The Ford Transit Trail has been around for a while in the European market, but the upfit-ready off-road van was only recently introduced to the U.S. market. Ford Authority spotted a production model undergoing testing just last month, but now, our photographers have spotted the real thing.
This particular Transit Trail is a medium-roof model, which is one of three available cargo van configurations, including medium- and high-roof models along with a high-roof extended-length version. Power comes from the Ford 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engine, which is rated at 310 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. The boosted six is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, facilitating up to 6,500 pounds of max towing capacity. The off-road-ready van uses The Blue Oval’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive, which has five selectable drive modes, including Normal, Eco, Mud/Ruts, Tow/Haul, and Slippery.
Up front, note that this Ford Transit Trail features The Blue Oval badge on the grille, as opposed to the European models that simply sport Ford script across the grille, since the “Ford” logo is associated with the Raptor brand stateside. Aside from that, the U.S. variant differs greatly from its overseas cousins, as it was modified to appeal to buyers in search of the ultimate “van life” ride. One major addition is that of the upfit-ready interior, which features drillable areas to make mounting shelves and other amenities easier. The Transit Trail replaces the outgoing Adventure Prep package, which was available on previous iterations of the Transit. This particular Transit also boasts the optional roof vent fan.
Additionally, the Transit Trail features three marker lamps on the front grille, which exist to help the large van be more visible in low-light situations. Considering that the Transit Trail is 2.75 inches wider than the “regular” Transit, this is crucial to help bystanders understand where the bounds of the van exist.
We’ll have more on the 2023 Transit Trail soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford Transit news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
The person in charge of naming colors must have been on vacation.
Really! “Blue metallic” is a most pedestrian color name.
How about “Pedestrian Blue?” But Zippy is right. In 10 seconds I could come up with better names. It is an “adventure” van, so : Twilight Blue, Deep Sea Blue, Blue Ridge Mountain, Smokey Mountain Blue, Blown Head Gasket Blue, etc.
I look forward to the development of this van and I hope that Ford sells it with a configuration with additional seating. Personally, I’d like to balance seats (for the kids) and adventure (for the gear), which means a second row of seats and an open cargo area to the rear. A Crew Cab adventure-mobile of sorts would be my ideal configuration. The descriptions I’ve read so far indicate that that cargo area will be stripped down and just a big open area. That is a bit off-putting given the price tag.
I would expect there will be a cottage industry all too happy to take up that task just like the commercial upfitters who deck out the plumber’s specials that pour off the line.
I was really excited to hear about this van being developed but am a bit disappointed. My wife and I live in western Montana and want to use this as a hard sided, drivable tent with additional clearance for forest roads. We also have a lot of visitors though so need additional seating when showing family and friends the great outdoors. My perfect setup would be the trail edition in the low-roof, crew van configuration but I cant get either.
Does anybody know how Ford was able to fit the 30.5″ tires in the wheel well? They’d have to have reworked the pinch seam and made the wheel well bigger.
Quigley 4×4 makes a factory certified 2″ lift but 30.5″ tires require pinch seam trimming and even that doesnt leave enough room for adding snow chains if needed.
Just an observation but he mid glass on the van in this photo would suggest a crew option may be available but none of the ordering specs I’ve seen released have it.
I see Ford still didn’t redesign the far too low hanging, fagile rear shock mounts. How could it be considered “Off road ready?” All it takes is to drive over a medium sized rock or rut to hang it up and break it off, leaving it stranded. Come on, Ford! You can do better!