SUPERVAN RETURNS!
To those in the know, the original Supervan never disappeared, but having been laid up for over 30 years it’s finally being restored back to its former glory.
For many years, there have been rumours surrounding the whereabouts of the legendary Mk1 Transit Supervan. Built by Terry Drury for Ford in 1971 as a publicity stunt, the van was mounted onto a Cooper Monaco race car chassis and fitted with the V8 and running gear from a Ford GT40. It was a huge hit with the public and became famous for its three-wheeling antics, helping to showcase the Transit in the process. Pictures and videos are easy to find, but the same could not be said for the van, which seemed to disappear.
There was much speculation about what happened to it, but a handful of people knew exactly where the Transit was and one of those was Andy Browne, the current owner of Supervan, because he first bought it not long after Terry sold it nearly 50 years ago.
“I first purchased the van as a rolling shell back in late 1973,” confirms Andy. “I got it running with a 289ci Ford V8, registered it in 1974 and drove it on the road for a short time, but was forced to sell it in 1975 due to personal circumstances.”
Andy tried to keep tabs on it in the following years, although it eventually went a bit quiet until he was offered the chance to buy it back once again in 1999. Feeling like he had unfinished business with the legendary van, he couldn’t resist, but it wasn’t in a good state. So Andy patiently waited for the right time to rebuild the van and after some 20 years, and with the help of renowned classic Ford restorers, Colin Ginn and Rob Croome, that time is now…
So how was Supervan when you bought it back? I’m not sure exactly what happened to it after I sold it, but the engine and running gear were missing again and it had been hacked about a lot, and then left to rot. I sat on it as I didn’t have enough money to rebuild it, so stored it safely away.
When did you decide to get Colin and Rob involved?
Colin is a good friend and he saw the van for the first time around four years ago. By that time, I had managed to get the tubular Cooper Monaco chassis to where it is now by having it rebuilt, so it was like new once again.
Did you want to restore the van back to exactly how it was?
I figured that if I had kept it the first time I owned it, I would have developed it and it would have evolved over time, so the build took that into consideration for the years I lost with it. I gave Colin free reign to make it a more practical vehicle.
Was it not too usable the first time around, then?
The original was built in just three months and there were issues.The front bubble arches didn’t allow the door to open more than a third, so you had to squeeze through the small gap to climb in past the gearlever!
Colin, did you have to redesign the arches?
The rears were simple, but at first I built the fronts with an indentation to allow the door to open, only I didn’t think it looked right. So instead I changed the profile of the door and rebuilt the inner and outer parts to create a design that would clear.
What were the challenges on this build?
I spent around 100 hours on those front doors alone. Also, it was hard to find parts, as Mk1Transits are not as well catered for as the Cortinas I’m used to. I had to make a lot of replacement parts, but metal is metal, so it didn’t bother me.
Rob, do you think this particular build was harder work?
I love doing restorations, but it was nice to do something other than a Cortina! It’s not been bad, I just tackle one area at a time. We’ve worked on it every day since January and we just have the roof to do, so it’s not far away from being in primer.
Andy, were there other unpractical areas?
Yes, the fuel tanks could only be filled from inside, which meant climbing in through the back and over the hot engine! We felt we had to change those things, so re-engineered it to be more practical so it could be used on the road.
So it will be fully road legal when finished?
Yes, for sure.The wheels measure 15x15 inches, made by ImageWheels, and are fitted with street-legal tyres.The plan is to use it on the road, for car shows; everything. That’s why we had to improve the design and make it practical.
Is this the final engine for the build?
No, this is just a slave 302ci FordV8 to get it up and running.We will be swapping to a stroker 347ci crate engine, which it should make around 450 bhp.The ‘bundle of snakes’ manifolds currently on it were made by Hayward & Scott.
What about the rest of the running gear?
It’s a genuine ZF 5DS25 transaxle as the original had.The original Jaguar uprights are also used but the brakes have been upgraded to more modern AP Racing items this time round, so it should stop a lot better!
And what’s going on for the inside?
Once it’s all painted we will bolt the bulkhead back in to seal the cabin from the
engine and we still have the original Supervan seats along with other parts, although I will be using a new custom-made Corbeau driver’s seat.
So what’s next for it?
The bodyshell is close to paint, which will be Diamond White finished with the original livery. We’re also arranging for a professional driver to get behind the wheel when it’s finished to get that same legendary three-wheel shot again!
“ORIGINALLY THE FUEL TANKS COULD ONLY BE FILLED BY CLIMBING IN THE BACK AND OVER THE HOT ENGINE”