How a 1965 Ford Transit Van Became Worth £17,200, More Than Many New Cars

• Hagerty’s 2026 Bull Market List names the 1965 to 1977 Ford Transit Mk 1 as one of ten classics worth buying this year, with the 2.0-litre petrol version now valued at £17,200 in excellent condition.
• That figure beats the price of plenty of brand new small hatchbacks and several family SUVs still sitting on dealer forecourts.
• Values have climbed 6.2 percent over five years and specialists say genuine survivors are now rare enough to push the market higher still.

A delivery van just beat a Ferrari onto a classics buy list

Hagerty’s UK analysts spend months sorting through price guide records, auction results and ownership data before naming ten cars for their annual Bull Market List, a buyers’ guide to classics the firm believes offer strong value for the year ahead. The 2026 list runs from a £95,400 Ferrari F430 Spider down to a £4,300 Vauxhall Viva. Sitting in the middle of that range, at £17,200, is a Ford Transit van.

Specifically, it is the Mk 1 Transit built between 1965 and 1977 and fitted with the 2.0-litre petrol engine, a workhorse that once delivered parcels, carried tools and, according to Hagerty, featured in a remarkable share of London bank robberies during the early 1970s. A clean example now costs more than a new Dacia Sandero, a new MG3 or a used three-year-old Ford Fiesta.

What £17,200 actually buys

Hagerty’s valuation covers an “excellent” condition 2.0-litre petrol Transit, producing 93bhp from the factory. The firm’s analysts rate the van 47.2 on its Collectability Index, a score built from more than 20 factors including ownership ages, auction saleability, engine size and the number originally built. That places the Transit above several more glamorous entries on this year’s list, including the Vauxhall Viva and the Riley Nine Imp.

Buyers with deeper pockets can chase the Transit’s 3.0-litre V6 version instead. Producing 138bhp, the V6 was built for police forces but became popular with criminals, and surviving examples with their elongated “pig snout” front ends now command considerably more than the 2.0-litre model Hagerty has picked out as the smarter buy. Diesel variants, offered from launch in 1.8-litre form and enlarged to 2.4 litres in 1972, sit at the cheaper end of the Mk 1 Transit market.

Why prices are climbing now

Hagerty’s data shows Mk 1 Transit values up 6.2 percent over the past five years, a modest rise compared with some of its list mates. The Toyota Supra A80 has gained 41.8 percent in the same period and the Ferrari F430 is up nearly a fifth. The case for the Transit rests less on rapid growth and more on scarcity: vans worked hard, rusted badly and were scrapped in huge numbers once their commercial life ended. Pickups built on the same platform have fared worse again in the survival stakes.

Hagerty’s analysts point to a run of strong asking prices in recent months as evidence the market is waking up to that scarcity. Vans also tend to hold their value more consistently than passenger cars once they reach classic status, because buyers who want one are rarely chasing an investment, they are chasing a specific piece of commercial vehicle history, and there are only so many left to chase.

Who is actually buying classic commercial vehicles

The Transit’s British-built history has given it what Hagerty describes as a strong and passionate following, which matters for anyone considering a purchase because parts supply and specialist knowledge remain healthy. That is not guaranteed with a 60-year-old vehicle. Several entries elsewhere on the Bull Market List, including the pre-war Riley Nine Imp, carry a warning that older cars can be harder and more expensive to keep running, with parts sourced from smaller specialist networks rather than mainstream suppliers.

By contrast, the sheer number of Mk 1 Transits originally built, and the vehicle’s continued presence at classic commercial vehicle shows and road runs, means a buyer today has a reasonable chance of finding both the van and the expertise to maintain it. That combination of history, usability and rarity is exactly what Hagerty’s Collectability Index is designed to measure.

What else made this year’s list

The Transit shares the 2026 list with the Porsche 911 996, now £17,800 in Carrera 2 form and ranked the most collectable car on the entire list according to Hagerty’s algorithm. The Mercedes-Benz SLK R171 sits at the opposite end of the value scale at just £5,200, a price Hagerty calls an “absolute steal” for a supercharged cabriolet with a retractable hard top. The Alfa Romeo Spider, the MG MGA, the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk 2 and the Riley Nine Imp complete a list that spans the 1930s to the 2000s.

For anyone tempted to buy a Mk 1 Transit as a result, the practical advice from classic van specialists is consistent: check the sills, wheel arches and chassis legs closely for rust repairs rather than rust itself, since nearly every surviving example will have had some bodywork done over six decades, and ask for evidence of who carried it out. Engine and gearbox parts for the 2.0-litre Essex unit remain widely available through the owners’ club network, which keeps running costs lower than the van’s rarity might suggest.

Insurance is also worth checking before committing to a purchase. Classic insurers including Hagerty typically price these vehicles on agreed value and limited annual mileage, which can make cover considerably cheaper than a standard commercial vehicle policy, provided the van is kept for leisure use rather than daily deliveries.

Whether the Mk 1 Transit’s value keeps climbing at the pace Hagerty expects remains to be seen. What is already clear is that a vehicle once treated as disposable commercial equipment is now worth more than a brand new car on many UK forecourts, and specialists believe the gap is more likely to widen than close.

Sources:

• Hagerty UK, 2026 Bull Market List