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[font=arial black][i]In fact the Taurus, the Mondeo and the Falcon share the same platform but have different bodies. In particular there aren't any Taurus or Falcon liftbacks sold, which I think is a good thing because I find Mondeo liftbacks horrible.

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Where did you get that information from... because it's blatantly wrong.
The Falcon is an Australian rear wheel drive platform that has its origins in the 1960s vintage US Falcon compact. It uses a longitudinal mounted inline six (aka Barra) which is manufactured in Australia with a iron block and the chassis features a wishbone front end and up until very recently a live rear axle. The chassis is unique and is used nowhere else in the world but recently uses a version of the control blade IRS rear end.

The Taurus uses a transverse mounted front wheel drive platform using the mainly the all alloy Duratec V6 as its powerplant. The front end of a Taurus uses a Mac-Strut arrangement.

The European Mondeo chassis is a separate platform altogether. It uses mainly transverse mounted Duratec HE all alloy inline four cylinder powerplants powering the front wheels although there is a turbodiesel and sporting versions using the Duratec V6. The current chassis has been shared with other vehicles, Jaguar X-Type which is predominantly all wheel drive although there is a front wheel drive version in some markets. An earlier Mondeo platform was used in the Ford Cougar and the Ford Contour in the US but it is definitely not shared with the Taurus.