The Coolest Van I Saw In The United Kingdom Was This Smokin’ Ford Transit SportVan – Cold Start

Ford Transit Sport
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I’ve already written up one of the great cars I found on my trip to London this summer, but I’m not sure I’d buy a Mustang II if I lived in England. I think I might be tempted to buy the van you see here. If it is what I think it is, it’s a rare 2007 Ford Transit SportVan being driven by a dude smoking a cigarette on his way to a job.

This photo was taken en route to the British Museum on a rainy day in London this summer (which is to say, it could have been just about any day in London). The road gleamed brightly as the cool July rain mixed with oil and other automotive grease to create almost a runway worth of London Fashion Week for the various lorries, black cabs, and commuter cars that were willing to pay the fee to get into the city.

And there I saw it. My companions were, by this point, fairly used to me darting off to take a photo of a random car, but even they couldn’t grasp what vehicle I was chasing after. I knew immediately. This wasn’t just a commercial van, this was a Transit SportVan.

Ford Transit Sport 3

Here’s how RACPlus describes it:

The Transit SportVan is based on the popular 260, short wheelbase model with front wheel drive, with 140PS 2.2-litre TDCi diesel engine and a six-speed transmission. The exterior features Moondust Silver paintwork, Le Mans-style graphite bonnet stripes, twin exhausts, 18in graphite colour alloy wheels, low profile 235/45 tyres, front and rear lower spoilers, side skirts and extended wheel arches. Standard safety features include ABS, ESP and driver and passenger airbags.

Inside the cab: velour trim, air conditioning, Sony radio/CD with DAB with remote steering-column-mounted controls, Bluetooth, cruise control, power windows, powered and heated mirrors, leather steering wheel, tinted glass, leather gearshift knob and a perimeter alarm are also standard.

I think this is a 2007-ish model in Sea Grey with silver stripes, which is one of the rarer ones. Here’s what one of those looks like in white/blue:

Ford Ts Sport2

And here’s the rear:

Ford Ts Sport

I’m open to being wrong about this, so please let me know if this is a different year OR someone actually took the time to take a regular Transit and convert it into a tribute:

Ford Transit Sport 2

Obviously, the alloys have been replaced, but given the condition of most wheels around London I wouldn’t blame the owners for swapping out to something more sensible and storing the nicer shoes for the weekend. Also, the guy in the driver’s seat smoking, I think, gave me a look of appreciation for appreciating his excellent choice of work van.

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19 thoughts on “The Coolest Van I Saw In The United Kingdom Was This Smokin’ Ford Transit SportVan – Cold Start

  1. Nice and all, but for work purposes, doe one really need the “sport” stuff? It just makes me thing of taking a turn with enthusiasm and having a whole bunch of plumbing supplies spontaneously disorganize.

    1. It would be, arguably, less desirable. The lower profile, sportier, rubber would make curb parking (often, in the UK, it involved bringing one side’s wheels over the curb onto the walkway), and make construction traction less ideal.

      Imagining someone driving a loaded work van with enthusiasm brings a smile to my face, but realities as you mention of caving in everything carefully packed in the back, and the acceleration from a fully loaded workvan would be woeful (at best).

    2. It’s seemingly a popular part of van culture in the UK (at least up in the North of England and to a lesser extent the Glasgow Area). A lot of vans tend to be modded with visual sporty bits and I’ve heard of tunes being offered too. Makes sense Ford would want in on the action!

  2. 2.2 tdci diesel.

    One can wish. World seems to be doing fine with other countries running them.

    Our gas crap gets half the mileage and lasts 1/5th as long.

    Sigh

    1. You know, I don’t think a small diesel engine would keep an Express or Econoline from rusting out any quicker than they normally do. It’s certainly not the stock engines that are sending them to junkyards.

      1. The Express had one, the 2.8 diesel from the Colorado which is (I think) a near-ish relative to the VM Motori diesel that was also in the U.S. Market Jeep Liberty CRD.

        Didn’t sell great in all 3 applications….

        There was also the 3.0 Diesel offered in the Promaster for several years, the 5 cylinder Powerstroke in the Transit in the U.S. too.. all gone now.

        The 2020 Transit in the U.S. market was supposed to have the new 2.0 4 cylinder twin turbo diesel. There was marketing material for it, tow guides, etc… and it was pulled pretty abruptly and didn’t actually get in to any customer hands for the 2020 model year.

    1. Those do look familiar, but I can’t quite place them. They’re similar to the same-era Ford GT wheels, but with a larger hub area and shorter spokes. I hope someone else can figure it out, otherwise it will bug me all day.

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