Meet Supervan's super fan

DUNTON, UK – A rebuild of the iconic Supervan takes centre stage at Ford’s ‘Transit Day’ celebrations, hosted at the Dunton Technical Centre - the Home of Transit - as the countdown to its 60^th birthday begins.

Flanked by the ever-popular Supervan 3 and race-winning, all-electric Supervan 4.2, Transit Day marks the first time that three generations of Supervan have ever appeared together.

The original Supervan was powered by a V8 from a GT40 and used a mid-engined Cooper Monaco chassis fitted to a Transit body - making its first public appearance in 1971. Now, more than fifty years since its first debut, a new Supervan has been built from the ground up, using original components, by ex-Ford engineering apprentice, Andy Browne. His painstaking rebuild of the icon is an homage to its unique history and status, and to his friend, Terry Drury.

“Terry was one of life’s amazing characters”, said Andy, “he built the original van in three to four months, off the back of an orange Transit built by Ford apprentices, who stuck a seven-litre Ford Galaxie engine in it. Terry was well-known to Ford and, with the help of some spare GT40 parts and funding from the Ford Truck sales division, it was the billboard of all billboards.”

When the Supervan campaign ended, the Terry Drury Racing team stripped the vehicle down, including the powertrain. The body ended up among the remains that passed through various owners, before reaching Andy, who then wanted to put life back into Supervan.

Rumours of Supervan’s circulation has continued with fans around the world seeking to uncover the original. Long after he’d sold Supervan on, Andy took calls from strangers asking him to confirm if what they’d found was the original van. Knowing what changes he’d made during his ownership, such as fitting a different exhaust system to modify parts of the body around the sills, Andy knew exactly what to look for.

Years later, with an empty nest and a pension to spend, Andy decided to scratch the Supervan itch again in memory of the late friends and colleagues that were an integral part of his time with the Supervan.

“Originally, I wanted to build a replica. Then one day I got a call and somebody said to me they thought they knew where the remains of Supervan were. I’ve lost count, but this must have been at least the twentieth time, easily. I went to see these remains, ran my hand under the sills and knew that it was the van that I’d owned. It wasn’t even a van at all – just a floor pan and a bit of bulkhead, and some parts of a chassis that had been cut.”

The plan immediately changed. Rather than build a replica Supervan, Andy bought the remains and began a sympathetic rebuild using original components.

Fast forward to 2024, Andy has almost completed his homage to Terry and what ignited the global appreciation for the iconic Supervan, a name once again in the spotlight following Supervan 4.2’s win in “The Race to the Clouds” – the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb – in November 2023, and topping the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed Timed Shootout in July.

The Ford Transit celebrates its 60^th birthday on 9^th August 2025 – the day the first example rolled off the production line - and to mark the occasion, surrounded by the latest and greatest Transit vehicles across six decades, the 365-day countdown began at this year’s Transit Day. Transit will also enter its 58^th year as the UK’s best-selling commercial vehicle.