FORD’S Transit van is one of the brand’s longest-running nameplates having first gone into production in 1965, just two years after the birth of the iconic Mustang pony car.

Now, more than 50 years into production, the fourth-generation Transit – first launched in Australian in September 2014 – has been bolstered by the introduction of a new EcoBlue diesel engine and a six-speed automatic transmission.

Expected to form the majority of sales, the self-shifting Transit will go toe-to-toe with the only other two automatic turbo-diesel vans on the market, the Mercedes-Benz Vito and Volkswagen Transporter, while holding off stiff competition from the Toyota HiAce, Hyundai iLoad and Renault Trafic.

Do the incremental improvements to Ford’s versatile and venerable Transit van return it as the leader of the pack, or has its history and heritage been usurped by younger models?

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