1971 Ford Transit Supervan V8
It’s Easter 1971 and representatives from Ford are at Brands Hatch race circuit to launch their new racecar. However, this time around it’s not a car. It’s a van.
A Transit Van to be exact. Built by Terry Drury Racing and dubbed the Supervan, the former load lugger was powered by a 400BHP 5.0-litre V8 similar to the ones Ford used in their GT40 Le Mans racers.
The Transit entered motoring folklore, spawning two spin-offs, and now we at PPC have decided we can do an equally good job.
Having decided an original Mk-1 Transit would be the only way to go the search for the right van commenced.
302 Ford V8 power with throttle-body EFi
PPC editor Will Holman’s Capri is what got him hooked on the highly addictive V8 habit. He bought it eight years ago but the 3-litre Essex V6 never performed very well so Will decided it needed a rebuild. But when the price of the parts and machining added up to £1100, Will had second thoughts. Then he read about Basil Green’s Capri Peranas in South Africa. Green ditched the V6s, fitted 5-litre Mustang V8s and cleaned up in South African Touring Car Racing. Ford were so impressed they sold the cars through dealerships and even considered bringing them to the UK – until the early ‘70s fuel crisis, that is.
Bought in the Dark
When PPC’s Kevin Leaper had his mid life crisis he did what most petrolheads do - he bought a Porsche. Only his crisis was a little deeper than most, so he was broke. That ruled out a 911 so it had to be a 928. In an alternative galaxy the 928 could be the ultimate Porsche; big V8, stunning looks and quirky interior. Only in the Milky Way we live in they’re been completely overlooked.
Kev’s wish list included manual gearbox (very rare), black interior and a decent service history. He bought this 928 in the dark, not noticing the interior was actually brown, and the speedo worked erratically on the way home, suggesting the recorded mileage was just that, the recorded mileage, not the actual mileage.....
