1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144 
High-performance Courier it's the last of a dying breed...
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
CMs long-term test of Ford's Courier high-cube van has ended. As its second annual tax disc was being stuck to the screen, the odometer had just passed the 20,000 mile mark.
• Some of Ford's products have occasionally been described as being, shall we say, unadventurous. Well, if your idea of adventure is hanging around garage reception areas or sitting on the hard shoulder awaiting a blind date with a recovery driver, then the Courier was indeed stultifyingly boring. With just one visit to the workshop for a service, and one to the parts counter for a new nearside door mirror, most operators would be happy to be so bored.
As it was returned, the only outstanding faults were a buzzy speaker in the left hand door and the beginnings of a rattle from the rear doors.
Cosy cockpit
Looking back at a year of Courier motoring, the niggles are hard to identify. Revealing its small-car roots, the kindest way to describe the cockpit is as too cosy for two. That probably has much to do with the number of fry-ups a CM tester has to get through, but our tallest colleague reckoned it to be too cosy even for one. If you're a five-foot-tall female flower seller, however, you'll be fine.
Only the stingy complement of dashboard instruments and the fixed steering column really let the stylish and well built interior down. Mind you, a supply of recirculated air from the heater would have been nice when stuck in yet another M25 jam behind a less advanced diesel engine. And we mustn't forget the noise transmitted through the loadbox-there's just no excuse for any driver to be subjected to 80dB(A) at a legal speed.
The potentially useful L-shaped roof shelving was slightly marred by its lack of non-slip characteristics, causing its contents to drop alarmingly onto the driver's head during spirited cornering.
But if we had to look hard and be a bit picky to find most of the Courier's faults, its virtues shone out like a beacon. Absolutely no-one came back from their first drive in the Courier without a smile on their face after experiencing the go
kart like chassis behaviour. With perfectly weighted power assisted steering and a chassis that has been continuously developed since Jim Callaghan was Prime Minister, the Courier (appropriately painted in John Major grey) managed to be both fun and func tional to drive, That's just as well, because the Courier's engine gradually improved to the point where it was seriously lively. In fact, Ford's press garage manager, who doesn't normally see his vans with that sort of mileage, was moved to comment on its performance when it returned home. The 1.8-litre direct-injection noncharge-cooled turbo-diesel is comparatively old compared with Ford's latest common-rail unit with its second generation Delphi fuel system, but it is still a huge advance on its predecessor.
Fuel consumption
he improvement in performance wasn't at the expense of running costs, either. As long as you didn't enter the aerodynamic twilight zone beyond 70mph, everyday consumption figures in the mid to high fifties could be taken for granted. The Courier's loadbox may be lagging behind some of its more modern rivals in terms of outright loadspace, but its angular shape means there's hardly any wasted space. And thanks to the full-height, full-width rear doors, access is no problem.
The Courier, with the VW Caddy, represents the last of a breed of car-based high-cube vans that we're unlikely to see I again; they're being superseded by pur pose-built vans, albeit on platforms shared with car models. We're still no nearer to knowing Ford's plans for the Courier's eventual replacement than we were a year ago. But a small car-derived van based on the impending new Fiesta together with the badly kept secret of the Turkish-built high-cube van (provisionally dubbed Transit City) are worth a bet as Ford's future sub-Transit line-up.
The latest incarnation of the Ford Courier might be boring on paper (and possibly to look at), but it definitely wasn't boring to drive or, with an outlay of just £125 for non-fuel running costs, to pay for.
• by Colin Barnett