Production of the Ford Transit began in 1965. The van was the result of a joint Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke project to create one unified commercial vehicle for the European market.
Before the Transit, Ford’s European operations sold different vans, including Britain’s Thames 400E and Germany’s FK1000 or Taunus Transit. Maintaining separate models was costly and created internal competition. Ford therefore launched the Redcap Project in 1963, combining British and German development work into a common platform.
The first-generation Transit debuted in October 1965 and replaced the Thames 400E in Britain. It used a front-engine layout and offered a wider body and greater carrying flexibility than the narrow, mid-engined van it replaced. Early production began at Ford’s Langley facility in Berkshire, while additional manufacturing followed elsewhere in Europe as demand grew.
The 1965 launch is sometimes confused with earlier uses of the Transit name. A German van had already carried the Taunus Transit badge from 1961, but that was a separate predecessor. The pan-European Ford Transit celebrated in this question is the model whose production began in 1965.