Transit factory

[Partridge]

Did a quick detour tonight and snapped these with my camera phone.

 

 

[Partridge]

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=sgq3gx&s=6

 

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2i79u8l&s=6

 

Better sized images.

[willswitchengage]

It's closing this year.

[Partridge]

I’m pretty sure it already has. If not they’re certainly winding down. Most of the site is usually lit up, tonight it was in darkness pretty much. Lots of packing crates outside and empty car parks didn’t look like a good sign

[Shep Shepherd]

I think that van production ceased last weekend.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Backbone of Britain.

[Lacquer Peel]

I can't see shit.

[FredTransit]

We took 3 of ours back home on the 40th run on 05. Sad to see it go. Dunno what we will do for the 50th.

[flat4alfa]

I must be missing a point somewhere...

 

For all I know that could be the entrance gates to Guantanamo Bay holiday camp. Hi Di Hi !

 

 

 

[Partridge]

@ Flat4Alfa

 

Look carefully here http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=sgq3gx&s=6 and you’ll see the Ford sign. Guantanamo Bay is next year’s trip.

[flat4alfa]

For all I know Guantanamo is a Ford plant too. Wouldn't put it past Ford to keep that under wraps. They've nice overalls though.

[willswitchengage]

Not such a fan of the 4th generation prototype though

 

[Cavcraft]

I can't see shit.

 

I can!

[AnthonyG]

We took 3 of ours back home on the 40th run on 05. Sad to see it go. Dunno what we will do for the 50th.

 

Turkey or Romania, epic road trip awaits!

[Bren]

Good piece in this months car mechanics magazine from Steven Ward, their man in the trade.

 

He stated that "The backbone of Britain" is now being passed over as the commercial workhorse of choice due to it's propensity to shit itself big time and cost a fortune to put right.

 

Maybe it has evolved too much.

[freebird]

Good piece in this months car mechanics magazine from Steven Ward, their man in the trade.

 

He stated that "The backbone of Britain" is now being passed over as the commercial workhorse of choice due to it's propensity to shit itself big time and cost a fortune to put right.

 

Maybe it has evolved too much.

I can believe that.

Ive been driving Transits for over 20 years and this new generation is utter shite. I dont recall so many issues with this modern generation.

Them old RWD jobbies were rock, hardly ever broke down, just kept going.

The problem, in my eyes,is that they have almost turned them into cars with their modern dashboards, ride etc, etc and they have stopped being fuggin vans!

They are not actually any more comfortable than the last generation FFS.

[Partridge]

I can't see shit.

 

I can!

 

 

So can I!

[FredTransit]

We took 3 of ours back home on the 40th run on 05. Sad to see it go. Dunno what we will do for the 50th.

 

Turkey or Romania, epic road trip awaits!

 

I think not! Mine were made in Southampton!

As for the transit no longer being a van I couldn't agree more! They are now big cars. With big car bills....

[Bobthebeard]

We took 3 of ours back home on the 40th run on 05. Sad to see it go. Dunno what we will do for the 50th.

 

Turkey or Romania, epic road trip awaits!

 

I think not! Mine were made in Southampton!

As for the transit no longer being a van I couldn't agree more! They are now big cars. With big car bills....

 

Most vans nowadays seem to be ' big cars' TBH. Are there any proper vans still in production? I ran a 54 plate Transit for 18 months and it was pretty good, but nowhere near as strong/robust as earlier models seemed to be. Just seemed/felt like a big car! I used to work* for a farmer back in the late 70's who ran a flat bed twin wheel Transit that just ran and ran. He still had it in 1997! It felt like a commercial vehicle and never seemed to go wrong. Mine didnt, and did.

 

* On a milk round.

[Morgan84]

Our 1992 MK4 120 Transit has been a great vehicle to us,and whilst it keeps plodding on,we're happy to stick with it. I have ideas for the future in getting a camper/day van and thinking about the choice of commercial vehicles on the road,I got it narrowed down to a RWD Transit 2.5 or a VW Transporter 2.5 T4. Why might you ask this ? The Transit is a pretty reliable wagon,and provided the rust is kept at bay,is a good sterdy wagon,although can get stuck in its own shadow;The VW sounds wonderful with its 5 cylinder engine,and can do 120 mph,so can piss the boy racers off !

 

It's right what has been said;vans are big cars now with more complex electrics,duel mass flywheels,diesel particulate filters,traction control blah blah blah ... Its a VAN ! Not a bloody car with a large boot. More things to go wrong,and working vehicles going wrong is bad news for people who rely on a decent vehicle to do their daily work with;if the vans off the road,to most people thats them stuffed,so why make a van which is more likely to fail,and not be as good as the older ones .

 

Thats why if I get a camper/dayvan ( or maybe another Merc/Jag ) I want one without all the fancy crap on it,and just something that will keep up in modern traffic,be reasonable on fuel and be reliable,and should I need a part,can get it almost anywhere and actually not need to rip half the vehicle appart to fit it

[Cavcraft]

If I drove a van round all day I'd want it to feel as car like as possible. Older vans are all well and good, but the days of doing big mileage in draughty, noisy, slow and uncomfortable old Transit are a thing of the past.

[Partridge]

They went from one extreme to the other. Can you not make it comfortable, non draughty and quiet without sacrificing simplicity?

[wackywacerwill]

I reckon the Mk5 smiley was the last of decent transits. Much as I miss my old DI's for their fruggleness our current dohc is a good compromise being comfortable, quite and after adjusting the door catches non drafty too (unless you're reversing quick and the wind blows through the rust holes in the back doors).

If I could still run a diesel I would though I'd probably now miss how civilized this pez version is.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAbVKJwwOnY

[FredTransit]

I begrudgingly agree the Mk5 was the last of the real transits.........

[Cavcraft]

I don't subscribe to all this Mk7 stuff, to me the Mk3 went from about 1985 to 1999. The later of these around 1998/8 were the best Transits of all time IMHO. The 2.5Di is an ace old plodder.

[wackywacerwill]

Fred is of course correct. Real vans have square fronts.

 

The Mk5 thing is an infection from the transit forum I'll admit. Smiley is the most useful term when getting bits for mine though the smiley grills are shit so I've got a Mk4 one, Mk3's don't fit

[FredTransit]

I don't subscribe to all this Mk7 stuff, to me the Mk3 went from about 1985 to 1999. The later of these around 1998/8 were the best Transits of all time IMHO. The 2.5Di is an ace old plodder.

 

Have to agree with this too and over on the FTF in the early days somebody copied and pasted a paragraph from an in house Ford mag agreeing with us. Ford also use other designations but you try going into a parts dept and try using em! Some people see it as a new Mk when Ford use a new bulb holder. MK11 anybody?

[AnthonyG]

I have noticed that a lot of small tradesman/owner drivers (plumbers, electricians etc) have gone over to Vauxhall Vivaros or VWs. Don't know if Vivaros are cheaper, more reliable or just better all round than Transits. They seem to resist rust a lot better for one thing. The big companies and fleets are still buying Transits, presumably due to epic fleet discounts.

[Bobthebeard]

I have noticed that a lot of small tradesman/owner drivers (plumbers, electricians etc) have gone over to Vauxhall Vivaros or VWs. Don't know if Vivaros are cheaper, more reliable or just better all round than Transits. They seem to resist rust a lot better for one thing. The big companies and fleets are still buying Transits, presumably due to epic fleet discounts.

 

Just another symptom of the modern times I guess... All tradesmen should have Transits. If Ford had kept their eye on the ball I guess the loyalty would still be there.

Most mainstream modern vans are probably* as reliable as each other, but marketing and finance plays a massive part. Ford are big enough to play the marketing game, as in 'backbone of Britain' etc. ' Tradesmen will buy/lease whatever new mainstream van is cheapest usually. Brand loyalty is long gone for tradesmen. Maybe Ford didn't see that coming? Dunno.

[trigger]

I saw a new Transit today at my local Esso garage, there's a Ford dealer up the road so I guess it came from there.

 

It just didn't look right, it looked quite small and very flimsy, It reminded me in fact of a Hyundai H-100 van, I think they have concentrated to much on style and not enough on durability but i guess time will tell on that one, It was a pretty Lilac colour which was attractive i guess, if it was a car.

 

The front looked like a giant Cod with fat lips, or Jackie Stallone.