click above image to vew high-res pics of the 2008 Ford E-Series van in various configurationsYou may have a grown up in a family that used a conversion van for daily transport like I did. If so, perhaps you share my strange appreciation for these haulers of human and commercial cargo. They rarely ever receive redesigns, just updates year after year that evolve them into something resembling modern transports.
The Ford E-Series dominates the van segment, holding court with 49.5% market share. The Blue Oval has given the old Econoline a new face for 2008 that draws heavily on the bold grille design of its Super Duty trucks, which isn't a bad connection to make when many of your customers work at construction sites or warehouses instead of cubicle-bedecked office spaces. All the sheetmetal ahead of the A-pillar is new, and that brick wall of a grille actually improves airflow to the engine, as well. Much of the van was kept the same, however, in deference to the large number of upfitters who take an E-Series and make something else out of it. If Ford were to come out with an all-new van, that entire industry would have to reinvest in tooling, equipment and machinery to work with the new design.
Check out additional impressions of the 2008 E-Series and Ford's official press release after the jump, and view the enw van from all angles in our high-resolution gallery.
[Source: Ford]
