Ford Brings Back the Sedan Delivery – New Fiesta Van for Europe
It’s got an awkward name but it’s a vehicle whose niche will never disappear. A “ sedan delivery” is a commercial version of the station wagon that has metal panels replacing the glass in the vehicle’s rear ( photos here). They were originally used by small businesses as service and delivery vehicles and it’s such a practical vehicle that they never really will go away. They were made out of ’57 Chevy Nomads, they made them out of Pinto wagons and they currently are being made out of Chevy’s HHR retro panel truck thing. Now Ford Europe is getting back into the sedan delivery business. To accommodate those businesses that need to transport tools and replacement parts but don’t need the capacity of something like a Transit Connect, Ford of Europe has introduced the new Fiesta Van, based on the Fiesta hatchback.
Solid panels replace the rear quarter windows and the back seat is replaced by a payload area with a load length of 1.3 meters and a capacity of 1.0 cubic meter.
A steel bulkhead is mounted behind the seats for security and there are four cargo tie-downs that meet DIN standards for load restraints.
1949 Pontiac Streamliner Sedan Delivery at RM Auctions’ 2012 St. John’s Sale. Photo courtesy of Cars In Depth.
As you’d expect, there’s a rubber mat, not carpet in back, and Ford says that the cargo hold is lined with “durable sidewall trim”. Payload is about 500 kg, which in American terms, makes this a half ton trucklet. Two diesel engines and one gasoline engine are offered and the Fiesta Van can also be ordered in ECOnetic form, which comes with a 1.6 L TDCi diesel, auto-start-stop, low rolling resistance tires, slightly lowered suspension and some aero pieces.
The commercial Fiesta will be available with Sync and the Ford MyKey system, which allows fleet owners to limit top speeds just like parents of teenagers. No word on if the Fiesta Van will be available with Ford’s Crew Chief fleet management system like it’s North American market commercial vehicles.
Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can dig deeper and get a parallax view at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading– RJS
Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.
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In Brazil these things exist for ages. If I'm not mistaken, Fiat did a version of this in the Uno from the 80s. VW copied the idea and launched a Gol. The Uno still exists I'm sure, the Gol I believe so. The advantage in Brazil is that they cost a little over 20k reais. Fiat also has Fiorino (Kangoo/Doblo-like shaped off the Uno) atarts at 33k and Doblo Cargo (+40k). Chevy si trying to break into the market again with something similar based on Montana mini PU. Then there are the real vans. The VW Kombi still going after 60 years (around 45k reais), plus the large vans. Fiat (which also makes a Peugeot/Citroën versions), Renault, Ford and Mercedes. Oh, almost forgot there1s also an assortment of Chinese minivans but the guv policies and bad reputation for maintenance and aftersale support has really hurt them. Sales are way down.
A cubic metre is not bad. That's over 35 cubic feet, which is almost half that of a Toyota Rav4 or Saab 9-5 wagon (both at 73 cu ft). For some reason, Ford states that the 5-door Fiesta hatch only has 26 cubic feet with the seats folded, so those seats must take up a good bit of space. Why is that so much smaller than the Honda Fit?