This book presents a commemorative history of fifty years of the iconic Ford Transit van, from the launch of the first-generation Transit in 1965, right up to the present day. Covering the full range of Transit models and with over three hundred photographs (including previously unpublished pictures from Ford’s picture archive). ‘Ford Transit - Fifty Years’ is an ideal resource for anyone with an interest in this world-beating commercial vehicle. This book is written by acknowledged Ford Transit expert Peter Lee, the book covers the development era - light commercial vehicles in the 1950s, the ‘Project Redcap’ prototypes and the first Transit. This book includes production and development of all eight generations and variants of Transits are also covered, including custom vans, camper vans, minibuses and special vehicle options, and it also features specification guides, awards, sales figures are all included as well as marketing worldwide. Finally, there are interviews with designers, engineers and Ford employees, along with owners’ experiences. The Transit has and continues to receive numerous awards, voted ‘International Van of the Year’ in 2001 and 2013. With the 2014 launch of the all-new two-tonne Transit and its pioneering technology, this looks to be only the first fifty years of the Ford Transit story. AUTHOR: Peter Lee has a vast collection of Ford Transit vehicles, paperwork and memorabilia, which has become an archive in its own right, and his knowledge and experience have been called upon all over the world. He has also acted as a consultant for Ford since 1986, advising and fact-checking the history of the vans, supplying Transit items for displays, and attending Ford events to answer questions from the press and public.
200 colour and 100 b/w photographs