The Ford Transit is likely the most well known commercial van name in the world. The name is so popular and well known that the term "Transit" is often used in relation to any commercial van of similar size to the Ford Transit van. The van is manufactured in Europe and has become the best selling light commercial van in the past four decades, with over five millions transit vans produced since the production began in nineteen sixty five.
The Ford Transits name originates to the Irish city of Cork, located in the north of the island. Ford had a production facility in the city up until the nineteen seventies. Post World War Two the local garage, "The Transit Garage", was working on a high performance car to enter into the Cork 20 rally, a car came to be known as the Ford Transit. The name was then given to the newly produced commercial van which was being manufactured.
The first Ford Transit van was produced in Germany between nineteen sixty one and nineteen sixty five. The Ford Taunus Transit was a renamed FK 1000, which had been produced in Cologne, Germany, since nineteen fifty three. As the Ford Transit van has evolved it has commonly been given mark numbers, with the first Transit labelled as mark 1, although Ford chooses to refer to the various models by their production years.
The Ford Transit has been produced for four decades, with various facelifts and alterations made to each new model. Between nineteen seventy eight and nineteen eighty six the mark two UK model was produced, with a high capacity 3 litre engine available for police and ambulance vehicles. The mark three and four variations were introduced between nineteen eighty six and nineteen ninety one, with little change made to the engine, although the appearance had changed to a "one-box" design. The mark five, produced between nineteen ninety four and the year two thousand, received a major face lift to both the engine and the body. Various options were made available at this time, including airbags, central locking, and electric windows
