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The Ford Transit: From Cork Rally to Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

The Ford Transit is the world's most famous van, manufactured by the world's third largest automaker.

A product of the swinging sixties, the modern Ford Transit is a distinctive van with a reputation for its durability and powerful Euro IV compliant engine.

Largely used by businesses, the Transit of the 21st century boasts a car-like interior and comes in many forms including the SportVan, which replaced Ford's Supervan 3, and the compact Transit Connect, designed for city use.

Its story starts in the early 1960s when it was first manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.

Since then, the Transit has developed a somewhat cult status. It has inspired several books, including Graham Robson's 'Transit: The 40 Year Story of Britain's Best-Loved Van' and Robert W. Berry's 'Forty Years of the Ford Transit 1965 – 2005'.

In fact, so ubiquitous is its presence, that the term 'Transit van' is commonly used to refer to any light commercial vehicle of a similar size.

Despite its everyday use, the origins of the Transit van's name are somewhat more glamorous than may be expected.

In the mid-70s, the owner of Ford's manufacturing plant in Cork City, Ireland built a two-seater sports car after the Second World War, which competed in and won the Cork Rally.

The name of the plant that produced the car? The Transit Garage. So, when Ford embarked on a search for a name for its new van, it looked no further than the already-patented Ford Transit.

Subsequently, the Mark One Transit van hit the British market in 1965. It could get up to 90 miles per hour, making it one of the fasted commercial vehicles of the day.

Since then, the Transit has been in continuous production, making it the best-selling, light commercial vehicle in Europe for some 40 years.

Ford's success with the Transit was largely down to the model's departure from other vehicles of the day.

The firm was also flexible with design. Transits were available in long and short wheelbase forms and could double up as minibuses, pick-up trucks and even ice cream vans.

In 1978, the Mark Two Transit was introduced featuring a bigger bonnet and front end in general, to accommodate its new fuel-efficient OHC engine. High-performance models were also introduced, to be used as ambulances and police vehicles.

Mark Three did not arrive until eight years later and is most famed for introducing the body-shell look. After this, a minor facelift bridges the gap between Mark Three and Mark Four, which came about in 1994.

Mark Six of the Transit van coincided with the turn of the century and, indeed, the millennium. In 2000, Ford unveiled the sixth generation Transit, which borrowed styling cues from other Ford vehicles, such as the Ka and the Focus.

By the end of 2005, over five million Transit vans had been sold world-wide.

However, the following year Ford decided it was time to revamp the van once more. Mark Seven, the final mark to date, gave the van new front and rear lights, a new front end and a smarter interior.

Changes to this van were by no means entirely stylistic though. Diesel models upgraded to High Pressure Common Rail versions. In fact, this new Transit picked up the International Van of the Year award in 2007.

So many variations of this van have now been made that Ford boasts on its website that motorists can "choose the best model for the job".

It makes short wheelbase vans, ideal for driving around town, medium wheelbase Transits with adjustable roof heights and long wheelbase vehicles for heavy duty use.

Furthermore, the Transit Jumbo is its "ultimate van-based carrier", which can accommodate five Europallets.

Another variation, the Transit Double Cab-in-Van, is a vehicle designed to transport people and their equipment safely.

Recently, Ford has also replaced its Fiesta-based Transit with the new Connect van, which is manufactured as a leisure activity vehicle that won Van of the Year 2004 in the Professional Van and Truck Magazine awards.

Over recent years the Transit's popularity has earned it several cameos on the silver screen, including an appearance in The Jackal in 1997 and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998.

Furthermore, in 2005, to celebrate 40 years of the Transit, Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond attempted to drive the vehicle around Nurburgring, Germany in nine minutes and 59 seconds.

Hammond stressed the van's commercial dominance in the programme.

The TV presenter concluded: "If you want to pick bits of fluff up off the floor, the machine you use isn't a vacuum cleaner, it's a Hoover. If you want to write something, you don't use a cheap plastic ballpoint, you use a Biro.

"And if you want to want to move stuff around, you don't just get a van, you get a Transit."