A Minibus in Memory of Mike
We are honoured to share with you a very special conversion that we recently carried out in memory of our wonderful Sales Director, Mike Gasper.
Following his three-year long battle with Prostate Cancer, that he fought so bravely, Mike sadly passed away in January of this year. Throughout his illness Mike was supported by a local charity, where he spent time taking part in helpful group sessions and receiving excellent treatment.
Mike always had a passion for selling minibuses, so much so that during his time at the hospice he managed to sell them a brand-new minibus! After Mike sadly passed away, we though that it would be special to make a donation to the fantastic charity that supported him and to name the minibus in his honour. Being a local charity, his family, friends and colleagues are bound to see ‘Mike the Minibus’ on the road at some point.
Mike the Minibus
‘Mike the Minibus’ will be based at a local hospice which specialises primarily in the care of young people. ‘Mike’ is a fully-accessible Ford Transit Custom that has the facility to transport both able-bodied and disabled patients to a variety of exciting days out.
With Mike being a huge part of Stanford Coachworks, many team members donated their time to work on the conversion, allowing us to make some bespoke upgrades to the vehicle, free of charge. We upholstered the interior of the Transit Custom in the hospice’s chosen blue colour scheme with bright yellow accents but to upgrade this we added a few twists. We diamond-stitched each of the passenger seats, fitted diamond-stitched panels throughout and installed colour changing LED roof lighting which features in many of our luxury Monaco conversions!
The Stanford Coachworks Specification
Based on a Ford Transit Custom L2H2 Trend
Metallic blue paint finish
Privacy tinted rear windows
Reupholstered front cabin seats to match the rear passenger saloon
5 x rear saloon passenger seats upholstered in diamond-stitched blue material with bright yellow piping
All rear saloon seats feature removable seat fixings to allow space for up to 2 wheelchairs
BraunAbility internal tail lift
Electric side step with high-visibility yellow grab handles
Custom design modesty screen
Non-slip floor covering (wood effect?)
Soft-feel interior lining
Eberspacher heating and air conditioning
Monaco-style LED colour changing roof lighting
LED blue / white roof lights and low-level blue LED lighting
Wheelchair restraint box with matching cover
High-level cant rail tracking
We are incredibly honoured to have been able to carry out this conversion in memory of Mike and we would like to thank the hospice for supporting him throughout his illness. We hope that ‘Mike the Minibus’ brings as much joy and laughter to its passengers as Mike Gasper bought to us all at Stanford Coachworks.