PDV Transit on the road
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• Dormobile has completed 40 examples of the new longwheel-base, Ford Transitbased PDV parcels van, and has been taking them to dealers on a marketing roadshow.
The new parcels van will be sold as a Ford product alongside the existing PDV parcels van, built on the extended wheelbase Transit chassis cowl. It will be direct competition for the Robin Hood Vehicle Builders "Griff" parcels van (CM 7-13 April), and the Bedwas PV400 parcels van tested recently by Commercial Motor (31 March-8 April).
The LWB PDV costs £11,259 plus VAT for a corn plete 2.5-litre diesel-engined vehicle, and £10,215 plus VAT for a two-litre petrol-engined model. The equivalent prices for the extended-wheelbase PDV are £11,946 plus VAT, and £10,453 plus VAT.
The construction of the two vans is largely the same, with a zinc-coated steel frame, covered with aluminium side panels. The front and rear body panels are made of glassreinforced plastic. The front doors are hinged, but a sliding option is on the cards.
At the rear, the doors are different sizes: the smaller door covers 40% of the opening and the other 60%. Both doors can open up to 270° and the latest LWB van has a walk-through body.
With three manufacturers chasing a small and specialized market with similar products, sales are bound to be low, but Bedwas and Robin Hood have started to manufacture welfare bus versions of their parcel vans to ensure their place in that market.