Ford's Transit Trail Van, coming in 2023, lets DIYers customize it to their heart's desire/Ford Pro

Growing up in the 1970s, if you were male in your late teens, you began to look around for wheels, and if you could land a used van, something like a Ford Ecoline that you could transform into your home on wheels, all the better. I had a few friends who did just that, stripping out the interior and adding beds and storage and what not for their journey off to college. (I opted for a 1967 Ford Mustang.)

Come forward to present day, and Ford is making it even easier for you to take your bed on the road with their Ford Transit Trail that arrives in the spring. This updated cargo van was designed with an eye for those who want to explore the outdoors. There're swiveling captain's seats for driver and passenger, storage space in the cab roof, all-wheel drive, 30.5-inch all-terrain tires, 487 cubic feet of usable space, and enough room for someone 6-foot-5 to stand in without being hunched down.

It's bigger than a station wagon, smaller and more nimble than a Class C motorhome. 

"You've got your your van-lifers, they're living full-time in their van and kind of going and doing their Instagram and things like that," Jennifer Mitchell, Ford Pro's Commercial Van brand manager told me when I asked whom the company was targeting with the Transit Trail.

"You've got your adventure van customers who are really looking to use this as their base camp, if you will. They're using this to get to that trailhead, to take their bikes out, hiking, or canoeing, and so this is enabling them to get to that kind of base camp place off the highway into that national park," she continued, "places that traditional RVs that are a little bit larger and harder to get some down some of those less-traveled paths that the Transit can really take them there. They're a little a little easier to park and drive and all the safety and technology that was really built into it for that ease for anyone to get behind the wheel and feel comfortable with the vehicle."

The interior starts out as a "blank canvas" you can turn into home. This is how the prototype was outfitted/Ford Pro

In the same league as the Mercedes Sprinter, the Transit Trail comes with a 3.5-liter EcoBoost® engine that offers 310 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, five drive modes that help you cruise down the highway, plow through mud or snow, or haul a trailer. In the extended-length model there is 14 feet of cargo floor. The base model also comes with "drillable areas positioned specifically for cabinetry, shelving, bed and more allow do-it-yourselfers and upfitters to consider countless configurations."

You also can order an exterior light bar and includes high-capacity upfitter switches, a larger center console, an auxiliary fuse panel with a high-spec interface connector, dual AGM batteries, and a modified vehicle wiring system. 

With the heavy duty trailer package, the company says the Transit can haul up to 6,500 pounds. MPG figures are not yet available, but the top end likely will be less than 20 MPG based on what others have gotten from 2021 Ford Transit models.

A bonus for DIYers is that the Transit starts out pretty much as a shell. You can either transform the interior on your own into the camper van of your dreams or, if you're not so handy, work with Ford and the company's partners or other van customizers to handle the transformation.

"I think the perfect thing about Transit Trail is that it is really a blank canvas," Mitchell said. "It can go from that full-time van lifer to the weekend warrior who's using this as their get away from everyday life to go out and get on the trails. I'm just so excited to see what our customers do with each van. ... We're giving that platform, kind of that outfit-ready van, from the factory so that customers can take it from there and put it together themselves or work with an outfitter to finalize it and get it ready to their specs."

It's not a cheap blank canvas. Starting pricing is expected to be around $66,000, and the final price, well, that depends on 1) how much you can do yourself and, 2) what you want in the van. Kitchen sink? Cooktop? Refrigerator? East-west running queen-sized bed? Cabinetry? Work station for your remote work? Special lighting? Ceiling vent fan? 

What the Transit Trail doesn't have is a lot of ground clearance if you're looking to head into the boondocks. My Subaru Outback's 8.7 inches of ground clearance is 2 more inches than that of the Transit Trail, which could be an issue on some of the backcountry roads you explore.

The 2023 Ford Transit Trail in camp/Ford Pro