This Way Please

to the Transit Connect

by Rochelle Brown

In an effort to make life a little easier for some of its commercial customers, Ford Motor Company has released the new Transit Connect vehicle.  I had a chance to drive it and  talk with some of the lucky vendors purchasing the car. 

It’s a cross between a truck and an SUV with a stunning exterior that is sure to turn heads.  What I liked best about the Transit Connect is its close proximity to the ground.  It makes for an easy entrance and exit, not to mention greater ease when loading and unloading products.  Case in point is the Frosted Art Bakery in Dallas. Especially this time of year, wedding season, the bakers loads and delivers more than 50 gorgeous cakes a month.  One mistake and Kapoie!!!  But the Transit Connect that the bakery plans to buy will be customized with pull out shelving and constraints to make sure that no cake sees its demise before the wedding.  Owner and cake designer. Browen Weber says she plans to wrap the truck with the company logo and her special shade of pink.

Not too far away, upscale florist, Peter Ulrich talked about the convenience of the high cab allowing even his tallest arrangements to ride with dignity.  Previously, he’s had to either bend the tops of some arrangements or lay them sideways until delivery.  But now each plant will have a nice secure place to stand.

Perhaps, the vendor that is the most excited about the Transit Select is Four Seasons Decoration. This company assembles some of the most spectacular holiday displays in .  Texas.  The Transit Select will save this company time and money because of its tooling feature.  The owners, George and Teresa Edwards say that so many times very expensive equipment is accidentally left on sight, but no more.  Each piece of equipment can be labeled with a barcode.  Then, guess what?  When you turn the key, the Transit Select tooling feature will notify the driver that something is missing. How great is that?

Although the Transit Connect is being marketed as a commercial vehicle, don’t be surprised if you see young people picking up the low $20,000+ vehicle. Remember the old Volkswagen Happy Wagons back in the day?  Young people decked the backs out with loudspeakers, seating, video equipment and even beds.  Many a happy wagon could be seen on the nation’s highways during the 70’s, The cool look and high tech features of the Transit Connect could become the Happy Wagon reincarnated.

In addition to being such great eye candy, the 1Transit Connect has a 1600 pound payload, a fold-up second seat, and a 15 gallon tank that will save trips to the gas station.

The female factor that I liked was easy entrance and exit as well as the safety and convenience of the on board computer and navigation system. Oh yeah!!! If you’re a shopper, there’s ample room to bring home even a kitchen sink!!

For more info about the great new 2010 Transit Connect visit www.ford.com.