The new Ford Transit Custom is now on sale

The new Ford Transit Custom has now gone on sale, with first deliveries expected in November.

The new Ford Transit Custom will offer the biggest loadspace in the one-tonne class, according to Ford, which says it will be bigger and better than any previous model, offering:

• 6m³ SAE on short wheelbase model, 6.8m³ on LWB model
• Widest side-loading door opening (1030mm)
• Biggest width between wheel arches (1390mm)
• Can carry three Euro pallets in SWB model (not possible in current Transit)
• Load-through hatch to passenger compartment for long loads (e.g. pipes)

Brentwood’s finest will also offer a rather plush-looking cab, as this photo shows — it’s worlds apart from my Mk6 Transit!

Driver and passenger space in the new Transit Custom

Not just a pretty face!

Ford says that the new model is ready for use in any global market and has undergone a thorough and demanding testing regime. Kevin Strutt is supervisor CV durability, Ford of Europe:

“The Transit Custom may look stylish and car-like, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve given it an easier time during development and testing. The Transit has a hard-earned reputation for bullet-proof reliability, and we’re confident the new model will follow in the same tradition.”

The testing regime includes the ‘Trailer Tow General Durability’ test which condenses ten years’ use into six months of 24/7 testing, much of it with a fully-laden trailer. Other tests the Transit has passed include:

• Maximum speed “Autobahn” test simulating non-stop flat-out German Autobahn driving for two months
• Low-speed, stop-start city drive cycles to simulate the toughest urban delivery conditions, to prove out clutches, transmission, brakes and the latest Auto-Start-Stop technologies
• Various extreme transmission tests such as “shift cycle” and “hot-rod” for the shift mechanism, and the “bump-stop” test that uses aggressive clutch engagement to introduce very high loads into the gearbox
• “Figure of Eight” test, which lasts over a month, puts the wheels, hubs, bearings and steering gear through their paces
• Front doors were slammed 250,000 times to test for durability

You can’t accuse them of lacking imagination! I can’t wait to see one on the road. Any chance of a loan, Ford?