Goodbye Taurus, you saved ford and gave us 21 good years

[Stic-o]

After 21 Years the Ford Taurus will halt production early next year. This was the car that saved Ford, and was way ahead of it's time in 1986.

see story link below

Goodbye Taurus

 

[IAmTodd]

Not to mention on sweet sport sedan!

 

[LOGJOCKY]

bout time to upgrade to something better i think

 

[Cheesebrat]

bout time to upgrade to something better i think

actually the SHO model show above is pretty fun to drive if you ask me. of couse its no mustang.

 

[old mechanic]

I'm surprised they lasted 21 years. They all seem to look alike year after year after year. Ford Taurus has one of the best crash test results (front and side).
Used ones can be had at a great low price. I may start looking for one for the kids if the prices drop even more.

 

['92Bauer]

I have nothing bad to say about the Taurus, my parents have a 1995 GL and I love that car and was looking in to buying a SHO with the same body style before I bought the X but just couldn't find one without high miles. Besides it was the cop car in Robocop.

 

[jimbo74]

actually the SHO model show above is pretty fun to drive if you ask me. of couse its no mustang.

with the yamaha engine, its barely ford as well

 

[Cheesebrat]

with the yamaha engine, its barely ford as well

true

 

[briwayjones]

The thing I don't get is they're going to can it, yet it's still on the top ten best selling list.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Only because they give them away for thousands less then MSRP, plus most of those sales numbers are fleet buys (rental cars, government, cops, etc.), not regular consumers.

 

[techieman33]

When did they have a yahama engine, I thought the sho's have 5.0's in them?

 

['92Bauer]

Ford's Taurus SHO (Super High Output) model had an eleven-year run. In 1989 it was introduced with a Yamaha-built 3.0L V6 and only with a 5-speed transmission available. By the end-of-the-line in 1999 Yamaha was working with Ford on building the SHO's 3.4L V8 motor. Only a four-speed automatic was available in the later years. Annual sales averaged about 7,000 to 8,000 SHO's a year, or about 2% of the total Taurus production.


copied the above info from here:

http://home.pon.net/hunnicutt/SHOpage.htm

 

[techieman33]

So did they not put 5.0's in them from the factory? I ask because last year at my senior prom they had a totally rebuilt 92 SHO that the kids in auto tech fixed up, as one of the main after prom prizes.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Nope, never did they have a 5.0 in the Taurus. Ford wouldn't have had a FWD tranny to handle the torque of the motor, plus it would have been a tight fit I would think.

 

[Crankcase]

The Taurus was actually one of Fords better cars ...R.I.P.

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

when i visted The Henry Ford museum in detroit in january, they had one of the preproduction 86 taurus there...ill have to find the pic. Yes, rest in peice taurus, you are true americana

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

here are the pictures....sorry they're blurry, had to zoom in all the way, as this exihibit was roped off at the time...

 

[techieman33]

Interesting, I wonder how they got the 5.0 in that one then, I actually saw the motor, and it was indeed a 5.0.

 

[jayhawkexplorer]

Don't know, but those kids in your auto tech class must be pretty skilled. Are you sure it wasn't a Crown Vic or a Thunderbird of the same era?

 

[techieman33]

It was definetly a ford taurus SHO, I doubt they were that skilled, they probably bought it with the engine already in it. Now that I think about it, it did have mustang 5.0 badges on it. So somebody did a transplant along the line.