A delivery van with racing stripes is about as niche a vehicle as you can get.
The idea of a luxury cargo hauler with sporty styling, heated seats and electric sliding doors is anathema to the traditional workhorse role of such vehicles and their typically blue-collar drivers. But Ford has launched its Transit Custom Sport in SA not as a vehicle that will lug cargo between factories — though it could happily do so.
This vanity van is intended as more of a premium hauler of motorcycles, jetskis, race car spares and other toys that might enhance the lives of well-heeled weekend warriors. On work days the van could be used by business owner-operators who don’t wish to forego any comforts while driving.
Underneath the prominent GT stripes is a Ford that could easily swallow two dirt bikes side by side, even though the 5,050mm length of the new short-wheelbase Transit Custom Sport is less than the 5,450mm of the only other model in the range, the long-wheelbase Transit Custom commercial variant launched last year.
At R938,000 the new Sport costs R177,000 more than the long-wheelbase commercial version and, fun fact, you could buy a pair of dirt bikes for the price difference.
But there’s more to the Sport model than just the GT stripes, black alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights and honeycomb grille that give this load lugger such attitude.
It also gets more power from a 2.0l turbo diesel engine that fires out a more enthusiastic 125kW and 390Nm compared to the commercial model’s 100kW and 360Nm.
The Transit Custom Sport also has the aforementioned cabin luxuries, plus automatic high beam control, climate control, digital instrument panel, and an infotainment system with a giant 13-inch touchscreen and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection. The infotainment was relatively simple to use and paired easily with smartphones, but the audio system sounded rather weak and tinny.
The sports seats have blue accent stripes and there’s piano black trim surrounding the infotainment display to jazz up the cabin vibe.
Our two-day, 900km test drive from Gqeberha to KwaZulu-Natal’s King Shaka Airport hosted by Ford included stops at four Eastern Cape hospitals for Ford to donate medical equipment that we carried in the vans.
The cargo was securely stored by six tie-down loops on a moulded floor. With a maximum load volume of 5,800l, the Transit Custom Sport can carry up to three standard Euro pallets with a payload up to 1,023kg. It can also tow 2,500kg, the same as the commercial van.
Access to the load compartment is via a pair of rear barn doors, as well as electrically-powered dual sliding side doors that can be operated by touching the door handles, by buttons on the dashboard or with the key fob.
The padded bulkhead separating the cabin from the cargo bay is an optional feature and makes the driving experience much quieter to occupants. The standard van comes without this panel and offers walk-through space to the rear, so there is no storage bin between the front seats to block the way. That said, there’s a generous amount of cabin nooks for stashing odds and ends, and also an impressive number of USB ports.
With its cocooned cabin, the Ford van is impressively refined and there is no boomy echo as there’d be from the load bay without the bulkhead.
The engine is silent and punchy, with a smooth eight-speed transmission that can be set to normal, sport and eco modes. With its light load the van cruised effortlessly and barely took notice of steep hills, and averaged just 7.6l/100km over the long trip on mostly open roads.
It also has a very plush ride. There were some ragged roads on the journey but the big van comfortably soothed over bumps and scars. It’s a type of refinement you don’t expect from a vehicle that was designed for hard-working servitude.
This smooth-riding nature, coupled with comfortable seats equipped with armrests, ensured long distances went by without any grumbles or aches. We arrived fresh at our destinations on both days after six to seven hours in the saddle.
What did cause grumbles were some of the Ford’s overzealous driver-assist features, particularly the driver fatigue message accompanied by loud bleeping, which popped up seemingly at random. Thankfully the feature could be disabled via the infotainment screen.
Another irritation was the frequent “keep your hands on the wheel” warning that needed you to wiggle the steering to prove you were still grasping it.
We didn’t encounter many potholes on the N2 and mostly the road was in good shape, but farm animals and the exotic driving habits of the locals kept us on our toes.
The Eastern Cape is a beautiful province with deep gorges, unique flora and a rugged coastline. For long stretches we saw the upgrades being done to the N2 as part of the N2 Wild Coast Road (N2WCR) project. It includes two mega bridges, including the Mtentu River bridge which will be the highest in Africa. When the project is complete, estimated in late 2027, it will significantly reduce the travel time between Durban and the industrial centres of East London and Gqberha.
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