Musing on the birth of a Duetto

My 1995 Duetto has a range of blanked off switches on the dashboard, so there would seem to be a lot of gadgets it presumably could have had, but hasn't. But it does have heated front seats. 

Which got me wondering:-

1) Of all the extras one might specify on a leisure vehicle, I'm not sure heated front seats would be one I'd choose, for a vehicle which is likely to be mainly used in warmer weather.

2) But would the original owner, back in the mists of time (well, 1995) have been able to specify what Ford extras he could have? I assumed that Ford would send Transits to AS in a fairly basic form, and AS would convert them, and would heated front seats have been an AS option?

How does it all work? Did AS get their Transits "off the shelf", or in some more basic form for conversion?

Just wondering....

On a similar note, I wish I had put more thought in to the cab end of my Nuevo. We spent a lot of time on the habitation end, even requesting an extra shelf for the oven but were quite happy to take the cab as it comes. Now I read the FIAT handbook and read what I could have had I am left thinking "I would have liked one of those".  As my chassis was a long delivery item I'm sure I could have been more fussy.

We have specified extras on new orders from the base vehicle manufacturer and they have been supplied without any difficulty (we had to pay extra, but no problem with getting the additions). This has happened with a MK7 Transit, for a Duetto and with a Boxer, for a Warwick Duo. We found that the dealer did not venture the options and it was up to us to find out what was available.

Interesting thread here so had to reply !

Any additional options from standard will increase the time from order to delivery quite considerably. For example - AS may have had a 'standard' Duetto van already built that the dealer could order fairly quickly if you were happy with it. Or also a pre-converted base van ready in stock ready for you to choose interior fabric etc. But it is the base vehicle options that would cause headaches, maybe why you have to ask specifically.

When we decided in autumn 2004 to buy a new Duetto after enjoying our previous beige one for a few years (which was our first van and bought used) we wanted a few extras. Cutting a long saga short, with AS's and a great dealer's help we managed to order it. One dealer was horrified when I pulled out the Transit brochure and option list and sent us away !

The options that we got which not included in the standard package were - electric mirrors, passenger airbag, front fog lights, extra remote key, engine upgrade to 135 bhp and 6 speed gearbox, and last but not least - non standard colour as we fancied a blue one. (Oh and an omnivent in the kitchen)

This took about 7 months to delivery rather than a week or so if we had a 'normal' silver one from stock. I could go on for ages about detail but that will do for now.

The only thing is I wish we had kept it forever - but that is also another book....... 

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Just remembered  - we were not permitted to choose the the 3.7 rear axle ratio in lieu of the 4.2, nor the Ford factory reversing sensors. (can explain why if you want)

The upholstery we chose was Fellini Blue with Montella curtains, with the blue velvet pelmets and navy blue carpet. This scheme was used in the 2003 Trooper amongst others.

Heated seats are not an option that I would have chosen either, but it's been true for many years that you could order pretty much any Ford option that was compatible with their conversion, provided you were willing to wait for it.

Our Mk2 Transit based van (a Frisky before they were called that, and the first new van we ever ordered) was specified with auto transmission (quite a rare option in those days) and green paint - but IIRC we had to wait around 6 months for it to get built!

-mojo- wrote:... was specified with auto transmission (quite a rare option in those days) and green paint - but IIRC we had to wait around 6 months for it to get built!

I had to wait that long for  my Nuevo and I didn't ask for green paint.

dbroada wrote:
I had to wait that long for  my Nuevo and I didn't ask for green paint.

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There you go - don't you wish you had now? Errr.. no, I didn't think so!

But it was quite distinctive - I don't recall ever seeing another in that colour...

You don't see many like that do you.   I am sure it was stunning at the time. I love my Nuevo in the short time we have used it but I don't think it will ever capture our hearts as much as our VW T25 did.

While on the subject of buying base vehicle as converting them. VW never made camper vans, at least pre T4. Westfalia were able to buy windowed vans directly from the factory but nobody else could. All the British conversions were either factory ordered panel vans or used stock. I'm not saying this is how A/S got the heated seat option but they may have been in a hurry and found stock somewhere with that option already fitted.

dbroada wrote:VW never made camper vans, at least pre T4. Westfalia were able to buy windowed vans directly from the factory but nobody else could.

To their credit, VW woke up to the fact that camper van conversions are a big contributor to their van sales years ago. So, although it competes directly with VW's own California camper van range, they make a model which is specifically designed for camper van converters, and which cannot (AFAIK) be bought retail.

For the T5 it's known as the "Kombi SE" and it comes as a window van, pre-lowered by 20mm compared with their panel vans. It's what my current van (a Celex by Bilbos) is based on, and you can specify one with almost all of the options that you can with any other Transporter. Mine took about 4 months to arrive from Germany and Bilbos then took 2 months to convert it - so timescales have not changed a lot in the intervening years!

Bilbos & Westfalia, two converters that I have lived within a few miles of! I wasn't "in to" campers when I lived near Rheda-Wiedenbrück but I did see their factory and Bilbos are in my road although I haven't been there very often.