILE

• Codenamed ‘Project Redcap’ the van was to be called the V-Series until a prototype was shipped to Dagenham for review by Ford’s senior managers in 1965 with a large ‘Transit’ label affixed. The name stuck and the Transit was born.
• Ford employs 6,500 people in Britain to work on Transit production.
• More than half of the Transits produced at Southampton are exported, earning millions for the UK economy each year.
• Transit drivers often change gear up to 1,000 times a day.
• A third of all Transits are custom built to satisfy operator’s specific requirements.
• There are more than 7,000 variants of the Transit available to buy.
• The Transit was voted International Van of the Year in 2007.
• In 1965 the original Transit had a 610 kilo payload. Today the largest Transits can carry almost four times as much.
• The Transit was the first Ford to come with a three year/100,000 mile warranty.
• Ninety per cent of all Transits are white - to make signwriting easier.
• Ford has more than 220 Transit dealers in Britain.

Words: Chris Russon