Tag Archives: Supervan 3

Ford Transit SuperVan 3 Unleashed At Goodwood Festival of Speed [video]

Ford Transit Supervan 3

Ford Transit Supervan 3 in action at Goodwood, last weekend.

Ford’s famous Transit SuperVan 3 turned heads on Goodwood Hill at the Festival of Speed last weekend, driven by former Ford racing driver Anthony Reid.

Ford SuperVan 3 – a one-off replica 1994 Ford Transit – was developed by the Brentwood-based company more than 20 years ago. It has a top speed of 150mph and is powered by a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 Ford Cosworth engine, which produces 295bhp.

Anthony Reid, previously drove for the factory Ford Team Mondeo in the BTCC in the 1990s — his best championship placing was a 2nd place finish with 193 points in 2000. He said:

“Over the last 20 years of racing cars, Ford’s SuperVan 3 is by far the craziest vehicle I have ever driven. It’s ludicrously loud, incredibly quick and received masses of attention from the Goodwood crowd.”

The Supervan family raised the profile of Ford’s famous Transit range yet further.  Supervan 3 is a much-developed version of Supervan 2, the Transit-like body hiding a mid-engined Ford C100 racing chassis.  Although it looks like a load-carrying vehicle, there is absolutely no space for a payload, as the engine and transmission are mounted behind the cabin.  The all-independent suspension and vast racing tyres are out-and-out race car specification, though the driving position is that of a van.

You can see the SuperVan 3’s predecessors in a blog post I wrote a while ago — all three are genuine one-offs with rip-snorting performance and great looks.

For those that are interested, here are the technical details — otherwise scroll down for a great video showing the SuperVan 3 in action at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend.

SuperVan 3 Technical details
Construction: Aluminium/composite monocoque chassis with mid-mounted engine driving the rear wheels.  Steel, aluminium and glassfibre body shell.
Engine: Ford-Cosworth V6, 2935cc, twin overhead camshafts per bank, four valves per cylinder.  Tuned to Pro Sports 3000 spec, including dry sump.  Power output approx 295bhp @ 6,800rpm
Transmission: Five speed, longitudinally-mounted Hewland
Suspension:  Front and rear – independent, coil springs, wishbones, anti-roll bar.  Rack and pinion steering.
Brakes: 279mm (11in) diameter ventilated carbon discs, Brembo four-piston callipers, carbon pads
Performance:  Top speed approx 150mph (241kph)

Here’s a video of the SuperVan 3 in action at Goodwood last weekend:

Friday Fun: The Ford Transit Supervan

There is no doubt that the latest diesel-powered Ford Transits are respectably brisk for vans – but they aren’t really fast, are they?

Not even the desirable Ford Transit Sportvan can lay claim to true high performance credentials, despite its GT40-style go faster stripes.

Perhaps that’s why no fewer than three Ford Transit Supervans have been built over the years, starting with the Supervan 1 in 1971:

Ford Transit Supervan 1 (c) www.nsva.co.uk
Ford Transit Supervan 1 (Copyright  www.nsva.co.uk)

The Supervan 1 was powered by a rip-snorting 400bhp V8 engine as used in Ford’s victorious GT40 Le Mans cars. It did 68mph in first gear and was good for 196mph in fifth.

For a time the Supervan 1 reigned supreme – but the launch of the Mk2 Transit meant that the time was ripe for a successor – the Supervan 2, which was unveiled at the Donington Truck Grand Prix in 1984:

Supervan 2

The Supervan 2 was powered by a long-stroke version of Ford-Cosworth’s DFV Formula 1 engine and was later clocked at 174mph at Silverstone. What more can I say?

Time took its toll on the Supervan 2 and ten years later the Supervan 3 was born. Although technically a complete rebuild of the Supervan 2, it was virtually a new van and used the then-new Ford Transit Mk3 body shape:

Super Van 3

The Supervan 3 remains in service today and has proved a highly-effective publicity tool over the years. It has an estimated top speed of 150mph and now forms part of the Ford Heritage Vehicle Collection.