DUNTON, UK – In the run-up to Transit Festival 2025, @Ford brings you the first in a mini-series of Transit Memories stories, as told by people who worked on this iconic van over the years.
We kick off with this reminiscence shared by retired engineer Andy Boyle. Andy, now 76, sent us this collage featuring light truck engineers based at Trafford House in Basildon, Essex.
If you recognise, or worked with, any of the people in the photo, why not let us know in the comments section below. You’ll find a list of names in the gallery.
“The good news is I'm not in the collage because I was down in Southampton the day the photos were taken,” Andy explains. “The shoot was organised by Light Truck Body Engineering, although it's not just Body Engineers in the photo. I know Dave Barret was involved in it being taken.”
Andy joined Ford as an apprentice in 1967 and retired in 2006. During his long career he worked on several Transit programmes as a body engineer, and he very much enjoyed his time at Trafford House.
“As far as Transit was concerned, at Trafford House most of Product Development, Manufacturing, Purchase were in the same building”
He adds. “If you had an issue, you could get everyone involved around a draft or desk in minutes and get it sorted. Having everyone together made life easy.
“The people involved were also one big team with loads of experience and worked well together. For me, working on Transit was fun, as was working at Ford. It wasn’t always easy, but it still gives fond memories.”
Ford moved into Trafford House, originally named Station House, in 1977. The building was renamed Trafford House after the Trafford Park plant in Manchester where the Model T production had started in 1911.
Trafford House officially ceased operations in 2005, although the last of the staff from the Purchasing Team remained until December 2009. All functions the building previously performed were redistributed across Ford’s Dunton and Warley sites in Essex.