Modification Ford Super Sport Transit Van
As far as commercial vehicles go, this monster is like an apparition; like the delusional fantasy of a drug crazed van driver. It shouldn’t exist. It has absolutely no practical use. However, it looms, on the horizon, like a white spectre with a blue go faster stripe, hurtling towards us at a speed a Ford Transit simply should not be able to achieve. And guess what? This van driver’s fantasy has come true. (Hopefully it’s the only van driver’s fantasy which does actually come true. One fears the others may be rather tasteless. Sausage and mash draped across scantily clad women; or worse – Little Chef restaurants.) This ladies and gentlemen is the Ford Transit SuperSportVan. And guess what, it isn’t even for sale, making this article (or novelette) a complete waste of time.
So, why is it that couriers, electricians, builders and anyone else who could possibly have reason to drive a van would wake up hot and sweaty if they dared to dream of this four-wheeled, thoroughly anti-social commercial vehicle. Well, how does a 200 horsepower, 3.2 litre turbo diesel engine sound? Van drivers of the UK give me a ‘Hell Yeah!’. And what about a six speed auto gearbox, with an upgraded aero package, rolling stock and classic blue strips over white? Everyone say, “Oooh! What a van!”
Right, now you’ve all been whipped into a frenzy it is time to bring you back down to earth with an unaided, 9,000 ft, bone shattering bump. Sadly, this working class delight is a mere concept vehicle which was knocked together for the recent Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC in Birmingham, just so Ford can show us what their expert engineers are truly capable of when given a free reign. That’s what I thought the Ford KA was for.
Anyway, the Ford Transit SuperSportVan was not just put together on a whim; apparently this van has heritage with some predecessors and everything. The long line of hot panel wagons can be traced back to the 1971 GT40-based Transit Supervan; then followed a Cosworth V8-powered version in 1984 and a ridiculous supervan in 1995 which packed a 650hp Formula One engine. Now I’m no mechanical engineer, far from it, but surely with all the aerodynamics of a Ford Transit Van (essentially none, I’ve a more aerodynamic fridge freezer in my garage at home) strapping a 650hp engine to a Ford Transit is akin to trying to squeeze a really fat man through a really small cat flap – I’m pretty sure that’s how aerodynamics work. Read more