A nice Ford E150 conversion van, seen in China’s Hebei Province in late December 2019, not far from where I found an abandoned Mercedes-Benz collection.
The good Ford was in great shape for its years, painted in black with darkened windows. The 京Q license plate means this Ford is a company-owned car. The Ford E150 Econoline is part of the 4th generation Ford E-series, . Production started in 1997 and continues until today, albeit with lots of upgrades. The car we have here is a 2002-2007 example.
The term ‘conversion van’ is generally used for vans that are outfitted with various luxuries by third-party companies. There were dozens of US-based business that made such vehicles based on the E150 Econoline.
Sadly, there was no badge or sticker on the car that I saw. But after an extensive search I believe our black Beijing Ford was converted by Sherrod, a company based in Georgia. Compare here and here. The conversion was quite extensive. It included a raised roof, a body kit, new bumpers, and a super luxurious interior.
This badge, however, is most likely a later Chinese addition. They were very common in the 2000’s, on all kinds of cars.
The dash layout didn’t change, but the trim is all part of the conversion. It has soft leather seats, a center tunnel with a clock, and a classy wood panel over the center stack storage bin.
The second row with curtains to cover the side windows, two extra wide captain seats, more wood and wood panels, a thick red carpet, and small DVD/VCD screens in the backrest of the front seats for extra entertainment. It had a third row with two more seats but the glass was too dark for a good photo.
The ladder is likely a later addition too. It looked much newer than the rest of the vehicle.
The car was for sale! Characters say 带牌出售 (Dàipái chūshòu). This basically means the car is sold with the license plate included. The rules for selling second hand cars with- or without license plates are extremely complicated in China, and differ per city, and in some large cities differ even per district. If you are interested, read some more about it here and here (in Chinese).
The original E150 was still on the car! The most common engine for the 2002-2007 Econoline was a good old 4.6 liter V8 with an output of 231 hp and 382 Nm.
These vans were never officially sold in China, but they were very popular among large companies to ferry their higher management around. Some were also used as airport taxi’s and by big hotels. They were usually imported gray by Chinese shops buying them directly from car dealers in the US or Canada. Earlier on we met a similar Chevrolet Express 1500 Explorer Limited conversion van, and I got pics of many more.