Ford E-Series chassis cabs and cutaways to survive mass Transit onslaught [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The text below has been amended to include new details provided by Ford.

In March 2013, Ford announced we'd be getting chassis cab and cutaway versions of the Transit. Since incoming Transit vans will soon be rolling over the grave of the E-Series van, it was assumed that all E-Series models would go six feet under as well. According to a report from PickupTrucks.com, however, that's not the case, the report claiming that the highly modifiable E-350 and E-450 stripped chassis and cutaway versions will continue being produced in Avon Lake, Ohio until near the end of the decade.

Being decades old, the be-cabbed E-Series platform has found its way under an army of heavy-duty shuttle buses, work truck and ambulances. Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch verified the production horizon, telling Autoblog that the continuing E-Series configurations "are a higher GVWR than the Transit chassis cab and cutaway (available this summer), which is more Class 2 and a new segment for us." So there you have it.