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78-724: Since 2010, the Blue Bird Micro Bird has been produced as part of a joint venture with Blue Bird and Girardin Minibus , called Micro Bird, Inc. Final assembly currently takes place at the Girardin facilities in Drummondville, Quebec , Canada. During the 1960s and early 1970s, small school buses in the United States and Canada were heavily derived from production vehicles. Along with full-size vans such as

156-658: A campervan conversion produced by Auto-Sleepers converted in Willersey , Gloucestershire , known as the Auto-Sleepers Duetto was available. It was available with the high-top roof. The naturally aspirated diesel engines came in 70 PS (51 kW), 76 PS (56 kW) The turbo diesel version came in 85 PS (63 kW), 100 PS (74 kW) and in 1998 a 115 PS (85 kW) Intercooled version became available, All turbodiesels had an electronic fuel injection pump made by Lucas For

234-498: A Chrysler dealership. In 1958, Girardin entered the school bus market by becoming a school bus dealership. In 1965, Girardin opened a bus dealership in Drummondville, Quebec; along with bus sales, Girardin converted vans into minibuses (some of the first Type A school buses). In 1981, a dedicated factory was built to keep up with demand; the factory was expanded in 1991 and again in 2000. In 1991, Girardin Minibus introduced

312-523: A Ford dealer in Stuttgart . "SIRA" combines " Sinpar " and "Rau" because Rau was the agent for French four-wheel-drive specialist Sinpar in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The SIRA Transit used a Sinpar transfer case and other parts, and was available with the 2-liter petrol four or the 2.4-liter Diesel, on either wheelbase. The 4x4 Transit was later offered in other markets as well. Codenamed VE6 ,

390-555: A big "Taunus" emblem as well as a small Taunus lettering which was also mounted on the back of the vehicle. New, however, was a small Ford logo underneath the right B-pillar. From 1957 onwards, with the launch of the Ford Thames 400E by Ford of Britain, the situation arose that Ford, together with the FK1000/FK1250 by Ford Werke AG, was now present on the continental European markets with two competing products. For example,

468-657: A body for the Ford Transit 350/350HD chassis that is replacing the Ford E-Series. Using a version of the Girardin MB body ( Micro Bird T-Series) , both single and dual rear-wheel configurations are produced. 1992-1999 (MB-II/MB-IV) 2010–present (MB-II, G5) Gasoline Diesel Propane (G5) Gasoline Diesel Gasoline Diesel 1997-2010 (Micro Bird) 1997-1999 (MB-II/MB-IV) 2010–present (MB-II, G5) Gasoline Diesel Prior to 2010, Blue Bird assembled

546-781: A fully imported model was introduced. In August 1977, a facelifted version—codenamed within Ford as the "Transit 1978 + 1 ⁄ 2 "—but usually referred to as the Transit Mark II , debuted with a restyled, longer nose section which could now properly accommodate an in-line engine in place of the Essex and Cologne V4s - therefore the Pinto engine from the Cortina became the Transit's dominant power unit. The new frontal styling brought

624-596: A large school bus. In 1973, Wayne Corporation introduced the Wayne Busette , the first school bus to successfully use a cutaway van chassis with a school bus body. To increase its stability over a van or an SUV, the Busette chassis (the Chevrolet/GMC G30) utilized a dual rear-wheel axle. As a response to the Busette, Blue Bird designers sought to develop their own body for a cutaway chassis. Dubbed

702-584: A new "Mark" number. The Mark II was available in 6 body styles: Van, Kombi, Chassis Cab, Parcel Van, Bus, and Crewbus all available in short-wheelbase (2690 mm) and long-wheelbase (3000 mm) versions. A selection of 5 engines was available: 1.6-litre OHC Petrol, 1.6-litre OHV Petrol (Kent), 2.0-litre OHC Petrol, 2.0-litre OHC Petrol (Economy) and 2.4-litre Diesel. On top of this were 32 door combinations, 6 axle ratios and options for 12 – 17 interior seats. All of these were available in any combination when purchased with Ford's highly customizable custom plan. At

780-423: A new nose and dashboard , along with the 2.0 L DOHC 8-valve engine as found in the 1994 to 1998 Ford Scorpio. It is similar to the earlier Sierra DOHC unit but without the distributor and uses the updated OBD II -compliant EEC-V level engine control unit . At the same time air conditioning , electric windows, central locking, electric mirrors and airbags were all made available as optional extras. In 1994,

858-615: A second unified platform ( Ford Escort ) was launched in 1967. With the discontinuation of the Ford Zephyr (British) and Ford P7 (German) in 1972 all Ford platforms for the European market are unified. Since 1994 (discontinuation of the Ford Granada name ) even the Ford model-names are the same for the European market. The German vehicle was not widely exported, and the "Mark 1" tag has commonly been applied, retrospectively, to

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936-453: A standard bus door (standard on Ford-chassis buses) and a van-style door (standard on Chevrolet/GMC G-van prior to 1997). In 2009, Girardin Minibus entered its second joint venture with Blue Bird. The partnership, named Micro Bird, Inc ., consolidated all Type A school bus production at the Girardin facilities in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. Under the agreement, Blue Bird shifted production of van-based buses to Girardin (to again sell under

1014-546: A turbodiesel Jaguar S-Type ; after weight reduction and aerodynamic modifications, she was only just unsuccessful, marking her fastest lap at 10m 8s. This version won the International Van of the Year 2001. The Durashift EST automatic transmission (optional on all rear-wheel-drive models) features controls mounted on the dashboard, a specially adapted manual mode, tow-haul mode, economy mode and winter mode. This

1092-480: A van built in Ford's Cologne plant in Germany. It was introduced in 1953 as FK 1000 (carrying 1,000 kg) with the 1.2-litre Ford sidevalve engine from the contemporary Taunus. In 1955 the engine capacity was enlarged to 1.5 litres. From 1961, this vehicle was called the Ford Taunus Transit . Production of this model ceased in 1965. On May 9, 1945, the day after the unconditional surrender of

1170-546: Is copied in virtually all cutaway-chassis buses. While the Busette was designed with its own body from the ground up, the Micro Bird shared the design of its body with the Conventional; the key change was its narrower width to properly fit the van chassis. At its launch, the intended markets for the Micro Bird were districts transporting small children or special needs students (the Micro Bird would become popular with

1248-728: Is known as the ASM (automatically shifting manual) system in the Australian market. 2002 saw the introduction of the first High Pressure Common Rail diesel engine in the Transit, with the launch of the 125 PS (92 kW) HPCR 2.0-litre in the FWD. Production of the van started at the new Ford-Otosan plant in Kocaeli, Turkey which saw the end of all production at the Genk, Belgium plant which had been producing Transits since 1965. This coincided with

1326-539: Is set to commerce production for 2019. In October 2014, Micro Bird launched its third product range, the T-Series. The first school bus body developed for the Ford Transit cutaway van chassis, the T-Series derives its body from the MB-II, but with a different roofline and redesigned loading-door window. In contrast to the MB-II and G5, the T-Series is sold with either single or dual rear-wheel configurations. Prior to

1404-490: The Bedford CA , Ford's Thames competitor, because of its restricted load area, failed to attract fleet users in sufficient numbers. Ford switched to a front-engined configuration, as did Bedford with their well-regarded CA series vans in the 1950s. Henry Ford II 's revolutionary step was to combine the engineering efforts of Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany to create a prototype for the Ford of Europe of today—previously

1482-711: The Dodge A100 , the Chevrolet ChevyVan/GMC Handi-Van , and the Ford Econoline , large "carryall" SUVs were also used (such as the Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Carryall and International Travelall ). To increase the safety of small vehicles transporting students, bus manufacturers chose to design a bus body that mated a production vehicle chassis with a body designed with the same reinforced internal structure of

1560-533: The Focus and Ka . Developed by Ford in the United States, the main innovation is that it is available in either front- or rear-wheel drive. Ford nomenclature makes this the V184 ( rear-wheel-drive ) or V185 ( front-wheel-drive ) model. This model features the "Puma"-type Duratorq turbo diesel engine also used in the 2000 Mondeo and Jaguar X-Type , with the petrol versions moving up to the 2.3 L 16-Valve edition of

1638-821: The Ford Tourneo in some markets since 1995), cutaway van chassis , and a pickup truck . The vehicle is also known as the Ford T-Series (T-150, T-250, T-350), a nomenclature shared with Ford's other light commercial vehicles, the Ford F-Series trucks, and the Ford E-Series chassis. As of 2015 , 8 million Transit vans have been sold, making it the third best-selling van of all time and has been produced across four basic platform generations (debuting in 1965, 1986, 2000, and 2013 respectively), with various "facelift" versions of each. The first product of

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1716-721: The German Wehrmacht in the Second World War , production at Ford Germany in Cologne resumed. Because the production of civilian cars in the British occupied zone was restricted, Ford-Werke AG was limited to the production of trucks until 1948. Those trucks based on the slightly modified war models V 3000 S, B 3000 S and V 3000 A as they were already produced before and during the Second World War in

1794-528: The Micro Bird , the body distinguished itself from the Busette with several key features, many of them geared towards aiding the loading/unloading process. Rather than use the stock van door as part of the entrance, Blue Bird designed the Micro Bird body to utilize a standard school bus door, the same design used on Conventional and All American full-size buses. Ahead of the entry door, two windows were added, further aiding visibility; to this day, this layout

1872-462: The straight-4 engine. A demonstration of this model's speed with the smallest panel van body, rear wheel drive, highest output 136PS 2.4 Duratorq turbo-diesel engine and optional 6-speed manual gearbox was shown in series 6 of Top Gear in 2005, where German race driver Sabine Schmitz attempted to drive it around the Nürburgring in under ten minutes, matching Jeremy Clarkson 's time in

1950-410: The " Handy Bus " option, fitted with a wheelchair lift). During its 35-year production run, the body design of the first-generation Blue Bird Micro Bird saw a gradual degree of change, with many updates tied to redesigns of its cutaway van chassis. During the 1980s, to aid in driver visibility, Blue Bird replaced the two-piece loading-zone window with a larger single-piece window; to do so, a portion of

2028-682: The "F" from the well-known Ford emblem in the first and a "K" in the same font in the second oval. The Taunus emblem first depicted the Cologne Cathedral ; from 1953 on until its discontinuation in 1967, Cologne's city flag inspired the Taunus emblem. In 1961, Ford discontinued the entire truck production in Germany and took the FK brand off the market, due to serious defects and therefore strongly decreasing demand. The unrelated FK1000/FK1250 van, unaffected by these defects, continued to sell well and

2106-628: The "Ford" label as a brand. Most British Ford products carried no Ford emblem. The commercial vehicles produced at Ford-Werke AG were marketed with the FK logo, while the passenger cars produced from 1948 onwards were offered under the name Taunus referring to the re-produced pre-war model Ford Taunus G93A . Due to continental European habits, the original series and model designations "FK" and Taunus mutated into real brands, each with its own emblem and different models, comparable with Daimler Benz Mercedes models or General Motors Opel models. The FK emblem consists of two slightly overlapping ovals with

2184-605: The "pig snout". The underpowered Perkins proved unpopular, and was replaced by Ford's own York unit in 1972. For mainland Europe the Transit had the German Ford Taunus V4 engine in Cologne 1.3, 1.5, and 1.7- or Essex 2.0-litre versions. The diesel version's long nose front was also used to accommodate the Ford 3.0 L Ford Essex V6 engine (UK) for high performance applications such as vans supplied to police and ambulance services. In Australia, in 1973, to supplement

2262-511: The 1965 to 1978 pan-European model (see below). Whilst there have only been four basic platforms since 1965, the various facelifts and upgrades over the years have been referred to using a conflicting range of "Mark" numbers, with some sources counting a facelift as a new "Mark", some not. Ford's own historical look back at Transit production, published for the launch of the 1994 model, avoids the issue by referring to generations of Transit by years produced. This article attempts to make mention of all

2340-528: The 1992 redesign of the Ford E-Series, the Micro Bird was produced nearly exclusively on the Chevrolet/GMC G30 dual rear-wheel cutaway van chassis. Alongside the MB-Series, the Micro Bird expanded chassis availability to the Ford E-Series starting in 1992. From 1994 to 1996, General Motors offered a second chassis for the Micro Bird; to produce a heavier-duty version of its cutaway van, GM placed

2418-766: The 30th anniversary of the Transit in 1995 Ford released a limited edition model called the Transit Hallmark. Six hundred were made and were available in three colours with 200 being made in each. In Europe the VE83 Transit was available up to 2000, but in Vietnam it was built up to 2003 when it was exchanged in June for the new generation. The Transit, introduced in July 2000, was the third all-new design, and borrowed styling cues from Ford's "New Edge" designs, like

Blue Bird Micro Bird - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-476: The 6-speed MT-82 RWD manual gearbox . The five millionth Transit rolled off the Southampton line on Monday, July 18, 2005, and was donated to an English charity. The third-generation Transit received a facelift to the body, introduced in July 2006, including new front and rear lights, a new front end and a new interior featuring the gearstick on the dashboard and Ford's new corporate radio design. Besides

2574-560: The Blue Bird Micro Bird); the MB-II was produced for single rear-wheel chassis. In a large departure from manufacturing precedent of the time, the MB-II was constructed as a cutaway bus body rather than as a conversion of a passenger van to a school bus. In another departure from precedent, the MB-series buses utilized aluminum body panels in place of steel. The MB-II was offered with two different entry door configurations:

2652-577: The Blue Bird brand) while Blue Bird concentrated on design and production of full-size buses. As part of the joint venture, the MB-II returned to the Blue Bird product line during 2010, serving as the replacement for the single rear-wheel Micro Bird. During 2005, Girardin Minibus introduced the G5, serving as the replacement for the MB-IV. As part of Micro Bird, Inc., the G5 became a Blue Bird in 2010, replacing

2730-734: The British Ford Thames 400E was also assembled and improved as a left-hand drive version in the Ford assembly plants in Copenhagen , Denmark, as well as the German FK1000 was assembled in Azambuja , Portugal, too. In the French, Spanish, Italian, Swiss, Benelux and Scandinavian markets, both products were found. This turned out to be disadvantageous and cost-intensive especially after the fall of various trade barriers within

2808-603: The Cortina and for two years the Transit 75 was available with the 1.6 L Ford Kent cross-flow engine. High-performance versions intended for police or ambulance service used the 3.0 L V6 version of the Essex engine ; the 100 hp (75 kW; 101 PS) 3.0 was also available in some heavier duty models like the 3.5-tonne Transit 190. From September 1978, Australian variants could be had with locally built 4.1 L (250 cu in) inline 6-cylinder engines. In 1984,

2886-557: The E-series as a passenger van, the T-Series marked the introduction of a third model line, produced with a choice of axle configurations on a single body for the first time. Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van , but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as

2964-463: The Ford Transit was launched in 1965, based on a new unified platform . Two years later in 1967, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG merged to Ford of Europe with the headquarters in Cologne , Germany. The brand Taunus was taken off the market. Ford forced the standardization of platforms and even model-names overall European market under the Ford brand and logo. After the Ford Transit in 1965,

3042-548: The Ford production facilities in the Third Reich . Those trucks were now called "Rhein" (V8-engined) and "Ruhr" (four-cylinder). At that time neither Ford of Britain nor Ford Werke AG were 100% subsidiaries of Ford Motor Company in Detroit ; before the Second World War each company had its own more or less protected market. After the war, several economical boundaries were abolished and local markets did not exist anymore in

3120-461: The MB-II and MB-IV school buses; from 1992 to 1999, these were distributed throughout North America using the Blue Bird by Girardin name. In 1999, a tornado hit the 1991 factory. In 2005, the MB-IV was replaced with the G5, a redesigned dual rear-wheel Type A school bus. In 2009, Blue Bird Corporation entered into a joint venture with Girardin to produce Type A school buses. Under the terms of

3198-483: The Micro Bird SW (single rear wheel) was produced in two variants: a lower-roofline body (similar to the MB-II, and largely intended as a MFSAB) and a version with a roofline nearly matching the dual rear-wheel Micro Bird in height. Later in the 2000s, the fiberglass roofcap of the body saw a second redesign. After Blue Bird formed its second joint venture with Girardin in late 2009, Blue Bird ended production of

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3276-649: The Micro Bird at the following manufacturing facilities: Girardin Minibus Girardin Minibus Inc. is a Canadian bus manufacturer . Based in Drummondville , Quebec , Canada, Girardin forms part of the Micro Bird joint venture with Blue Bird Corporation . As part of Micro Bird, Girardin is a manufacturer of bus bodies for minibuses for cutaway van chassis . While many Micro Bird buses are produced as school buses and related student transport vehicles, Girardin also produces commercial-use buses using cutaway van chassis. In Canada,

3354-598: The Transit back into line with the rest of Ford of Europe's passenger car range of the period with square headlamps and the black louvred grille, although the rear styling remained unaltered. The austere dashboard of the Mk1 with its single instrument binnacle was replaced with a full width plastic fascia with a more comprehensive instrument cluster and switchgear taken from the Taunus/Cortina Mk4. Many fleet owners experienced premature camshaft wear in early Pinto units in

3432-410: The Transit is proving to be the perfect getaway vehicle", describing it as "Britain's most wanted van". The adoption of a front beam axle in place of a system incorporating independent front suspension that had featured on its UK predecessor might have been seen as a backward step by some, but on the road commentators felt that the Transit's wider track and longer wheelbase more than compensated for

3510-592: The Transit sold well in the Netherlands, it was not enough to save the factory, which closed in December 1981. The Transit was introduced to replace the Ford Thames 400E , a small mid-engined forward control van noted for its narrow track which was in competition with similar-looking but larger vehicles from the BMC J4 and J2 vans and Rootes Group 's Commer PB ranges. In a UK market segment then dominated by

3588-572: The V4 engined models (the 'pig snout' diesel/V6 models remained unchanged), and the introduction of a safety padded dashboard. Overall production of this platform therefore lasted for over 20 years before finally being replaced by the all-new VE6 platform in 1986. The van was produced initially at Ford's Langley facility in Berkshire, England (a former Second World War aircraft factory which had produced Hawker Hurricane fighters), but demand outstripped

3666-459: The York diesel engine was redesigned into the 2.5 L "DI" (direct injection) unit. At this time this generation received a minor facelift including a grey plastic front grille with integrated headlamp surrounds, wraparound indicators, longer bumper end caps and multifunction rear lights incorporating fog, indicator, reversing and side lights for the panel van. This facelift did not commonly result in

3744-567: The apparent step backwards represented by Ford's suspension choices. Drivers appreciated the elimination of the excessive noise, smell and cabin heat that resulted from placing the driver above or adjacent to the engine compartment in the Thames 400E and other forward control light vans of the 1950s and early 1960s. The Transit was also assembled in South Africa between 1967 and 1974, the last Transit to be sold in that country until 2013, when

3822-442: The cab of the G30 van on the higher-GVWR frame of the P30 "step-van" chassis; these versions are distinguished by an extended nose with a tilt-forward hood. The heavy-duty GM chassis was discontinued after 1996, as the company redesigned its full-size van line and the new Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana did not have bodywork designed to fit on the P30 chassis. In 2014, Blue Bird became the first North American bus manufacturer to develop

3900-466: The capability of the plant, and production was moved to Southampton until closure in 2013 in favour of the factory at İzmit , Turkey. Transits were also produced in Ford's Genk factory in Belgium and also Turkey. Transits were produced in Amsterdam for the local market from the mid-1970s until the end of 1981. This factory had ample capacity, since the Ford Transcontinental produced there had little success (total production 8000 in 6 years). Although

3978-419: The common naming systems. The first generation Transit, or the Transit Mark I in the United Kingdom, was introduced in October 1965, taking over directly from the Thames 400E . This generation had the longest production run of any Transit to date, staying largely unaltered for 12 years until the major update of 1977, with only one minor facelift for the 1971 model year, which saw updated front end styling on

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4056-495: The company serves as the nationwide distributor of the Blue Bird school bus and commercial bus product line. Following the 2008 closure of Corbeil , Girardin was the lone Canadian-based manufacturer of school buses until the 2011 opening of Autobus Lion (now Compagnie Électrique Lion). Girardin traces its roots to 1935, when company founder Lionel Girardin opened a used-car dealership and repair shop in St-Félix-de-Kingsey, Quebec. He expanded into new-car sales in 1953 by opening

4134-438: The engine ahead of the driver. Another popular development under the bonnet was the equipping of the van with an alternator at time when the UK market competitors expected buyers to be content with a dynamo . A 43 bhp (32 kW) diesel engine sourced from Perkins was also offered. As this engine was too long to fit under the Transit's stubby nose, the diesel version featured a longer bonnet - which became nicknamed as

4212-452: The first joint venture was from 1992 to 1999 while the second has been in place since 2009. In 1992, the two companies organized a distribution agreement, with Blue Bird selling the Girardin MB-II and MB-IV buses in its sales network ("Blue Bird MBII/IV by Girardin" badging) alongside the Micro Bird. Launched in 1991, there were two buses in the Girardin MB Series. The MB-IV was produced for dual rear-wheel chassis (similar in configuration to

4290-403: The first time. The new version (Ford nomenclature V347 for front-wheel drive and V348 for rear-wheel drive) won International Van of the Year for 2007 despite tough competition from several all-new rivals. This Transit arrived in Mexico to replace the Freestar after the 2007 model year. This was the first Transit with a five-cylinder engine available (in the 3.2L 200PS version). Mid-2006 saw

4368-451: The first-generation Micro Bird at the end of the 2010 model year. After 35 years of production, the Micro Bird was the longest-produced Blue Bird after the Conventional/CV200 and the All American. It would also be the final Blue Bird-produced model to have its chassis production outsourced to another manufacturer. Blue Bird and Quebec-based manufacturer Girardin Minibus have produced cutaway school bus bodies in two separate joint ventures;

4446-442: The front and rear roof caps were replaced by re-profiled fiberglass versions. For exterior body panels, Blue Bird switched from steel to aluminum construction. On Ford-chassis Micro Birds, Blue Bird made a flat floor standard on all Handy Buses. Following the end of the first joint venture with Girardin Minibus in 1999, Blue Bird commenced development of its own body for a single rear-wheel cutaway chassis. Making its debut in 2001,

4524-458: The introduction of the Transit Connect (also produced in Kocaeli), a smaller panel van based on the C170 (Focus) platform and aimed at replacing the older Escort and Fiesta based models. Despite the name, the Connect has no engineering commonality with the full-size Transit. 2003 saw a new instrument cluster with a digital odometer. 2004 saw the launch of the first RWD HPCR, the 135 PS (99 kW) 2.4-litre variant that also introduced

4602-442: The joint venture, Blue Bird's Micro Bird (in production since 1975) was phased out and replaced by Girardin-designed products built in Drummondville. Girardin Minibus has twice entered into partnerships with a larger bus manufacturer; both have been with American manufacturer Blue Bird Corporation . From 1992 to 1999, Girardin and Blue Bird were in a partnership to sell the MB-II and MB-IV Type A school buses in North America. At

4680-431: The last of the 1978–1985 Mk.1 facelift model, although in 1989 the high-performance 3.0 Essex V6 petrol was replaced by the Cologne 2.9 EFI V6, mainly because of emissions regulations as the Essex V6 design was nearly 25 years old by then and still used a carburettor. The third generation Transit was developed under the "Triton" code name. A subtle facelift in 1992 saw the fully independent front suspension adopted across

4758-416: The long-running first-generation Micro Bird. Distinguished by its squared-off roofline, the G5 is built solely on dual rear-wheel chassis. Starting in 2013, as with all Blue Birds, the design of the roofline "streamer" (roof stripe) was changed from a full-length design to a single-length design shared with the MB-II, Vision, and All American. An electric version of the micro bird G5 built on Ford E450 chassis

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4836-417: The merged Ford of Europe , the Transit was originally marketed in Western Europe and Australia. By the end of the twentieth century, it was marketed nearly globally with the exception of North America until 2015 when it replaced the Ford E-Series van. Upon its introduction in North America, the Transit quickly became the best-selling van of any type in the United States, minivan sales included. That mirrors

4914-437: The newly founded EEC . For this reason, such a situation with internal competition and parallel developments was very unsatisfactory for the Ford headquarters in Detroit. The aim was to not only standardize the vehicle production ( world car ), but also merge the company structures in Europe. Under parent's dictate, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG started the "Redcap-Project" in the commercial vehicle sector in 1963, from which

4992-407: The range, whilst a redesigned floor plan allowed the use of single, rather than paired, rear wheels on the LWB derivative, further increasing payload—these models are identifiable by the slightly more rounded front headlamps. In Australia, the third generation Transit did not go on sale until March 1994, after a 13-year absence from that market. A major facelift to the Transit in 1994 gave the Transit

5070-555: The same way that they existed before. With this, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG suddenly became more competitive on the whole European Continent than local market subsidiaries of their parent company in Detroit. Production of light commercial vehicles began in late 1948, when 148 half-ton delivery vehicles were built. In 1951 Ford Werke AG launched the commercial vehicle series FK , standing for Ford Köln, with different-sized vehicles (FK2000 with 2 tons payload, FK3000 with 3 tons payload, FK3500 with 3.5 tons payload, etc.). The FK series

5148-427: The second generation Transit platform appeared in January 1986 and was notable for its all-new bodyshell which was of "one-box" design ( i.e. the windscreen and bonnet are at close to the same angle), and the front suspension was changed to a fully independent configuration on SWB versions. Initially fitted with Chubb AVA locks, Tibbe barrels were fitted soon after. The engine range was carried over largely unchanged from

5226-402: The styling changes, the powertrains were revised. The old petrol engine was replaced with one from the Ford Ranger , the front-wheel-drive diesel went from 2.0 to 2.2 litres capacity, and all diesel engines gained high-pressure common rail ( TDCi ) systems. The powertrains were changed to meet new emissions legislation. Additionally, the facelift introduced CAN bus electronics to the Transit for

5304-402: The success the Transit has achieved in Europe, where it has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle for forty years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic trademark applying to any light commercial van in the Transit's size bracket. Predecessor of the British and German-built Transit, the first production Ford to wear the "Transit" badge was

5382-691: The time this gave the business sector an unprecedented amount of flexibility, which was a major factor in the vehicles' ultimate success. In 1981, for mainland European market only, the Transit Clubmobil was introduced by the Hymer company. This was fitted with a 1.6 / 2.0 OHC engine, and featured a custom interior – captain style swivel seats in velour, pile carpet, motorsport steering wheel, unique Ronal 14" alloy wheels, unique side windows, folding back seat, luggage box, unique front spoiler, tinted glass, power assisted steering, spare wheel carrier and rear door ladder. In 3 years of production 150 were produced and less than 20 are thought to still exist. In late 1982,

5460-456: The time, Girardin was little known outside of Quebec and Blue Bird's own Micro Bird was not available in the single rear-wheel configuration that the MB-II offered. After 1999, Girardin chose to market the MB school buses under its own brand name. In October 2009, Girardin re-entered into a joint venture with Blue Bird. This partnership, named Micro Bird, Inc , resulted in the Micro Bird model being discontinued, as Type A school bus construction

5538-426: The time. Another key to the Transit's success was the sheer number of different body styles: panel vans in long and short wheelbase forms, pick-up truck, minibuses, crew-cabs to name but a few. The engines used in the UK were the Essex V4 for the petrol -engined version in 1.7 L and 2.0 L capacities. By using relatively short V-4 engines Ford were able to minimise the additional length necessitated to place

5616-462: The two Essex V4 engines that were available the Transit was released with the long-nose diesel front used to accommodate an inline 6-cylinder engine derived from the Ford Falcon . The Metropolitan Police reported on this vehicle in 1972 via a Scotland Yard spokesman that "Ford Transits are used in 95 per cent of bank raids . With the performance of a car, and space for 1.75 tonnes of loot,

5694-430: The two subsidiaries had avoided competing in one another's domestic markets but had been direct competitors in other European markets. The Transit was a departure from the European commercial vehicles of the day with its American-inspired styling—its broad track gave it a huge advantage in carrying capacity over comparable vehicles of the day. Most of the Transit's mechanical components were adapted from Ford's car range of

5772-486: The van chassis passenger-side door was replaced with glass. Following the introduction of the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana cutaway bus chassis for the 1997 model year, Blue Bird would make several major changes to the Micro Bird body, including a higher roofline and wider body. In a move to increase interior headroom, the curve of the roof was flattened slightly; in the interest of aerodynamics,

5850-521: The well-equipped Transit Ghia was introduced to some markets, only as a nine-seater bus. This offered a velour interior, full carpeting, tinted windows, and sunroof. Externally it can be identified by chrome dog-dish hubcaps and extra lamps in the grille. In 1982, a four-wheel drive version was added to the German market, called the SIRA-Ford Transit. This was developed together with Rau GmbH,

5928-464: Was now offered under the successful Taunus brand with the model name Transit in addition to the cars Taunus 12M/15M and the Taunus 17M . A comparable program to Volkswagen, that offered its vehicles VW Beetle , VW 1500 and VW Bus the same way on the continental European market. The "new" Transit Taunus van was now labelled with the Transit model name (instead of the FK logo) in big chrome letters and

6006-678: Was successor of the "Rhein" and "Ruhr" trucks. In 1953, the FK series were rounded off with the light delivery van FK1000/FK1250 (1ton/1.25tons payload), in competition to the Volkswagen Type 2 VW Bus , the DKW Type F89L Schnellaster or the Tempo Matador . As usual in the Anglo-Saxon countries in those days, Ford's marketing experts attached more importance to the model/series designation than to

6084-528: Was transferred from Blue Bird's Georgia facility to Girardin's Drummondville facility. Type A school buses built by Girardin are now branded as Blue Bird Micro Bird by Girardin . The first bus manufacturer in North America to develop a body for the Ford Transit cutaway cab chassis , Micro Bird introduced the T-Series model line in 2015, slotted between the MB-II and G5. While the Transit replaced

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