Today we are talking about the much loved Ford Transit. The reason for this is that they are not only one of our favourite vans of all time, but they are also one of the all time greats within the world of vans and commercial vehicles.

After, all, you don’t achieve a production figure of six million units without the van being popular!

The Transit van has been in production for around 40 years, and is by far the most popular van of all time.

In the Beginning

The Transit name was actually first used on the Ford FK 1000 that was introduced in 1953 and from 1961 the vehicle adopted the name of Taunus Transit. Production then ceased on the vehicle in 1965, at which time the Mark 1 Transit was born in the UK.

Now, of course, Ford is an American Motor Company, however they have always had a strong tie with the UK, and particularly the Transit has dominated the van market in Europe. The first Transit was produced at Ford’s Langley facility in Berkshire before production was then moved to a Southampton factory. Transit’s were also produced in Genk, Belgium, as well as in Turkey. This enabled easy distribution throughout Europe, and perhaps is one of the many reasons why the Transit has been such a hit across the continent.

Subsequent Models

The Mark 2 Transit was released in 1978. It introduced the Pinto engine that was from the Cortina along with a 1.6 litre Xflo engine. Such engines are popular today with retro Ford enthusiasts as they love to tinker with their classic Escort’s and Cortina’s, and so on.

The Mark 3 came soon after in 1986, with the Mark 4 then launching in 1991. The Mark 5 was released in 94 and the Mark 6 in 2000 with a Mark 7 becoming available in 2006. The six millionth Transit was produced in early 2010, quite a feat!

Increasing Popularity

Transit vans have proved to be so popular because of their size, reliability and rugged approach. They also come with a variety of engines which will undoubtedly offer a variety of fuel efficiencies and van insurance quotes.

Furthermore, since 2006 the Transit has also been produced and sold in China, which is, of course, an enormous market to try to tap into. The Transit is also planning to go Stateside as of 2013.

Ford seemingly want to spread the Transit’s popular to all corners of the globe!

It would be great to hear from some Transit owners! Let us know about yours. How long have you owned it? Are you happy with it? (Although we think we know the answer to that one already).

Tags: Ford, Ford Transit, van insurance quotes

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Van Insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.