Born in 1961 as the replacement for the F-Series panel van, the Ford E-Series – also known as the Econoline, Econovan, or Club Wagon – has been the best-selling full-size van for decades.
However, in 2015, the Blue Oval company decided to end the sale of passenger and cargo vans, replacing them with the legendary European panel van, the Ford Transit. That was due to its modularity and modern underpinnings, whereas the E-Series had been little changed since the middle of the 1970s! Alas, don't count on the E-Series to be completely dead, as Ford continued to offer the model as a cutaway chassis, in chassis cab configuration, and as a stripped chassis – due to its popularity with retrofitters.
As such, today, the Ford Pro commercial lineup in America comprises the $34k Transit Connect, $44k Transit, $45k Super Duty, and a couple of E-Series models – the $34,595 Stripped Chassis and $38k Cutaway, among others. On the other hand, the passenger van models only comprise the $35,600 Transit Connect and a $51k Transit. Naturally, logic dictates there's a bit of space in between them for a potential E-Series revival, right?
Well, at least that's the way of thinking from across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators – and here is Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, who has taken up the task of revealing the reborn Econoline. Interestingly, the pixel master doesn't just morph the fourth-generation E-Series into a passenger van for the 2020s. Instead, he considers the excellent relationship between the E-Series and the F-Series and the automotive market's recent passion for all sorts of outdoorsy adventures.
As such, the reborn Econoline is not just a fifth-generation model stemming directly from its predecessors but also a mixture of E-Series and F-Series goodies. More precisely, the CGI expert has kept the naturally boxy lines of the van that have made it comparatively famous to the best-selling F-Series trucks and mixes them with the rough and tough demeanor of the Raptor series. As such, it now has a Raptor-inspired grille, front and rear lights, beefy fender flares, humongous meaty tires, and off-road-focused alloy wheels.
We also suspect that the suspension setup is close to the dune-bashing and rock-crawling series, too. One last question lingers on, though: which powertrain would you desire if the E-Series was reborn with Raptor DNA – the 3.0-liter from the Bronco and Ranger Raptor, the 3.5-liter EcoBoost from the F-150 Raptor, or the mighty 5.2-liter supercharged V8 from the 700-hp Raptor R? Frankly, I am pretty sure I know the answer – this E-Series revival would be a hoot when driving it with friends and/or family around the trails and the rumbling V8 reminds everyone there's a monster hiding under the CGI hood!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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