Ford Grand Tourneo Connect - Van-style space above a Focus chassis: is it the best of both worlds?

摘要

The Ford Transit's journey from a carrier of people to actual people-carrier has been a long one. For as long as there has been a Transit - and that's easily as far back as anyone on this magazine can remember - there has been a variant equipped to carry passengers. Of course, for decades, these were minibuses - the humblest workhorse of the people-shifting business. That hardly changed even with the introduction of the Tourneo nameplate in the mid-1990s. Early editions were eight or nine-seaters simply made a mite plusher than they were before. However, that gentle evolution of comfort and quality has led inexorably to the fifth generation of the Transit and the proper introduction of the Grand Tourneo Connect at the utility end of the seven-seat MPV market. There is obvious room for it, too, since the S-Max, our favourite regular people-carrier, starts at ￡23k. The long-wheelbase Grand Tourneo starts at just ￡16k.