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Ford van/Sprinter lookalike

guido4475

guido4475

Not a Member
I was in Fremont, Ohio yesterday and saw this 2009 Ford van on the lot.It was a gasser,E-350, extended wheelbase.The conversion was done by a company in Georgia by the name of Vision mfg, Danielsville, Ga.It was called the armadillo.This van was at Advantage Ford.The price was $46,840 the way it sat, no sleeper, just an empty shell.

Sorry, I cant get the pics uploaded. It says they are too big, and I cant seem to figure this out, how to make them smaller.
 
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atlas1220

Not a Member
hcv-info.jpg
 
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Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
Dakota said:
Nice, now all they need is a fuel efficent diesel like the Sprinter
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That's the problem right there . Once Ford uses up it's left over trouble plagued 6.0 diesels(affectionately known as 6 oh no and powerchoke by Duramax and Cummins owners ) there will be no diesel available for the Ford E-series until a new engine is developed .
 
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FIS53

Veteran Expediter
There was a rumor about Chrysler not getting the Sprinter anymore (FL only) and a dealer up here mentioned that Fiat might bring in their version of the cargo van. Similar to the Sprinter and also with a small diesel. Ford should bring in the full size Transit as well as the Connect that they just started to import. Note that the Connect does come in a longer wheelbase than the current offering here (6' current, 8' cargo lwb) and also in europe it has multiple diesels available. The larger one that competes with the Sprinter is available with a 14' cargo bed and does similar fuel economy and load capacity. That's what I was hoping for when I heard about the Transit being imported.
Rob
 
Jack_Berry

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
Crazynuff said:
That's the problem right there . Once Ford uses up it's left over trouble plagued 6.0 diesels(affectionately known as 6 oh no and powerchoke by Duramax and Cummins owners ) there will be no diesel available for the Ford E-series until a new engine is developed .
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well that would be the 6.4, right? actually one of the monthly diesel mags featured the reasons for the engine breakdowns and the fixes. their determination is the engines in stock form are fine. it is when the pick up power mad kids get hold of them and boost them beyond their limits that failures occur. course it comes at a cost of the extra 800 lbs.
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Rob,
The official word is that Fiat will unveil the replacement vehicles for the Chrysler line at Frankfort Auto Show in September and Daimler may drop the agreement with Fiat that they just signed for the Sprinter at the end of the year, which will continue through the FL and Mercedes network. If that happens than it may be that Fiat will bring the Fiat Professional Line to the US market which includes a sprinter look alike - which is the Ducato and if I am not mistaken is front wheel drive.

As of yesterday I understand Ford has a dozen or so Transits running around the country testing drive trains and the Connect has been the entry into the market with the transit coming in 2011 but they have said this for the past 5 years and may again change.
 
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Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
Jack_Berry said:
well that would be the 6.4, right? actually one of the monthly diesel mags featured the reasons for the engine breakdowns and the fixes. their determination is the engines in stock form are fine. it is when the pick up power mad kids get hold of them and boost them beyond their limits that failures occur. course it comes at a cost of the extra 800 lbs.
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No , the 6.4 will not fit in the E-Series engine compartment . The 6.4 is still a Navistar diesel . Supposedly Ford will be building their own diesel .
 
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FIS53

Veteran Expediter
You got it the Ducato is the larger van from Fiat. It comes standard with a diesel and has 50" between the wheel arches. It also has over 6' opening for loading thru the back doors and the highest cargo capacity is 4000lbs (take away bed/driver/gear etc). They offer 2 different engines as well with the larger vans getting the 2 bigger diesels (3.0L biggest).

So this could mean another high capacity fuel efficient van available for the north american market, although I'm not sure Fiat has any engines that are NA certified (would not take much to do).

Yeah heard that MB might be bringing in the Sprinters into Canada as FL up here does not offer them. But of course depends on what is decided by Chrysler Corp.
Rob
 
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Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
greg334 said:
Rob,
The official word is that Fiat will unveil the replacement vehicles for the Chrysler line at Frankfort Auto Show in September and Daimler may drop the agreement with Fiat that they just signed for the Sprinter at the end of the year, which will continue through the FL and Mercedes network. If that happens than it may be that Fiat will bring the Fiat Professional Line to the US market which includes a sprinter look alike - which is the Ducato and if I am not mistaken is front wheel drive.

As of yesterday I understand Ford has a dozen or so Transits running around the country testing drive trains and the Connect has been the entry into the market with the transit coming in 2011 but they have said this for the past 5 years and may again change.
Click to expand...

The Connect is a little light for expedite service . Here's a European test of the Econetic . Ford Transit Econetic review | Road test and facts . The 1097kg payload converts to 2413 lbs. The mpg most likely uses the imperial gallon which is roughly only .82 of an American gallon .
 
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FIS53

Veteran Expediter
BTW crazynuff the imperial gallon is larger than the american gallon. US gallon only has 32 ounces per quart and imperial has 40. Therefore the imp gal has the extra 25% volume and so gives us a much better fuel economy rating. Example was my gm van getting 20mpg US but 25 mpg Imp. Same for the Sprinter only higher numbers.
Rob
 
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Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
FIS53 said:
BTW crazynuff the imperial gallon is larger than the american gallon. US gallon only has 32 ounces per quart and imperial has 40. Therefore the imp gal has the extra 25% volume and so gives us a much better fuel economy rating. Example was my gm van getting 20mpg US but 25 mpg Imp. Same for the Sprinter only higher numbers.
Rob
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You're right . I had it backwards . Thanks for the correction . That's why my truck really needs a speed limiter or I'd be doing 100 m.p.h. thinking I was doing 60 km/h .
 
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FIS53

Veteran Expediter
I'm kinda used to the conversion for not only the fuel but the dollars/pounds as well. Last weekend spent a few days in the company of a lot of Brits so converting L/100km, with mpg/imp gal and dollars us and canuck with pounds/euros. Little harder with the euros as not used to using them but when discussing trucks from europe and the price of fuel this is a factor.
Rob
 
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