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The Ford Transit.
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Page 51
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Sentenced to twenty-one years hard labour down a salt mine.
This isn't Siberia, ifs Cheshire
The ICI Rock Salt Works at Winsford is Britain's only working salt mine.
Here, deep beneath the Cheshire countryside, is one of the most unusual commercial vehicle fleets in the world. Twenty Ford Transits ferry men and their materials around the mine, around the clock.
Before a Transit starts its life of penal servitude, it's sawn in half. This enables it to fit into the lift shaft. At the bottom its simply welded back together again.
So sturdy is a Transit that even after this unconventional treatment they go on running for decades.
ICI's oldest has been underground for twenty-one years. The last time it saw daylight, man hadn't yet set foot on the moon.
Surprisingly, the salt hasn't rusted the veteran's bodywork as there's very little humidity underground. (Our anti-corrosion paint treatment probably helps a bit too.)
The roads are the real problem. Over a hundred miles of tunnel have been blasted out of the Triassic rock. Imagine driving over an endless succession of sleeping policemen and you begin to get the idea.
So punishing are the conditions that all ICI's Transits have to undergo a rigorous mechanical inspection, as laid down by the Mines and Quarries Act 1954. It's similar to an MOT test, but instead of being once a year, it's once a week.
As legendary as a Transit's toughness is its versatility. In addition to the short wheelbase 120 Standard Chassis Cab chosen by ICI there are over 36 other panel vans, chassis cabs and buses in the range.
And if that wasn't enough, Ford's Special Vehicle Operations department has also developed a number of modification packages. They help specialist bodybuilders turn Transits into tipper trucks, armoured security vehicles, cavernous Luton box vans, mini-skip wagons, the list goes on and on.
All are powered by a choice of 1.6, 2.0 or 2.9 litre petrol engines, or Ford's world beating 2.5 litre direct injection diesel.
It's little wonder that people who rely on vans rely on Transits. The Police, AA and RAC, Mountain Rescue and Ambulance Services all use them. As do thousands of fleets and small businesses everywhere.
For details of your nearest dealer and a copy of our commercial vehicles brochure contact the Ford Information Service free on 0800 01 01 12. Anytime.