The first SuperVan, built for Ford by Terry Drury Racing in 1971, was a decidedly analogue affair, featuring a tube frame chassis and the engine and gearbox from a GT40 mounted in the load area. It was used as a promotional tool, even lapping the Nürburgring in a respectable nine minutes and 13 seconds, and was a roaring success for the company.
SuperVan 2 followed in 1984, this time with a Cosworth DFL motor, and that was followed up with the SuperVan 3 in the 1990s, again using Cosworth power, this time an HB.
Following a near 30-year hiatus, Ford has upped its efforts to employ demonstration and prototype cars, both as R&D platforms and marketing tools, leading to the return of the unhinged Transit concept, SuperVan 4 in 2022.
Developed in conjunction with STARD, the Austrian-based creator of racing EV powertrains, it was based around the recently launched E-Transit, pepped up with a quad electric motor drivetrain putting out a frankly ludicrous (for a delivery van) 2000bhp.
This was a good starting point, but the company really wanted to make a statement with this evolution of the concept, and only the heat of competition could provide that. But where can you take something that doesn’t fall within any recognised rule set and race it? Pikes Peak, of course.
Enter SuperVan 4.2, which took the underpinnings of version 4, turned everything up to 11 and took on the best of the rest at the Race to the Clouds in 2023.
Sriram Pakkam, lead
