• It's a lovely thought that the chairman of Ford
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Motor Company might have been stopped in the middle of his opening speech at the Ford Transit plant in Southampton. It would have been just before he got to the bit about the wide variety of models they could produce at the plant, when a small hand would have tugged at his sleeve.
"No sir, we can't do it sir," the desperate minion might have said.
"Can't do what?" the irritated chairman might have demanded.
"We can't build the tall one sir. We can build the long ones, the short ones, and the small ones, but we can't build the tall ones. They won't fit under the gantries on the production line. Sorry sir."
Well of course Ford knew all along that high-roof Transits would have to be finished off outside the confines of the production line. It would have been impractical to include the height allowances to get high-roof Transit vans all the way down the line. The articulation of robots like the paint sprayers would have been sorely tested under such circumstances, so Ford took the option that every other company has taken so far; make a glassreinforced plastic roof for the van that can be fitted on later.
Initially Terberg built a high roof for the Transit, which was offered as a Special Vehicle Option (SVO). Determined to sell more high-roof models, Ford invited Motor Panels (Wigan) to participate in the development of the roof.
Motor Panels duly worked at the design to make it into a Regular Production Option (RPO), and the first example saw the light of day in July 1987.
Right now potential customers for a big volume Transit get their vehicles from Bedwas or Dormobile (for a parcels vantype body on a long or extended wheelbase Transit van); from the Southampton plant (where the vehicle will be fitted with full-height roof, but normal-height rear doors), or from Motor Panels at Wigan (where it is fitted with a high roof and full-height rear doors). It is a Motor Panels model that we have on test here.
Mention that the high-roof 3.5-tonne market has been left to the domination of Renault, Leyland Daf, Mercedes-Benz, and the SEVEL-built vans for too long, and Ford will agree with you. Most of Ford's competitors make the glass-fibre high-roof conversion roof in house, saving time and increasing flexibility. In short, Ford has fiddled around while others have forged ahead in the big volume van market. But after years of being unwilling even to admit the existence of a market for such a vehicle, Ford finds that it is picking up useful orders for its high-roof Transits. Ambulance chiefs are particularly interested in them, and the Ministry of Defence has ordered a number for use as military ambulances.
• DRIVELINE
At the start of the Transit's drivetrain is the familiar Ford 2.5-litre direct-injection diesel, now in its second-generation form. The original engine was first produced in 1984: MkII versions with slightly more power and torque debuted at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show. The real reason for the revision, however, was the expected arrival of diesel particulate regulations from the EC (EEC 5th amendment regulations).
In some countries Transits with less than six seats are classified as cars, and