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The Ford Transit Supervan

Ford understands and appreciates the importance of creating quality vehicles that leave a positive impression not just on those who drive their world-class vehicles, but also the automotive industry as a whole. Here’s a question for you: Have you seen the Ford Transit Supervan?

These are standout vehicles that combine the effective features on the Ford Transit Vans with the chassis of a sports racing car for improved performance that is, really, almost unheard of.

The first Supervan was introduced during Easter in 1971 at the motor racing circuit close to Swanley in Kent, England. Known as Brands Hatch, the course has been praised by racers across the world, including Gerhard Berger, the Austrian Formula One driver.

This first Supervan was built with the GT40 chassis and optimized with a mid-engined 400 bhp Ford V8 engine with pressed-steel Mark 1 Transit bodyshell with an incredible 150 mph top speed. Built for Ford by the Terry Drury Racing group, everything about this first Supervan suggested it was the standard Transit model – with the possible exception of added racing livery of white, and low-horizontal triple blue stripes. The wheel arches were expanded, and complications of aerodynamics were certainly presenting themselves – all the same – this was a Transit that could really get you moving, and that was a sight to see!

The Ford Transit Supervan

By 1978 Ford took a second shoot at the Supervan, redesigning under the moniker of ‘Mark 2’, and was used for marketing purposes on the standard Transit models. The legacy that continues beyond the Supervan has earned it a place in the Ford Heritage Collection.

Still, the Mark 2 was a fun model but it wasn’t where Ford was going to end their experimentation and augmentation of this impressive vehicle lineup. Enter 1984 and the introduction of the Supervan 2. Fibreglass body and lowered to be fit with a front airdam, this new version of the Supervan had all the qualities the first one lacked – with a chassis based on the Ford C100 Group C car, and equipped with the Cosworth DFL engine, the Supervan 2’s promotional lifespan is the only part that didn’t really contribute sufficiently to its creation – lasting only until the Mark 3 Transit was released in 1985.

It was retired to the Leyland Motors museum.

We’re not done yet, though! In 1994, to promote the latest Mark 5 Transit, the Supervan 2 was reconstructed into the Supervan 3! Fitted with a reduced replica of the new bodyshell, and a new Cosworth engine, the Supervan 3 was a lively member of the promotional efforts for the new Mark 5 Transit, leading forward to 2004 when it was refurbished once more.

Join us today at Kitchener Ford and allow our team to help you find the model that best embodies what you deserve from your next vehicle.

Further Reading:

http://www.rebelvanners.co.uk/SUPERVANS.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20061117235010/

http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=18719