Ford Taurus (first generation)

Development and release

When Ford set out to develop the Taurus, they employed a strategy of teamwork that would prove revolutionary in the car development process. Previously, at both Ford and General Motors, interior and exterior designers worked separately with no input from each other or from engineers. As a result, the interiors and exteriors of many American cars seemed "mismatched." Taurus development started in 1981, using a method similar to that Ford used when developing the Escort, in which engineers from all Ford branches worldwide worked together. Unlike the Escort, though, the Taurus was developed entirely by American engineers at Ford's headquarters. The new engineering team was assembled by designer Jack Telnack, and was dubbed "Team Taurus".

The Taurus went through many revisions throughout its development. Original prototypes contained a full glass roof similar to that of the Subaru SVX, though it was deemed "too radical" and abandoned. Applying lessons learned from the Edsel, customer input played an instrumental role in the Taurus' development, as many components including radios, steering wheels, seats, wheels, and entire suspension setups were selected by large numbers of average people though a series of surveys conducted by Ford. In addition, Ford disassembled many competing cars such as the Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, and the more luxurious BMW 5 Series in order to examine their parts and components.

Ford premiered the Taurus in a resounding way. In mid-1985, Ford gathered executives and the press for the unveiling of the Taurus and Mercury Sable. The event took place at the MGM Studios Soundstage 85, where Gone with the Wind had been filmed. The studio was decorated in a space theme, with stars on the walls, flying saucer decorations, and refreshments served in flying saucer shaped coolers. For the unveiling, "space" music started playing, as projected stars floated around the room in dance floor fashion. The outlines of the cars glowed green through the curtain; as the curtain flew up, strobe lights flashed, highlighting the cars.

Many industry journalists, as well as executives at Ford and Chrysler, believed the Taurus was going to be a failure. Chrysler executives believed customers would instead embrace their more conventional Dodge Dynasty and Chrysler New Yorker, which were still in development at the time. Executives at Ford knew producing the Taurus was a gamble, as they ran the risk of the car being so advanced it would turn off potential customers, as was the case with the Edsel. As a result, Ford continued to produce the LTD, which the Taurus was designed to replace in 1986. If the Taurus failed, Ford would have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Taurus, however, ended up being a resounding success, selling over a million units in its first generation alone.

Reception

After being unveiled in 1985, the Taurus quickly became one of the most anticipated new cars of 1986. Before going on sale, Motor Trend tested a few Taurus prototypes, and praised the cars extensively, even calling them "the shape of tomorrow." Popular Mechanics also tested pre-production Tauruses, and praised them as well, describing them as a "totally new breed of car." When the Taurus was released in 1985, it garnered unanimous critical praise from automotive publications. It went on to win many awards, most notably being named Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 1986, as well as being named on Car and Driver's Ten Best List for 1986.

It was also received very well by the public, as over 200,000 Tauruses were sold for the 1986 model year. Its radical design was also noticed by the film industry, which began using modified Taurus models in future-themed films, such as Back to the Future Part II. Most notably, the Taurus was prominently featured in the 1987 action film RoboCop, where modified 1986 LX sedans are used as police vehicles driven by the titular character; one of the Taurus sedans used in filming is on display at the Branson Auto Museum in Branson, Missouri. In 1989, the millionth Taurus was sold after three years in production.

The 1986 Taurus continues to receive positive press, recognizing its lasting influence on the automobile industry. It was number 6 on USA Today's 2007 list of "25 Cars That Made a Difference", and was named a "Future Classic" by Autoblog. The 1986 Taurus tested by Motor Trend is currently featured in the Henry Ford Museum's Showroom of Automotive History exhibit, in which it is touted as "one of the two most significant American automobiles of the 1980s", the other being the Chrysler minivan.

In 1988, the Taurus was exported to Japan in limited numbers, and sold at Japanese auto dealerships called Autorama (a joint venture with Mazda), where the Taurus LX and the SHO were available in both sedan and wagon versions with left-hand driving positions until 1991. To Japanese buyers, it was regarded as a luxury vehicle as the exterior dimensions and engine displacement exceeded Japanese government regulations, and buyers in Japan were liable for additional taxes. The engines offered to Japanese customers, both the 2.5 litre four cylinder and the 3.0 litre V6, also obligated Japanese driver to pay more annual road tax which affected sales.

Exterior

The exterior of the Taurus used an aerodynamic design, often likened to a 'jelly bean' or 'flying potato', inspired by the design of the Audi 100 and Ford's own Tempo. The aerodynamic design of the Taurus also made the car more fuel efficient, allowing Ford to meet the more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards applied by the United States government. The Taurus' success ultimately led to an American automobile design revolution; Chrysler and General Motors developed aerodynamic cars in order to capitalize on the Taurus' success.

The Taurus is credited with bringing many new design features into the mainstream marketplace. The Taurus used flush aerodynamic composite headlights, and was one of the first American sedans to do so. Originally, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required that all cars sold in the United States use standardized round or rectangular sealed beam headlights, and Ford had to convince them to change the rule to allow the headlights be any shape, as long as they met federal lighting standards.

Also, instead of a grille, the Taurus had a front panel to adopt a grille-less 'bottom breather' nose, first pioneered by the Citroën DS in the 1950s. The Taurus' doors flowed up into the roof, and were designed to make the interior airtight, as well as having the door handles and windows flush with the rest of the car. The bumpers on the Taurus were designed to also be incorporated with the rest of the car's design, being flush with the rest of the body. The wheels were also pushed out to the ends of the frame, and were flush with the fender, instead of being recessed into the fender. This not only improved the car's aerodynamics, it improved handling as well.

These design features helped to make the Taurus one of the most aerodynamic cars of its time, with an aerodynamic drag ratio of .32. Many of the design features were adopted, and are still used today, on most cars. Because of this, the exterior only received minor changes throughout the first-generation's production run. The only major change came in 1988, when the Taurus received a new slimmer grille and headlights, with a full length chrome bar underneath for model year 1989.

Interior

Along with the exterior of the Taurus, its interior is credited with introducing many innovations that were later adopted onto all cars industry wide. The interior was designed to be extremely user friendly, with all of its controls designed to be recognizable by touch, allowing the driver to operate them without taking their eyes off the road. For example, the switches to the power windows and power locks were designed with one half of the switch raised up, with the other half recessed, in order for its function to be identified by touch (akin to the concept of Braille writing). To further enhance this "user friendliness", the dashboard was designed to have all of the controls in the central area, within reach of the driver. The left side of the dash also curved slightly around the driver, to make controls easily accessible as well as creating a "cockpit" feel. However, it wasn't curved enough to prevent the passenger from easily identifying and using the vehicle's main controls as well.

The interior of the Taurus was highly customizable by the buyer to fit their needs, as it had a large number of options, as well as being available in three different configurations. This meant that the interior of the Taurus could be spartan or luxurious, depending on the buyer's choice of options. The interior equipment depended on model. The most basic model, the L (see below), came standard with just an AM radio and a front cloth bench seat, while the LX, the highest model, came with a large amount of standard equipment.

The interior received a few major upgrades during the first generation's production run. In 1988, the 1989 model year Taurus got new door panels that had built in armrests and side speakers for the stereo. For the 1990 model year in 1989, it got a redesigned dashboard. This dash was designed similar to the one it replaced, although it had a different placement for the radio, and was designed to be able to contain either cupholders or a CD player, depending on the customer's choice of options. It also received a new steering wheel with an airbag, as Ford was making it standard in all of its cars.

Models and Engines

At its launch, the Taurus was available in four models; the L, the MT-5, the GL, and the LX. The L was the base model, with only the most basic of equipment. The MT-5 was the second model, which was aimed at Japanese imports, as it was only available with a 4-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission (hence the term MT-5). The value model was the GL, which contained more equipment than the MT-5 and L, and had such interior upgrades like rear headrests and a folding rear armrest, electric windows and locks. The LX was the top of the line model, which had the most standard equipment, as well as many features that were unique to this model, such as cornering lamps and side body cladding, as well as its own unique seat design, automatic climate control, light packages, luggage convenience kit, electronic cluster with onboard system scanner and fuel computer, autolamps with timer, premium amplified stereo with 6 speakers "Premium Sound", 6 way electric seats with inflatable lumbar support and other equipment options at an added price. The wagon was offered in the same trim levels in the same order.

In 1987, the MT-5 wagon was dropped due to poor sales, and the MT-5 was dropped altogether in 1988. 1988 also saw the introduction of the SHO, although it was generally marketed as and considered a separate model, as opposed to part of the Taurus line.

The MT-5 and L came with a 90-horsepower (67 kW) 2.5-litre HSC four-cylinder, although the 140 horsepower (104 kW) 3.0-litre Vulcan V6 was optional on the L and standard on the GL and LX models. The MT-5 was equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, while Vulcan models used a newly designed four-speed AXOD automatic, while HSC-equipped cars used the 3-speed ATX automatic. Ford's 3.8-litre Essex V6 was added to the lineup in 1988 as the top of the line engine optional on the LX and GL. Although the power output was rated at the same 140 horsepower (104 kW) as the 3.0-litre engine, this V6 produced 215 ft·lbf (291 N·m) of torque. The 2.5-litre was dropped in early 1991.

Mercury Sable

The Mercury Sable is a sister model of the Taurus sold under Ford's near-luxury Mercury brand. Developed jointly with the Taurus, the Sable shared most mechanical components but had a unique body and interior and a longer length. The Sable had an exterior design that was arguably more experimental than the Taurus, featuring rear windows that wrapped around the rear quarter panel and a front "lightbar", a low-wattage lamp between the front headlamps, which later became a signature styling feature for all Mercury models through the early 1990s. Intended for a more upscale market, it was available in two models, base GS and high-end LS in sedan and station wagon body styles. Powertrain choices were the same, though no manual transmission was offered. The Sable was sold as the Ford Taurus in Mexico, New Zealand and western Europe. The first-generation Sable and Taurus were produced concurrently through the 1991 model year.

A prototype convertible Sable was displayed at the 1988 North American International Auto Show, featuring a custom two-door body with a power folding top that was built off a production sedan chassis. It never reached production, and the convertible prototype was sold on eBay in 2006. A high-performance LTS model that would be a counterpart to the Taurus SHO was also planned but later shelved out of fears that it would create unnecessary internal competition. A special edition Sable commemorating the 50th anniversary of Mercury that was sold in 1989 used the performance chassis developed for the LTS; only 50 of these were produced. The Sable was also extensively used in Ford's Aluminum Intensive Vehicle (AIV) program, which built 20 aluminum-bodied Sables with Taurus SHO V6 engines in an engineering exercise for constructing all-aluminum unit bodies, like that which saw production by Audi in 1994.

Ford Taurus SHO

The Ford Taurus SHO (Super High Output) is a high-performance variant of the Taurus that was introduced in 1989. Although it shared the same basic design of the Taurus, it had a different drivetrain, a different engine developed by Yamaha, as well as many cosmetic differences on both the exterior and interior. The SHO was not initially intended to be produced when the Taurus was first developed; it was produced after Ford shelved a vehicle in development that was intended to compete with the Pontiac Fiero and Toyota MR2 replacing the Ford EXP, and needed to use up engines that were developed for this car by Yamaha, which Ford was under contract to use. Because of this, the SHO was initially intended to be a limited production model to be produced only in 1989, of which Ford advertised it as. However, the SHO proved to be surprisingly popular, convincing Ford to order more engines and make the SHO a series production model. The SHO was sold until 1991, when it was replaced by a second generation of Taurus SHO.