Beloved By Bands and Bank Robbers, The Ford Transit Turns 60

Climbing into a 1965 Ford Transit is like stepping into a time capsule on wheels.

The Transit is the world’s best-selling van, with more than 13 million built so far. (Photo: Ford Corporate)

Forget modern high-tech features like satnavs and touchscreens—this van offers just a steering wheel, a big chrome-lined speedometer dial, and a chunky heater control.

There isn’t even a radio, Theo Leggett reported for BBC News. Out on the road, it rattles, bangs, and occasionally jumps out of gear.

Disconcertingly, there’s no seatbelt, the seat has an alarming tendency to shift, and the brakes don’t seem particularly effective. Beautiful as it is, it’s hard to imagine this elderly machine was ever state of the art.

When the original Transit rolled off the production line at Ford’s Langley, Berkshire plant on August 9, 1965, it was a revelation—remarkably spacious, powerful, and practical by the standards of the day. It offered comfort, sharp handling, and left competitors like the Morris J4 in the dust.

Sixty years on, the Transit has been redesigned many times but remains a staple for small businesses and tradespeople. It is the world’s best-selling van, with more than 13 million built so far.

“There are lots of iconic cars—the Morris Minor, the Mini, the Land Rover, the VW Beetle—but there’s only one iconic van, and that’s the Transit,” said Edmund King, president of the AA.

“It’s probably the only van that people really know.”

Originally a collaboration between Ford’s UK and German engineering teams, the Transit was designed to be as versatile as possible.

It became a fixture not only for tradespeople but also for musicians—used by bands like The Damned, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the Small Faces, and Slade to tour the country.