NLPRacing Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Growing up and being one of 6 kids, my parents always had vans. When I turned 16 (in 1991), my first vehicle was the hand me down family van. It was a 1977 Ford E250 with a 460 big block. It was black with tinted windows, chrome steel wheels and 70's style orange & brown shag carpet interior. We called it the beast and it was a lot of fun. I've alse owned a 94 Aerostar and a 200 E150 conversion. I am a Ford Van fan. One of my future projects will be a 60's Ford Econoline Falcon window van restomod. After reviewing Ford's current NA van offerings as well as globally, I think I have come up with a solution to merge the Ford van product line together. The all new 2012 Ford Econoline The current Transit Connect would become the all new Econoline. The Transit Connect is a unibody car based (loosely on the C170 Focus from what I understand) van. The original Econoline was also unibody van and based on Ford's "compact" car of the day (the Falcon). Renaming it the Econoline just makes sense. If Ford decides to bring over the Tourneo, it can be called the Club Wagon. The all new 2012 Ford E150 The all new 2012 Ford E250 The "global" Transit would become the all new E150/E250. The sizes & capacities of the Transit more closely match that of the current E150 & E250. This would allow Ford to go head to head against the Sprinter and other panel vans that are coming from Nissan & Fiat/RAM. The difference is Ford will already have name recognition and a great reputation. The all new 2012 Ford E550 Chassis Cab This is an old picture, but you get the idea. The all new E350 vans & E450/E550 chassis/cab would be based on Ford's Super Duty architecture. Basically the same or similar body as the current E-Series with changes to allow the use of the Super Duty chassis, engines, transmissions, etc. These vans could be built alongside the current Super Duty. This would give Ford a 3 front attack on the commercial van market. Who would be able to compete with that? Fiat-Chrysler-Ram comes the closest, but they still wouldn't have anything for a Super Duty based E350. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBantam Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I say your expectations are reasonable. I want to know if the Global has the same interior dimentions for the driver and passenger, also leg room for 2 rear rows. How much cap. is left for gear interior if two benches are used. Does the Global have an AWD available or conversion solution by factory. Would love a manual tranny! Now about that front nose on the Global...I might be able to get used to it. Hard to give up the new look of the 2009+ Econolines. Makes them look very ford tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 From a reliable source. E350/450 cutaway will soldier on beyond 2012MY, pretty much unchanged. Still no word of a diesel option. The 5.4L and 6.8L will be replaced (when ?) with the new 5.0L and 6.2L. At the same time they will probably switch to whatever the then current transmission in the SuperDuty. Transit will definitely replace E150/250. FWD/AWD for US is for certain. RWD ? A diesel engine WILL be an option. EU has the lead on Transit redesign for both EU and US, but they are way behind. Problems meeting US crash standards. US engineering is being called in to assist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 The Transit Connect has a market being handed to it with Honda discontinuing the Element. If they want to capitalize on it they need to do the following: Improve the interior including seating and sound deadening More horsepower Better highway fuel economy FWD/AWD 2,000 lbs towing capacity All of the above should be easy when the Connect gets re-done and it moves off of the C170 platform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLPRacing Posted December 7, 2010 Author Share Posted December 7, 2010 I say your expectations are reasonable. I want to know if the Global has the same interior dimentions for the driver and passenger, also leg room for 2 rear rows. How much cap. is left for gear interior if two benches are used. Does the Global have an AWD available or conversion solution by factory. Would love a manual tranny! Now about that front nose on the Global...I might be able to get used to it. Hard to give up the new look of the 2009+ Econolines. Makes them look very ford tough. Love the van in your pic, is it yours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBantam Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Love the van in your pic, is it yours? Thanks for the info. Yes, its is mine. Its a Quigley conversion. I deal mostly with mud and sand here in South Carolina but sometimes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLPRacing Posted December 8, 2010 Author Share Posted December 8, 2010 Thanks for the info. Yes, its is mine. Its a Quigley conversion. I deal mostly with mud and sand here in South Carolina but sometimes... I like it, what's under the hood? How do you like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBantam Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 I like it, what's under the hood? How do you like it? 5.4 It seems like every other day, I reflect on how fortunate I am to own such a remarkable vehicle. I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLPRacing Posted December 8, 2010 Author Share Posted December 8, 2010 (edited) From a reliable source. E350/450 cutaway will soldier on beyond 2012MY, pretty much unchanged. Still no word of a diesel option. The 5.4L and 6.8L will be replaced (when ?) with the new 5.0L and 6.2L. At the same time they will probably switch to whatever the then current transmission in the SuperDuty. Transit will definitely replace E150/250. FWD/AWD for US is for certain. RWD ? A diesel engine WILL be an option. EU has the lead on Transit redesign for both EU and US, but they are way behind. Problems meeting US crash standards. US engineering is being called in to assist. Sounds like they are doing what I thought they should do, pretty cool. I would love to see them drop the Transit Connect/Transit names for NA. I really think the Econloine/E-Series names would do much better. The Transit Connect has a market being handed to it with Honda discontinuing the Element. If they want to capitalize on it they need to do the following: Improve the interior including seating and sound deadening More horsepower Better highway fuel economy FWD/AWD 2,000 lbs towing capacity All of the above should be easy when the Connect gets re-done and it moves off of the C170 platform. I don't get Honda giving up on the Element. It has a cult following. All it needs an update to keep it going. Looks like Honda will be the next Toyota. 5.4 It seems like every other day, I reflect on how fortunate I am to own such a remarkable vehicle. I love it. I would love to have one, I think they look pretty tough when converted to 4WD. Where did you get the roof rack? Have you ever checked out Aluminess? Edited December 8, 2010 by NLPRacing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBantam Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 I would love to have one, I think they look pretty tough when converted to 4WD. Where did you get the roof rack? Have you ever checked out Aluminess? Aluminess custom made the roof rack to my requirements and the nerf bars are thier standard nerf-bar for the E150. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 I don't get Honda giving up on the Element. It has a cult following. All it needs an update to keep it going. Looks like Honda will be the next Toyota. I agree 100% ! They have a strong club/forum online. Definitely "cult-like". If they had a diesel engine option and could tow 2,000 lbs, those folks would go nuts ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLPRacing Posted December 10, 2010 Author Share Posted December 10, 2010 I agree 100% ! They have a strong club/forum online. Definitely "cult-like". If they had a diesel engine option and could tow 2,000 lbs, those folks would go nuts ! That and making a 5 seat option would have gone a long way. The TC XLT Premium should be able to pick up some of that Element business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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