Our 12,000th Minibus Conversion!
At this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show we celebrated converting our 12,000th minibus and we couldn’t be prouder to have been given the opportunity to design it for one of our long-term clients Treloar School and College.
Our relationship with Treloar’s
Mike Gasper has been a valued member of the Stanfords team for over 14 years and during his time he has worked on a number of different projects but the relationship that he has built with Treloar’s is one that stands out for him.
Introductions initially took place at the Commercial Vehicle Show, but Mike and Treloar’s relationship blossomed almost a decade ago when we converted their first wheelchair accessible minibus. Over the years, Mike has established a close friendship with Treloar’s transport manager Mark Copping and together they have perfected a high-standard specification for four of their minibuses. Mark is incredibly passionate about his clients and the service that Treloar’s offers, he recalls one of his favourite memories, ‘Mike arranged for a group of students to be driven around the race circuit at Brands Hatch, in a Mercedes minibus, by a professional driver dressed as the stig! An incredible experience for our students.’
Mike and Mark worked closely together to design their latest 4x4 Ford Transit.
With Mike’s help, the pair ensure that each minibus is enjoyable to travel on and most importantly, does not magnify that fact that it is wheelchair accessible. ‘We work closely with Mark to achieve a vehicle more akin to a mini coach rather than an accessible minibus.’ says Mike, ‘I really enjoy working with Mark, Treloar’s vehicles are always a pleasure to spec and build.’
4x4’s for Treloar’s
Treloar college is based in quite a remote location that can be difficult to access in Winter conditions. During a harsh Winter, the college struggled to transport students to the site so required a specialist wheelchair accessible vehicle. After two years of planning and design, we delivered a superior 4x4 Mercedes Sprinter to Treloar’s. Mike puts the handover up there with one of his favourites, ‘The finished vehicle was delivered in 2014 and received a rapturous welcome. It was fantastic to see how excited everyone at Treloar’s was.’
Mark Copping with Treloar’s first 4x4 minibus.
Most recently, Treloar’s ordered a second 4x4 vehicle, this time being the brand-new Ford Transit. Their new minibus made its debut staring as our 12,000th minibus conversion at the 2022 Commercial Vehicle Show. Inspired by the young people at Treloar’s, Mike and the Stanfords team were determined to go the extra mile.
Treloar’s brand-new minibus was star of the CV show!
Treloar’s latest minibus is based on the new Ford Transit 350 L3H3 Trail model and includes five luxury diamond-stitch wipe clean passenger seats with personalised embroidered headrests. With seats removed, there is space for up to three wheelchairs which can be loaded on board via the BraunAbility internal tail lift, fitted at the rear of the vehicle.
Treloar’s transport fleet undertakes around 3,500 journeys per year, so the experience that each vehicle provides to its passengers is incredibly important. Ambient colour changing roof lighting, premium green interior accents to match Treloar’s branding and multiple USB / USB-c power points throughout are amongst just a few of the special features that we have included in Treloar’s vehicle. See the bottom of this page for the full specification.
Treloar’s and Stanfords over the years
We spoke to Mike about some of Treloar’s previous conversions, including his favourite. ‘I really enjoyed working with Mark on both the Sprinter and new Transit 4x4’s, but a personal favourite of mine has to be the Ford Transit Custom which we converted in 2020. It featured Treloar’s premium green diamond-stitch interior and just looked really executive when finished. If you saw it on the road, you would never believe that it’s a wheelchair accessible vehicle!’ Treloar’s Ford Transit Custom even made an appearance at Guildhall Yard in the City of London for the annual cart marking ceremony!
Treloar’s new Ford Transit 4x4
Based on the Ford Transit L3H3 AWD Trail model
5 x diamond-stitch luxury wipe clean seats
Embroidered headrests and green interior accents to compliment Treloar’s branding
Space for up to 3 x wheelchairs with seats removed
Wood-effect non-slip lino flooring
Ambient LED colour changing roof lighting
BraunAbility internal tail lift
Webasto rear saloon heating and air conditioning
USB / USB-c charging points throughout
Upper and side wall cant rail tracking
Wheelchair restraint storage box
