Ford Transits

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Looks like there's going to be a few hitting the streets around KC. The parking lot around this old mall was full of them. I would assume they're outfitting them to avoid the chicken tax. Should of got closer pics. Mostly white but a few yellows, tans and blacks.

 
Actually they aren't just "outfitting" them here to avoid the "chicken tax", they are built here, or more specifically, there:

From the Wikipedia :
"North American production is primarily sourced from Kansas City Assembly in Claycomo, Missouri on the lines used for the previous generation Ford Escape; production at the Kansas City Assembly Plant began in 2014-04-30."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Transit#North_America_version

you are thinking of the Transit Connect, all of which are built in Europe, and imported as passenger models, only to have may converted back to panel vans at a dockside facility to circumvent the "chicken tax"
 
Toured the new Kansas Transit plant twice this year. Buying 120 Transits with the 3.2L diesel engine for our fleet. 1st one will hit the road, after up fitting, in January.
Cool assembly plant and really cool stamping plant built for the Transit.
 
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Looks like there's going to be a few hitting the streets around KC. The parking lot around this old mall was full of them.


Is that Metcalf South?
 
The current transit is a reliable work vehicle, but the original mk1 transit was so much sexier!

Just look at the shape of it, my favourite commercial vehicle ever.

http://blog2.dehlerjunge.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ford-transit4.jpg

I accept it's not 100% standard, but you get the point
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What is the 'chicken tax'?

I googled it and I see that it was a tax started by Democrat LBJ which has never gone away.
 
Originally Posted By: css9450
Originally Posted By: Eric Smith
Looks like there's going to be a few hitting the streets around KC. The parking lot around this old mall was full of them.


Is that Metcalf South?


The old mall up north.. can't recall it's name.

I knew they were going to start building them here just didn't know when. Odd that the plant is just up the road. Guess they could be storing them there.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
I fell in love with the mk1 transit after I heard about the supervan, with it's mid mounted 5.0 V8 (allegedly) out of a GT40.

http://www.commercialmotor.com/big-lorry-blog/the-original-transit-supervanq

And

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg6WdboK1nY


The tires on that van seem to have inspired the tire choices on many half ton pickups in the Southeast US belonging to a certain demographic.
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IMG_1183.jpg


I agree the MK1 Transit was the best looking of the Transits. It looked like a smaller version of a US van. It had the "old car" styling of the first gen Econoline, but with a longer nose.

I read a quote somewhere that stated that in the 1970s, the Transit was by a large margin the vehicle most likely to be used in a burglary or robbery in the UK.

Now I think you might tip one over if you take a turn at more than a few MPH/KPH...
NA_Transit_2013.JPG

As much flack as the Econoline got for being top heavy, I really can't imagine the current Transit being better.
 
It is MUCH better. I have a 15 passenger Transit 350 with the mid-height roof. The handling is ngiht and day better than the Econoline. It is much quicker, brakes better, corners better, rides better, and the steering feels car-like. It gets better mileage, too. It is vastly better in every way than the Chevy Express it replaced, too.

Check out what Motor Trend said about it in their Truck of the Year competition. It actually finished higher than the new F150, which probably has Ford baffled, among others. My wife never enjoyed driving her previous vans. She absolutely loves driving this one, as do I.
 
The MkI Transit was a horrible thing with the V4 engine. There was a factory V6 later on, and the Aussies got rid of the V4 and fitted a Falcon engine from new. The Factory V6 was by far the better 6 cyl version. There was a kit available to do a retro conversion. The MkII got a longer snout and the OHC Cortina engine, a much better vehicle. Strong competition with the CF Bedford here, and I think the Bedford was the superior van.

I had a bad experience with a MkI Transit - run down from behind on my motorcycle on my 18th birthday, the bike was on the front of the van for 1/4 mile until it was scraped off on the armco, I had climbed up to stand on the bumper, and later jumped off as it went around a corner. He holed up at home with a pistol, and the cops finally got him about 2.00am. He got a fine of about a weeks pay and lost his license, but got a daytime license so he could still drive for a living. I was back on a bike the next day.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyFan


It is MUCH better. I have a 15 passenger Transit 350 with the mid-height roof. The handling is ngiht and day better than the Econoline. It is much quicker, brakes better, corners better, rides better, and the steering feels car-like. It gets better mileage, too. It is vastly better in every way than the Chevy Express it replaced, too.

Check out what Motor Trend said about it in their Truck of the Year competition. It actually finished higher than the new F150, which probably has Ford baffled, among others. My wife never enjoyed driving her previous vans. She absolutely loves driving this one, as do I.


Thanks for the owner input...good to see someone on here has one to post experiences with. I am sure the suspension in the current Transit is decades ahead of the Twin-I-Beam in the E-Series. The tires on the Transit just look so tiny on high roof models.

I have to admit, I kind of like driving E-Series vans though. They are sort of the Town Car of vans. A little sloppy, and turning the steering wheel with one finger isn't for everyone, but it's something I could drive around all day. Plus, they can take a real beating. Hopefully the Transit can live up to the reputation for durability the E-Series had. I like that the Transit is RWD vs. the FWD setup in the Ram Promaster.

And while vans are definitely function over form, the E-Series looked good for a workhorse, and could play at the drag strip if you wanted to...
1207dp_05%2Boutlaw_diesels%2Bford_econoline_van_on_drag_strip.jpg


Along with the Express...
 
Originally Posted By: Danno
Toured the new Kansas Transit plant twice this year. Buying 120 Transits with the 3.2L diesel engine for our fleet. 1st one will hit the road, after up fitting, in January.
Cool assembly plant and really cool stamping plant built for the Transit.


I hope you mean Kansas City Transit Plant. There is no Ford plant in Kansas that I know of.
 
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We parked facing one of these today and my 7 y/o gets in my car, buckles up, and declares that it looks like the van "Top Gear" turned into a hovercraft.

Screen-Shot-2013-06-29-at-18.11.48-629x240.png


I love my kids!
 
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