It's not every day that a car company introduces a vehicle by touting how unhappy the occupants will be. Well, Ford's press release for its new Transit Prisoner Transport Vehicle (Transit PTV) does just that, proclaiming: "[The] Only People Not Thrilled About Riding in All-New Ford Transit? Prisoners." We have to imagine prisoners have a lot of other sources of dismay besides riding in a special Transit van, but points to Ford for its corrections officer–esque sense of whimsy.
As you've probably surmised, the Transit PTV essentially is a modern day paddy wagon developed with input from Ford's Police Advisory Board—a group of law enforcement officials from across North America—and Havis Prisoner Transport Solutions. (Fun fact: Havis also provides less restrictive furniture and organizational solutions to businesses focused on the freer citizenry.) The PTV is based on a long-wheelbase, medium roof version of the new Transit, and it can carry up to 12 prisoners in three separate compartments.
One photo shows bench seating for six in the rearmost compartment, complete with a wall-mounted strap for cuffed hooligans to grasp so they don't fly around the back like salt in a shaker when crossing railroad tracks or trundling down pockmarked back alleys. It all looks appropriately uncomfortable, and the two ultra-tight side compartments accessible through the Transit's sliding rear doors look fit for Hannibal Lecter (each cell can seat two, so give the ol' people-eater's invite a plus one). It doesn't appear as though any human face muzzles or straitjackets are provided, but we're sure police and corrections departments can source their own if need be.
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The Transit PTV joins the Ford Taurus- and Explorer-based Interceptor models in Ford's lineup of fuzzmobiles, although compared to the other two, it looks rather un-badass. On the bright side, you can't beat the headroom available in any of the PTV's 12 seats (14 if you count the driver and front passenger), and those interior surfaces look mighty, er, washable. And no matter what Ford says, we bet at least some prisoners will experience a thrill riding in the PTV—after all, what's more exciting than allegedly fencing with sharpened toothbrushes in a confined space with up to five of your closest potentially violent offenders?
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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