Auction house Manheim is celebrating the 50th birthday of the Ford Transit, estimating it has auctioned 500,000 used examples since launch.

Since 2007, Manheim has sold over 84,000 Transit vans with a total sales value of more than £425 million.

On 9th August 1965, the first ever Ford Transit rolled off the production line, and based on volume sold since records began in 2007, Manheim estimates the total number of Transit sold at its auctions to be in excess of half a million.

The oldest Transit sold by Manheim since 2007 was a 25-year old, 1987 E-registration van, which is now being restored by James Davis, Manheim’s Director of Commercial Vehicles , despite only having 48,000 miles on the clock and one former owner on the V5.

In 2014, Manheim sold the highest mileage Transit on record – a 10-year old Transit 350 15-seat minibus with 594,499 miles on the clock. All Ford Transit vans sold since 2007 through Manheim’s physical and online auctions have had a combined age of 525,417 years and a total mileage of almost 9 billion miles.

Manheim’s top Transit buyer has been Anchor Vans Ltd, which has purchased 1,100 of the iconic Ford vans since 2007, spending £6.4 million.

The 50 biggest Transit buyers have between them bought 21,442 Transits worth more than £100 million.

The top Transit sellers among Manheim’s 18 physical auction sites have been Colchester, selling 30,000 units since 2007; Gloucester, which sold 25,000 and Haydock, which saw 21,000 pass through its gates.

To celebrate the Ford Transit’s 50th birthday, Manheim is holding a fortnight of birthday sale events from 3rd to 14th August at all seven of its commercial vehicle auction centres and Manheim Online. At each auction event, for each Transit sold, Manheim will pledge £10 to charity, with £5 donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity long-supported by Ford UK, and £5 going to the Manheim Foundation.

Manheim is also running its ‘Backbone of Britain’ Tour, with James Davis, Manheim’s director of commercial vehicles, and Matthew Davock, Manheim’s Head of LCV, running ‘Transit 50th’-branded vans around the country to each auction event.

Davis said: “The Ford Transit is Britain’s undisputed best-selling van, so we felt it appropriate as the UK’s undisputed number one commercial vehicle auction business to support its 50th birthday celebrations. Whether they are young or old, low mileage or have been around the clock, demand for the iconic van remains high and we are proud to sell thousands of them to buyers across the UK every year.”