- First Ford Transit produced on August 9, 1965.
- On average, a Transit built every 2.5min over the last 6 decades.
- Over 1300 versions of Transit available globally.
The ubiquitous Ford Transit van is celebrating its 60th birthday this month. The first example rolled off the production line on August 9, 1965, and over 13 million examples have been produced in the six decades since.
This remarkable equates to a new van every two and a half minutes, non-stop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
“Every shopkeeper, contractor, ambulance driver, builder, baker or candlestick or holiday maker, can find his own special requirements in Ford Transit”, said Ford’s original press announcement from 1965.
Transit by the numbers
- Transit is the best-selling van in the world.
- Globally, over 13,000,000 Transits have been produced, while 10,100,000 is the number of Transit vans that have been produced in Europe and Türkiye since 1965 (NZ sources Transit from the Türkiye plant).
- There are over 1300 variations of 2-tonne Transit available to order, including different body styles, lengths, heights, powertrains and trim levels – before taking into account colour and other options.
- The Mk1 Transit offered payloads up to approximately 1700 kg. Today’s Transit panel van offers 2400kg.
- The largest L4 H3 Transit van can carry almost 236,000 ping-pong balls in its 15.1 m3 loadspace. 2
- Four times as many Transits were produced in Europe and Türkiye in 2024, compared with the first full year of Transit production in 1966.
- Transit/Transit Custom has been the best-selling van in the UK for 59 years.