The Last Taurus.

[Huney1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwuCm8hNXgI
Ford drove the Taurus into the ground. Look on the right for the last Taurus coming off the assembley line.

"Almost a crime in the auto industry. Toyota hasn't killed of the Camry or Honda the Accord just because the name is old, they keep updating the cars and selling more and more. If only Ford Motor Company had been as wise."

Interesting how Ford is changing the name of the 500 to the Taurus. I wonder why?

[Millermagic]

I'm wondering if that whole thing wasn't planned. The original Taurus (86-07) turned into a fleet queen. They couldn't kill it immediately, so they introduced another car (Five Hundred) and let it sell for a while. They killed the Taurus for a while then re introduced it to get people looking at Ford again.

Either way, I'm happy they brought the name back.

[fubard]

I'm sorry but I don't share your optimism about Ford's planning. Why didn't they just badge the 500 as a Taurus2? Probably a marketing CO did a poll on brand recognition and noticed that the Taurus name was very popular whereas the Ford 500 was a ho-um Ford what? At that point the answer to rebadging the 500 was a no-brainer. I truly believe Ford wanted to leave the Taurus name in the dust. Maybe because a marketing type didn't feel the name Taurus fit into the image they wanted to project; whatever that is.

Personally, I wish for a Taurus standard, either 5 or 6 spd, console shift. Oh ya..BTW..why not add in a supercharger a la T-bird?

Originally Posted by Millermagic

I'm wondering if that whole thing wasn't planned. The original Taurus (86-07) turned into a fleet queen. They couldn't kill it immediately, so they introduced another car (Five Hundred) and let it sell for a while. They killed the Taurus for a while then re introduced it to get people looking at Ford again.

Either way, I'm happy they brought the name back.

[shorod]

The normally aspirated SHO with the manual transmission was quite a bit faster than the supercharged T-bird Super Coupe. No need for a supercharged Taurus, just bring back the V-6 SHO, available with a manual tranny.

-Rod

[Huney1]

"No need for a supercharged Taurus, just bring back the V-6 SHO, available with a manual tranny. " You da' Man, You da' Man! I never rode in one but sure would like to and I bet them babies honk.

Besides being a good car the Taurus has a look all it's own, . . . Euro-styling I think they call it and I really like the way it slopes in front down to the small grill. Wife has an 05 Marquis with adjustable foot pedals and IMO the Taurus has more leg room than the Marquis.

The Ford Fusion seems to be causing quite a stir and compete with the Camry and Accord. http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/fusion/ Scroll down and click, "Learn More." I haven't been up close to one but when I'm in the area I'll swing by the Ford dealer and take a look see.

My neighbor has a 500 and says she likes it a lot and the CVT (Constant Velocity Transmision) is suppose to be slick and never changes gears. Well, doesn't change in the sense from one 'gear' to another, but that's another story. Think Ford's using it in one of their vans and the BMW Mini Cooper uses it.

OH! Here's a good one for ya'; Who got the last Taurus that rolled off the assembley line? I happend on that piece of info on the web and wonder if anyone else did?