DUNTON, UK – Ford Transit is renowned for its versatility, but have you ever seen a Transit as cool as this?
It is currently being driven through France and Spain, enroute to Morocco to take part in an amateur Rally Raid where it will spend six days in the desert tackling some of the toughest stages of the original Paris Dakar Rally dating back to the 1970s.
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It’s a uniquely converted 4x4 off-road rig, but what makes this Transit particularly special is that it started life as a product development vehicle testing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
Testing completed, it was then destined for the crusher – until Ford engineers Richard Powell and James Saward got their hands on it.
“Competing in an amateur rally raid has been on our bucket list for about 30 years,” Richard explains. “Of course, we wanted to do it in a Ford, so we were thinking maybe a Kuga, Explorer or Ranger, but then we spoke to colleagues at Lommel who had competed in the Dakar Rally and they suggested we use a 4x4 Transit as they had used one as a support truck.”
Richard spoke to senior Ford Pro leaders, and they gave them go-ahead to source a scrap vehicle. It was then sent to Lommel, where with support from the Special Vehicle team and Fleet Workshop, it underwent a five-month transformation.
It has been lifted, fitted with larger off-road tyres and equipped with sturdy under shielding. It also has gained a winch bumper, a snorkel, a locking rear differential and a bespoke box body on the back to carry all the equipment they will need.
And there’s more. Inside it has been fitted with a microwave, an inverter, a larger battery, and a tea urn. It even has solar panels on the hood and roof to capture energy from the Moroccan sun.
At the weekend, the vehicle was given a shakedown at a gravel pit owned by GB Finch in Essex, and it performed perfectly. Check out the video footage from the test.
Richard and James are competing in the Spring Maroc Challenge 2026 and have been placed in the same category as vehicles such as Porsche Cayennes and Volkswagen Touaregs. The event starts this coming Saturday, so how do they think they’ll do?
“We’re pretty confident. The drivetrain and suspension are all standard and it performed very well in the shakedown,” Richard adds. “A lot of work has gone into preparation for this event, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of a lot of Ford people. It really has been a team effort, so hopefully we can do everyone proud.”
@Ford will catch up with Richard and James after the event, so stay tuned to see how they get on.
