The Ford Transit is one of the best selling vehicles in the UK and Europe. Over the years it’s grown to be the one of the best selling light goods transport vehicles on the market. It is such a common sight on UK roads that the name Transit has become synonymous with all Vans, even when it’s not a Ford. It’s one of the many options offered by Autolyne Van Leasing, a Van Leasing Bristol based company.
The Ford Transit began its working life in 1965. Ford recognised that with the end of the local railways, that Beeching had begun in 1963, there would be more emphasis on using the roads. The Transit would be the Van that would cover all of its light commercial activities in Europe. The Transit became the USA’s most purchased Van after it was introduced in 2013, unifying the production throughout the world.
The Van itself begins in Germany just after the Second World War. Ford had factories in Germany due to the significant USA investment in the country prior to the War. The plant wasn’t allowed to produce cars but it was allowed to make Vans. The factory made Vans similar to the vehicles used by the military and this design became the basis for the first incarnations of the Transit. These were also made in Britain as well. However, you wouldn’t have seen a Ford emblem on the front of the Van, Ford banned them until the 1963 official production.