hello from Ford Motor Company

[gary whittam]

Just wanted to send a hello from the Ford Motor Company Commercial Vehicle team and wish the club all the very best for the future. As CV Director, I really am a passionate Transit person and want to do all I can to support this group.

It's great to see so many people working so hard to keep Transit on the roads. Over the last 40 years it has touched the hearts and lives of most people in the UK and many people across the world. I've met people in places as far apart as Turkey, Russia, Malta and beyond and they all seem to love their Trannies.

I cannot make the up coming Ace Cafe event but will do my very bets to get to as many events as I can and hopefully meet other members along the way.

Kind regards

Gary Whittam

[madmark]

hi garry its great to here from you, i am very mad on transits and have had them since i was 15yrs old! i have a mk1 twin wheeler that i got from germany as you can see in the photo, its a great shame you cant make the meet at the ace cafe transits are my life ,i just had to get another mk1 after all these years! but do find it hard to get some parts as not many mk1,s get scrapped these days as people whant to restore them! mine is a ex german fire van ,as this is the only way of getting one with no rust and then converted it to rhd ! twin wheel transits are even harder to find than the swb they just dont seem to be about anymore! great to here from you regards .mark

[Luke]

Hi Gary! Thanks for the support!
Welcome to the Ford Transit forum!!

[FredTransit]

Welcome Gary, if it hadn't already been settled, I would have asked you how many Mks of transit Ford say there are see "How many Transits? Mk5 you say? over in Transit Talk"!
We got our first Tranny before I got my licence in 1986, and still have it, amongst others! It doesn't look like we will be increasing the sales figures of the new transit, sorry.
Here's an idea. There were millions of the vans made, and are still many thousands left. Why don't Ford offer a heritage parts service? Of course I don't expect every single last nut and bolt, but does Ford realise just how many Transit owners there are combing, sometimes, the world looking for parts?
Rant over..................

[gary whittam]

Great to see your reply and the part thing is something I have been giving some thought to. Not sure how we can do it but I will raise the issue here and get ideas. It is also relevant for all people who keep classic Fords on the road. There are a few passionate Ford Classic people within Ford and if there was some way of getting parts made and the vehicles supported then that would be good.

What parts would you suggest we look at?

[madmark]

hi gary , parts for mk1,s would be good wings are getting hard to find ,doors etc even exhaust down pipes for the v4 are not beeing made anymore, i think the problem is when parts become hard to get and no longer made ,people put there own price tag on them ,ie mk1 front wing for around £200 this makes things hard for people to keep there vans on the road if you have a small budget , infact alot of panels for mk1 and mk2 are getting hard to find,and trim as well ,i have been looking for dash trim for my mk1 for about 3 months and still havent found any perfect trim! anything would be a great help! .mark

[FredTransit]

Vital MOT parts are a must, brakes and steering particularly. The last thing I would buy is a second had brake/steering part from the scrappie, you just don't know what you are getting. Over time, we have worked out what Mk3 bits will be fit (or can be made to fit), but are still stuck on tank senders, dashboard, window winders, indicators (for Mk2 phase2, up to 86), hazard light rocker switches, and light switches/stalks. Brakes, steering, lights, indicators and hazard lights are all relevant to the MOT, and none of them optional.