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The 1986 Ford Taurus - Ford's Home Run Hit
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2018
- Welcome to my brand new channel! My inaugural tale is the story behind the first generation 1986 Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, Cars that truly revolutionized the automotive industry and saved Ford Motor Company from near disaster.
Upon introduction, media and consumer reviews of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable were universally positive. The design and engineering was nothing short of revolutionary.
Though generic looking to modern eyes, the first gen Ford Taurus was considered so futuristic looking at introduction, it was featured prominently in film and TV shows that took place in the near future such as Robocop.
Support Tofer's Car Tales at Patreon:
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The 1986 Ford Taurus, and in particular the Taurus wagon, were among the first cars I fell in love with as a child. And this is my tribute video. Some love Ferraris, I love 80's Ford wagons.
I've also included some of the original 1986 Taurus commercial ads with that legendary Taurus! For us! jingle. Be warned, it'll be stuck in your head for ages.
And of course a special shout out to the 1986 Mercury Sable and that futuristic light bar!
Thanks for your support and please do consider becoming a supporter of my efforts... www.patreon.com/TofersCarTales
This car dropped like a WTF bomb to the automotive and consumer world. NO ONE but Ford was ready for this! And it is INSANE how well-received this car was for the time. Like, I mean, the stars could not have aligned any better! If you were around in the mid-late 80's, you know that EVERYONE wanted a Taurus!
It was so futuristic at the time that it starred in Robocop
don't forget about the 6000SUX!!
@@jasonallemani3350 I'd buy that for a dollar!
That’s what I remember
@@jasonallemani3350 lol yeah and it got really shitty gas mileage
@@jasonallemani3350 Ironically that was a jab at Pontiac's 6000. I had seen in a documentary somewhere the writer had one and it was a total POS and thus the obvious disdain in the movie.
It still have my 92 Taurus SHO and will likely never sell it. It's one of my favorite cars. It's the ultimate sleeper. The 140mph on the speedo was real. Thing is, at any speed the car feels like it's totally in control. Just an amazing car.
I am restoring my 92 SHO blue
Conan O’Brien had one too
That is a sweet car!
I remember when Ford came out with the second gen Taurus SHO with a V8 engine. At this point Ford had really lost their mojo. The new version was swift on paper but ultimately felt lazy and overweight.
1989 Yamaha developed and sold them to Ford for the Taurus....It was crazy fast for a V6...
I would add.. Yamaha got Toyota to help develop the intake system. Something just now other cars companies are doing..Why the V6 did not need an air pump.. It burned that clean..
I really miss seeing these around. When I was a little kid, this car is what I automatically pictured when I heard the word "car". It's a shame that Ford largely gave up on this model, since the Taurus proved that if the American car manufacturers truly gave it their all, they could compete with the Europeans and Japanese.
It was an excellent, comfortable, and reliable car. And I loved the appearance, especially of the wagon. Ford unfortunately fumbled the late 90s redesign with oval shapes everywhere, and then stopped trying. I owned 3 of them over time, a 1987 wagon LX fully loaded, a 1989 sedan mid range, and a 1993 wagon base model. They all gave 10s of thousands of trouble free service and I actually miss seeing them.
I drive a ford taurus 1991 in Ukraine now. Despite the age, this car makes people turn around on the roads, and comfort is much higher than many new cars.
Thanks for writing, it's awesome to hear you're driving a Taurus in the Ukraine! Very cool.
Godbless you and your people. March 2022.
My first car was a 1987 Taurus GL sedan that I bought in 1993. I specifically wanted a Taurus because even years after it first came out, it was still very modern looking at the time. Many people ask how a kid could have afforded to what many people assumed was a brand new car.
My family had a rare fist gen model, 1986 Taurus MT-5, 2.5 l 4 cylinder with a 5 speed manual.
Nice, comfortable and economical car, and the shifter and clutch worked as smoothly as the best from Japan ( I think the gearbox was sourced from Mazda).
This was the Ford of my childhood. A very forward thinking and futuristic car company.
Thank you for this video! Whenever I tell people how advanced this car was when it first came out people ignorantly deny it and laugh at me. Then I show them a picture of a typical boxy mid-80s sedan and compare its shape and interior to a fully loaded Taurus LX. Seriously, the Taurus came out in late 1985 and it looked liked a mid 90s car. the 1997 Toyota Camry looks like an exact carbon copy of the first gen Taurus.
Pfft, not even...the 1992 Camry, yes. The 1997 Camry looked like Toyota designers had designed it in a vacuum after accidentally setting the time travel dial to reverse
lol
Adalberto Colonel
Exactly.
The 1992 Camry was perfect. Hey... a Toyota that’s reliable, fast (V6 Camrys were rockets in the day), and looks modern.
Then they indented the back and put a light bar across it. Terrible.
But then they kept making the same car over and over.
Now Toyota is either boring... or weird (inverse trapezoid grills, the Prius, etc)
Please excuse the quality of the voiceover. As I just recently wrapped up my Cars of Stranger Things video, I took a moment to watch this video. It was my first and I was learning as I went. About 2/3rds of the way through I realized my cell phone was probably not the best microphone to use. The abrupt change in quality is obvious. I'm learning as I go, and it warms my heart to see this video has been viewed by so many. Thanks to everyone for your support. It means the world to this car obsessed child of the 80's.
Hey Tofer, what's the track around 6:00?
I really enjoyed this video. The little bits of '80s things in the squares at the end of the video was icing on the cake. And I was SO happy to see the Griswolds' Taurus wagon at the end!
In all the years that this video has been up, I don't think anyone has commented on the 80's bit of nostalgia I worked to incorporate at the ending. As a result, I never continued with this concept. I'm so glad you enjoyed this little detail.
@@TofersCarTales Well, at the very least, you know this guy (born in '82) really enjoyed it. It helps that I'm a very nostalgic person.
I have a 2003 Ford Taurus Wagon with 112,000 miles on it and i love it. It`s one of the best vehicles I`ve owned in 48 years.
My dad worked at Ford at the time. We got a 87 lx loaded. Deep red with grey bottom. Many awesome memories with that car. Took my girlfriend, now wife to homecoming in it. Loved that car. So far ahead of its time. The digital dash. Power everything. Factory power moonroof. Ford really hit a grand slam with that first generation!
Our first Taurus was an 87 Wagon LX, had most everything in it. The thing was, we got it around 1999 as a reconstructed car - Once crushed so severely the scars it bore in the roof were visible until we sold it in 2003. That was replaced with a 1995 Taurus Wagon that burned in 2006 (EFI Line failed and ignited by the exhaust manifolds), which was replaced with a 1995 Taurus Sedan that I eventually adopted when I turned 16. That car was sold in 2010 after my parents bought a 2005 Taurus and I came into a Toyota pickup. That 2005 Taurus lasted until Last February when a woman ran a stop sign at Walmart and hit me nearly head on. (I was some how faulted for it though). -- But not before succumbing to the classic Transmission failure.
Love my Taurus cars.
that car was like 10 years ahead of its time
@Miguel J My mom got t boned in it in the early 90s. Totaled.
I agree Ford really knocked it that right out of the park . That had to be a beauty of a car for ya !
I purchased the exact same brand new loaded 87 LX in red. We got rear ended in 1993 and replaced it with a used 87 LX wagon. This one finally died in 2000 to be replaced by a 98 sedan then an 02 sedan then an 05 SEL which I still drive daily today with 230k miles on it. Still going strong.
It's amazing that the design was basically locked in in 1982.
More credit should be given to the success of the 1983 T-Bird restyle. If that car had flopped, the Taurus as we know it would never have been green-lighted.
Right. It is hard to say this was a clean external design when the same company had a car so similar already.
Don't forget about the Tempo/Topaz as well.
And the 85 Aerostar minivan
My parents bought a 1986 Taurus. The entire family loved that car.
I had a 1988 GL in high school..I inherited it from my parents....it rusted out....loved that car so much I bought a 1995 GL (last year of the 1st generation) with 150 km's on it 7 years ago....mint condition....3.8 litre, Champagne exterior with tan cloth upholstery...plan on teaching my kids to drive in it !!
I was a kid working at Universal Studios when these came out. We had a Special Detail in Security for some Undercover Work that required Universal to Corporate Lease some car's from the infamous Galpin Ford Dealership. We got a Red Completely Loaded Taurus which I literally fell in love with. It was one of my favorites to drive around the lot along with the Mustangs and T-Birds. It was unlike ANY of the previous Fords and more like an Audi 5000 of the same period. Thanks for the great video. This is really great stuff for school kids too!
Gen one 3.0 had 140hp...doesnt sound like much by today's standard but the Fairmounts 3.3L only produced 91hp and the 5.0 HO 145hp 2 litres less and only 5 horse short then Ford's baddest v8
Mark Bot
I get what you’re saying but the 5.0 was not Fords baddest engine. They were still producing the 5.8 and 7.5. They also had some awesome in line engines for different markets that we never got in the states.
The Taurus was the car that sparked my love of cars when I was 9 years old. I has a magazine ad cut out on my bedroom wall.
Right there with ya. The first car I was ever in awe with was at the 1985 state fair. I saw the Taurus wagon and thought it was a space ship on wheels. Loved these cars (and all cars) ever since.
@@TofersCarTales I used to gawk at a light blue Sable wagon on my walk to school. Not many kids did that, I guess!
A little over 20 years ago I bought a used 1991 Taurus wagon. This was a vehicle that did everything well. The perfect blend of comfort, style, performance and practicality. One of the best cars I ever owned. Too bad the ex wife got it.
Owned two of them. An 1988 and a 1998. The Taurus is what won me over to Ford.
I have always been a Ford fan - and always will be Ricky Trager. I am so glad you drive Fords now too! To me - nothing comes close - we have six Fords - all of them have been absolutely trouble free and so dependable - I have no reason to ever switch. (and by the way - 2 of these are Tauruses - one is a Five Hundred - which really is a Taurus too)
Absolutely the most ground breaking car Ford built since the model t. Still looks current today.
Our family bought a new one in 1988, GL with the 3.0L Vulcan motor, a very nice riding and stable feeling car. The only mechanical failures I can remember were transmission around 100K and front wheel bearing hubs a little before that. Motor was bullet proof
Exactly their issue. I had a couple, n my best advice is buy a couple spare AXOD transmissions just in case
My parents got an 86 gl as well. Traded in the unreliable Pontiac 6000. The car was a head of its time. For some reason I was anti Ford and soon hated it. We had wheel baring go too. Other than that not bad. Had it for 4 years. Lots of memories. Finding out I had brain tumor at age 10. Asking my dad if I was going to die on ride home. Next week going to Johns Hopkins for Ben Carson to do my surgery.
I knew as a small child that the Taurus was very unusual, probably a first in terms of aerodynamic design. Many years there have been many documentaries about this very subject!
What a great video. I remember riding in the rear-facing back seats of my best friends dad's Taurus in the early 90s. When we were seven, I got Green Day's Dookie album somehow and remember the shock his parents faced when "Longview" came on over the cassette player as we drove through the foothills of the Rockies in western Canada. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
The Taurus was so aerodynamic and stylish at the time, it was used as the official RoboCop vehicle
Bennnnnffffff
My Father bought a brand-new Taurus LX sedan in 1986 -- fully loaded with all the digital 1980s dashboard goodies, of course. After he put 190,000 miles on it, I bought it from him in 1990 and put another 68,000 miles on it. It finally died in 1994 with just over 258,000 miles on it when the head-gasket blew. Compared to the crap that American car companies were putting out in the '70s and early '80s, the Taurus was a miracle of engineering and reliability. There's a reason that they sold literally millions of them.
My dad bought a 1988 Ford Taurus sedan. When he brought it home, I thought it was the greatest thing I've ever seen. We took it on more road trips that I can remember. Eventually, the car was passed down to my big brother who crashed it multiple times. By the time it got to me, it was only a shad of its former self. Every liquid in the car leaked. Eventually, it died because I had accidentally poured the wrong fluid into the brake fluid reservoir. I did learn how to fix that car so well, though. =)
So actually it only needed a repair of the head-gasket and it would run a nother 100kmiles...
Brings back memories. My dad had an '89 Taurus GL. I remember when he bought it. Before the Taurus, he had a very bland, Olds Delta 88, which really looked like an old man car. I was 12 years old in the summer of '89, and he came to pick me up from a week at summer camp in the new whip. I was so impressed, I felt like it was such a cool futuristic ride. Eventually when I was old enough I would end up spending alot of time driving it. Sadly, he eventually gave it to my uncle, who wrecked it. I could have had it, but I didn't want it because I had a little Escort coupe with a 5-speed that I loved. I kind of regret it, but I do still also have fond memories of my Escort. It got me through college and into my first couple years out on my own.
Thanks for sharing your memories. I hope to have an Escort of the same era myself someday.
I'm hoping to find another...I miss mine. Good condition examples are hard to come by because everyone ran them into the ground.
My father had the "87" Ford Taurus and he taught me how to drive on his Taurus before going for my drivers license. The OG Taurus was built to last and my father had his car for over 22 years before selling since we were moving. So much fun memories of that car and is famous for the original Sci-Fi movie, Robocop.
You should of kept it
I had the privilege of driving the second 1986 Ford Taurus delivered to the state of Colorado, a station wagon, from the rail yard to Sill-Terhar Ford. The first car was in front of me, the sedan. The dealership owner was on the design team for all the buttons, switches, dials, etc for the interior of the car.
Gives me goosebumps. I remember this quite well.
We had three wagons. Each sacrificed itself to save members of my family. Super safe. And reliable.Including the sedan we finally got, the engines were absolutely bullet-proof. Never a wrench to the engines in over 600k miles!
You are totally right, when Taurus came out,make look all others cars looking 20 years older
My dade had got a 1988 mercury sable wagon when i was born in 1994 and kept it til around 2006 and i always thought the car look like from the 90s not 80s.
W124, C126, BMW Z1/Z4, Porsche 959, Renault Alpine GTA, Porshce 928,
actually no...the taurus may have been revolutionary for the US, but when it came out it was already deemed obsolete in comparison to japanese and european offerings, with even Ford Europe being years ahead of its american parent
@@TheChill001 well i wont buy no japanese or european cars
Thats what the 2011 Sonata did also. It was their Taurus.
This car WAS a game changer!
Rip the Ford Taurus 1986-2019
Not true. There is a seventh generation made in China but apparently USA is too poor to buy them thus no Taurus for USA.
Arayig1982 I was referring to the US Taurus which seized production about a month ago
@@8bitter696 Regardless, they could have imported the newer 2016 on Taurus, but American Ford caters to faux suvs and pick ups not cars any longer.
@@Arayig1982 I agree. It's a damn shame that's the case.
@@Arayig1982 no, it's not that the "US is too poor to buy them" it's simply that the car isn't selling because consumers are choosing to buy SUVs and trucks more than compact cars/sedans/coupes. Its not just with Ford either.
In1986 I began my second year as a professional mechanic at the local Ford dealer. The first gen Taurus / Sable was a very well built automobile. In fact most of Ford's offerings, except the Tempo / Topaz, were of good quality. The 3.0 V6 was a very good power plant. One of my aunts bought an 86 Sable 3L V6 with high miles on it, and after a short time developed what I call the 3 liter knock. I told her not to worry as it was a common trait for this engine, just keep the oil changed. Tens of thousands miles later, I bought it from her for one of my kids to drive. I can't remember now why I put it to pasture, but it served all of us well. But as with the other domestics, over time, quality was no longer job one. The last domestic car I bought was a brand new Ford Windstar in 95. By 65,000 miles, and I ALWAYS did the proper maintenance, it was done. The 3.8 leaked oil, burnt coolant, the tranny was toast, and the ABS modulator leaked brake fluid from the electrical connector! It's sad. I made the switch to Toyota in '05 and have not looked back.
I had two Taurus Wagons for company cars as a Field Service Engineer with Digital Equipment Corp. They were very roomy, ran great, were very quiet with no wind noise and were very fun to drive. They were great cars.
This car was in almost every episode of the X-Files. Such a timeless yet short lived design from the late 80s into the early 90s. The SHO is particularly really nice.
This car set the tone for ALL passenger vehicles moving forward after its introduction. Like it or not the Taurus seemed to signify the ‘computerized’ future that seemed so cool in the late 80s and into the 90s ...sleek ergonomic look combined with technology ...just like everything with life now outdated ...
Tofer please don’t stop making the best videos on TH-cam. I am borne 1982. The disco keeps me comming back
Glad you enjoy my work. I do this for fun and for those like yourself who I can bring a little happiness to. So no worries... more videos are on the way. =)
my dad bought a ford dealership in 1985. Not a single new car on the lot. Taurus came out a few months later. His best selling year 1986 was 451. wasn't till 2014 when we sold 450 he did think we were gonna beat the record he set back then. Technically never did. Probably close to 50% in that year were Taurus's. Insane what that car did for ford. Just wish they could repeat.
Why you lying, why you always lying, just stop friggin lying
When Henry Ford II retired, it made a difference. His choices in the 60s and 70s worked for that era, but Ford needed to advance when it came to design and the public was getting bored with the straight lines and box bodies.
This design caught GM way off guard! (which is common for GM)
The styling was mocked by GM executives, declaring it looked like a turtle. They were very wrong.
@ or "jellybean"
One of the very few times that GM execs pulled their heads out of their anal cavities for some fresh air and they still screwed things up by belittling the car, and company, that almost drove them into bankruptcy! Does not appear that they have learned much since them if the Cadillac's are any indication. Some of the most hideous cars and SUV's on the road today.
I agree - Ford creates and GM copies! I will always LOVE Ford -
Yep.
They sold those antiquated square K-car era A bodies until *_1996!!_* The year _after_ the second gen Taurus ended production! GM had to turn its W body 2 door coupes into 4 door competitors which combined didn’t exceed Taurus and Sable sales, didn’t come in a wagon (one reason the A bodies stuck around), and were too large for the midsized market.
However, GM did have the drivetrain reliability that Ford didn’t at the time. The 3.1L V6 was more robust than the 3.0L Vulcan or 3.8 Essex in spite of a few problems with intake gaskets and ignition coils and the transmissions were way way better.
My 1992 Ford Taurus is currently in the shops right now getting its starter and brakes replaced. I can’t wait to get it back, I love it so much.
My favorite Taurus)
Tofer, your production is superb. Thanks for highlighting an era of American auto manufacturing I have dismissed for having lived through. I was thrilled by the Taurus when it debuted but grew to disdain it. Now I remember.
I got a 93 teal Tauras sedan. It was a company car. I was so proud if that car I bought it from the company when it was time to get a new car. I had the car for years... Eveyone complimented the style and color...
Taurus don't look that old even today.
Absolutely not!! It was futuristic then and even now
toyoscio yep
They look really really old now. Have you seen a modern car?
Audfile I was alive to see when EVERY car on the road in 1984 was shaped like a brick so yes, even today, this shape is modern. If it weren’t for this car who KNOWS how long cars would’ve still been shaped like shoe boxes. Respect and thank Ford for it.
@@fredaydaybae8450 i was there too, and im sorry but when a Taurus goes by it screams mid 80s design, tolerances, and style. There is nothing ageless about it. It is definitely of its time.
I remember going a getting a brochure... this car was totally off the chain back then....It really changed things.
When I was in college, I worked as a runner for ABC Sports, which meant I spent a lot of time running errands for the company. To help that, I frequently got use of a rental car. In 1986, I worked the NYC Marathon for ABC and was given a Ford Taurus to do my job. I was a car enthusiast (though a limited budget one) and was impressed with the car. It was unlike any American car I had driven. It had decent handling, a pretty good interior, and none of it had the cheap feel so common to American cars of the time.
My neighbor (a single mom) used to have a Taurus station wagon and it was the sorriest set of wheels I've ever seen. Typically, my neighbor started her day with pouring a can of oil in her Taurus (I remember her entire front lawn was littered with empty oil cans). Rarely did she spend a day without raising the Taurus' hood and trying to see what was causing yet another headache.
Nah. My '93 Olds Cutlass Cruiser (also a station wagon) was very different from the Taurus, to put it mildly. It was classier. It shined. It never let me down. It gave me joy and pride. When the time came, it was really sad to see it go. I hope the new owner took good care of my Oldie.
As a kid, the composite headlights made such a huge impact on me. I would call other cars with them 'Taurus headlights'. I began thinking every car with sealed beams was old and outdated.
Same here! Though I referred to them as Lincoln Mark VII headlights lol
@@TofersCarTales That is pretty awesome! It is cool to know that others thought the same as I did. Before these cars had come out my only experience with composite headlights were on the gray market German cars like Mercedes-Benz and Audi. It made them seem exclusive and high end. Yet if you grew up always having these lights it would be easy to not understand how space-age they seemed.
Yeah I remember my 10 year old self being ridiculously annoyed when I discovered the Europeans had way cooler headlights. lol
I was totally intrigued by the head lights on my dad's 1986 Tarus. he bought the car because I got so excited when the tarus commercials would pop up on tv. lol
@@TofersCarTales Until the Mark Vll lights were approved the Taurus was being designed with sealed beams .Looked terrible
After my Dayonta died, and after my Contintenal died, I was carless as I moved to Vancouver via plane and without vehicle. with a pregant wife by my side. There was a 92 Ford Taurus on sale for $600CAD in some used lot across the street from where I lived. It felt fine. It looked ok. Drove well. It got my wife and I to where we needed to be and go, starting out life in the big city. I wil forever thank it for that.
Sadly though, it lasted all of... I think 6 months when something seized on the rear right wheel, and just about caught fire before we noticed it. Cost of repair was 2k. Decided to scrap the car right then and there. Soon after I hopped into a '13 Dodge Avenger.
The first gen was an amazing car to look at, and the wagon 🤩🤩🤩, the 80s are great!
Thank GOD Ford never implemented that hideous looking traditional grille. Thank you, Tofer, for this fascinating look at the history and development of this milestone of automotive history!
I have an 87 gl with 53 original almost mint condition in my garage as we speak.
Only 53 miles?
I had been buying Taurus until 2018 when I finally bought an SHO what a great car Taurus has been. This last one put out over 370 HP and still got 22-26 mpg on the highway...depending on who was driving it LOL!
1988 taurus lx storm grey color was my first car during my college years, it is unforgettable car👌
It still looks modern today. I remember when these came out in 1985. Car and Driver had a major orgasm!
How can you talk about some of Fords dismal failures of the late 70s and early 80s without mentioning the Lincoln Versailles? Lol. What an egregious error on Ford's part.
I had the privilege of working as a mechanic at a Ford dealership when the Taurus/Sable was released as a new model for that year. I don't think the Taurus/Sable alone saved Ford, the Ranger pickup also revived sales during that time.
We all received extensive new model training prior to the release of the Taurus. Far more than any training we had ever received prior to the release of a new model. In fact the Tempo/Topaz was released with very little fanfare when it was introduced.
I was very impressed with the manufacturer support of the Taurus/Sable upon its introduction. Special tools and manuals arrived well ahead of schedule, as well as parts availability. Warranty support was readily available which is important in keeping customers on the road and out of the shop. You have to remember this was all before the age of the Internet when support and information was done over the phone and fax.
Ford's only problem with the Taurus/Sable was the AXOD transmission which had an unusually high failure rate. Ford did not allow us to disassemble a failed AXOD; instead they shipped out a new replacement unit and called back the failed unit. This went on for the first couple of years.
I might also add this was also the introduction of the 3.0 V6 which proved to be a solid engine. It was also used in the Aerostar van. I don't recall very many problems with this engine despite it being the "new kid on the block".
Thanks for the memories.
Relatives of ours had a 1990 Aerostar with the Vulcan and it was terrible. They replaced it twice.
1st gen Taurus / Sable - my favorite car of all time.
I’ve owned several including two 1st gen Sable LS’s. Gorgeous cars with great driving dynamics. The transmission failures were a big problem. My last Sable (an ‘87 I bought in 2006) went through THREE Ford reman transmissions @ $3,000 each! The Sable only had 60K original miles but furiously chewed through transmissions. Finally had to let it go :(
I definitely had a 1995 probe for 11 years. I loved it
Excellent video, never knew the humble Taurus was so influential!!!
My dad built the body merge section of the assembly line for the first Taurus... I remember the prototypes before they were available to the public.. Cool stuff.
Which assembly plant (Atlanta or Chicago)
They still catch my eyes today, even if they were damaged from wrecks.
I am still surprised to this day that it was a 1986 and it still looked modern comparing to the 1997 Chrysler Concorde.
My Grandpa bought a brand new '86 model. Later, he bought another brand new '95 model. My aunt continued to drive his old '86 after he bought the new one in fall '94. She drove it to over 300k miles. They were great cars. If you grew up in the '80s and '90s, you couldn't escape riding in multiple Taurus models over the years.
To this day, 35 years later, everything has the basic aerodynamic shape as the 86 Taurus.
I want an 86 taurus sedan! I love retro styling
in 88 my dad brought the fam to the dealer he worked at to choose a car to replace my mom's 84 topaz. It was between an 87 taurus lx sedan with the 3.0 v6. It was a light blue metallic with dark blue cloth buckets with console shift auto. Had power windows/locks/seats/mirrors etc. My 9 yr old self was very impressed with the styling particularly the interior. The other car was an 86 buick regal t-type in a cranberry red color with tan leather seats. It had the 3.8 sfi turbo v6. I preferred it over the taurus as it had t-tops,2 doors, and mag wheels. My dad seemed to be pushing hard towards it as well, but she couldn't read the digital gauges well with her glasses, and she wanted a 4 door. I was set to inherit the taurus as my first car in 96, but that glass tranny went out at 72k miles while I was on my permit. Wish she picked the damn buick! Ironically the cranberry red 95 taurus with the 3.8 she got to replace it pooched it's tranny at 90kish miles. To this day I wont even look at a fwd ford(or mazda) with a slushbox
I still have my second Generation 1994-1995 Blue Sedan, GL, Vulcan, AX4S. 80K, all original. Like the ones that appears in every 90s movie. More than the American flag.
I had a 94. The transmission crapped out.
This was a common failure that the aftermarket finally figured out but Ford failed to adopt. As an example, they had a piston made from aluminium that would often fail. To the aftermarket Ford sold a steel version of the same piston, but 5 years later the aluminum piston was still used in the production models.
The failure to not make the transmission durable was something that killed market share.
The 3.0 Vulcan motor was very robust but the 3.8 had cruddy head gaskets. The only far to often problem with the 3.0 was the water pump slowly failing due to the impeller. Either corrosion or cavitation would cause a loss of coolant flow causing the cars operating temperature to creap up. Not too bad a cost to fix, but if you weren't watching the higher temps could kill the car.
The rest of the car's design was pretty good.
Roger Shoaf - I am not familiar with any issues the Taurus had. We currently have a 2000 - which is still running strong and the a/c will freeze you out, a 2005 Five Hundred - which has only been in the shop once - it has the CVT transmission so it's an AWD and a 2015 Taurus Limited AWD which I absolutely fell in love with. My husband built it on Ford.com and ordered it for me - I am so glad I was able to get this car before they were discontinued. I love Ford so much - I still think this is a mistake to discontinue this car. It is the best car on the road IMO>
@@rockandroll4689
I'm glad you like your car.
I like the idea of the CVT, but I have heard a few folks tell stories of very expensive repairs because they were bot built tough enough.
I'm not just picking on Ford's either. Nissan's have them also and probably other companies also. Cars should be designed to go a quarter of a million miles with out major failures.
I was in my mid teens when they came out seeing that at the New Car Show I was like wow 😮 The T Bird looked very sharp too.I loved the Turbo TBird 1988 I believe Slate grey and blue tue tone was my favorite ...I loved the design especially the wagon ,I loved the Mercury lighted front end .I would like to find one to restore but I’m sure parts are pretty scarce since the Cash for Clunkers have removed many 80’s/90’s platforms Keep it Up 😎
Yeah, very few are still driving or on a sales lot. T birds and Cougar also have kinda disappeared.
Yea, it was a good and bad thing...
As your official Taurus NUT (im the guy with 9 S.H.O’s, one MT-5 and two Merkur Scorpio’s) I approve this video haha. Completely relaxing vid with nothing but facts! Thanks Tofer!!
When I was 16 my mom drove a 1989 Sable and it was so awesome. I’d borrow it because my amigo sat 4 and her sable sat 6 and was roomy af and so comfy and full of features
I have a 2012 Ford Taurus SEL... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CAR!!!!
Totally different platform since 2010. These are based on the Volvo Ford 500 platform
I hated the changes from the early models
The Chrysler LH platform was also another car with radical styling for the time. They were a hit too and they saved Chrysler.
The LH cars were sometimes referred to as Last Hope. They were nice cars. I especially liked the LHS and New Yorker.
They weren’t a last hope. They were the product of a company shedding its years of austerity and innovating again.
The LH was an AMC/Renault concept when Chrysler bought them in 1987. Chrysler completed them and retired the last of the K car era vehicles
a few years later in the mid 1990s.
The 85 to 2006 Ford Taurus were all midsize cars and were truly revolutionary. My Dad had gotten a 1996 in silver metallic sedan body style he had even in the 90s one of the sharpest expensive looking cars out compared to other family members. We loved that car and when I graduated in 2004 he gave it to me as a gift since he knew I loved it and even then was in excellent condition. He replaced that car with the 2001 Mercury Sable LS Premium sedan also in silver metallic color, but that car was the one that had every option available both our cars looked very similar and were often mistaken from one another. My Dads last new car before him and my Mom got their 2018 Escape SE last year was a 2010 Ford Fusion Sport also top of the line with everything both in silver metallic too cause we stick with a color we have good luck with and it just plain out looks sharp when freshly detailed too! Well long story short, we still have the Fusion and it's a fun car to drive, but I miss that Taurus and Sable will never forget them either. The Taurus got me to become a loyal Ford fan here and ever since that's all I'll drive. Even bought a 98 Explorer 2dr for a work beater nothing pretty to look at in a very light blue color starting to rust on the rockers, but it's been extremely reliable shows Ford builds quality vehicles
I had a 1995 Mercury Sable and that thing was a tank! Zero problems and a smooth, quiet ride.
That's a catchy little tune. "Tauraus now there's an American that your looking for."
That car looks great even after 30+ years.
My 2011 Taurus is the best car I ever owned. Not one problem, at 100k miles now. Easy to maintain, quiet, smooth ride, port injected, six speed tranny with overdrive that keeps engine under 2000 rpm at 80 mph, and the engine still purrs like a kitten today. RIP Taurus
This brings me back. We had a '90 Taurus L. I loved that car. Had it for 16 years. That vulcan V6 never quit, never broke down. Still ran and drove till I sent it down the road. Rust caught up with it sadly.
I enjoyed my Taurus SHO. The Yamaha Super High Output motor was awesome.
As long as you didn't get a cam timing problem.
@@4406bbldb I surprisingly never did. Then again, I put a new belt on mine the day I got it.
I drive a European Ford Granada Mk.2, not for the fuel economy but for the pure joy :)
The euro Granada was ford Europe's largest car so was never intended as a fuel miser despite being as small as ford USA small/intermediates at the time
When I gave my Plymouth Reliant K to my father, I bought the Ford Taurus 1998 GL V6 3.0L model. Had it until the engine practically would not turn on again 12 years later. Nice ride.
The Taurus was great. The first auto that I had ever driven/had was a 1986 Taurus, my parents got. It was driven in both North America (United States & Canada) and Europe (Germany, France, UK, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Belgian, & Austria). When I got my license, it was in the year 2000! This Taurus was 14 and the last time I had driven it was 2002, when it was 16 years old!! They were built to last.
That's awesome James, thanks for sharing your experience with the Taurus!
The Taurus styling was way ahead of it's time, it could have been built in the 90s
I was a Ford dealer, starting in 11/85, the month Taurus came out. My opinion, the first year 1986 was the best Taurus. They bagan removing content after that. There was a good video for the dealers called Best In Class.
The 4cyl L model was the beginning of the downmarket time for the nameplate.
They did that with the Contour too. The earlier years had much better interiors than the later ones.
@@kamX-rz4uy Yeah.I had a 97' V6 Sport and the interior was a bit nicer than the 98's.I miss that car
@@emeyer6963 I also had a '97 Sport. Someone made a left turn in front of me and killed it (luckily not me). I looked at later ones but they weren't as nice so I bought another just like it.
@@kamX-rz4uy I was selling them back then and grabbed a Champagne 5 speed V6.Kind of felt like a budget SHO.Served me well for 115000 miles.
I absolutely ADORE our Tauruses - we have a 2000, a 2005 Five Hundred Limited AWD (basically a Taurus too) and a 2015 Limited AWD. ALL of them are still on the road - with NO problems or issues. BEST CAR EVER MADE! LOVE YOU FORD!
Awesome video!!
I worked at Ford Aerospace during Junior and Senior years while attending University of Maryland College Park campus and I remember going with my parents to buy their 1986 Ford Taurus GL and be able to get the Ford Employee A Plan discount price which was below Factory Invoice beat Ford new car discount available for employees and their Family members too including parents siblings and kids :) They had their Taurus over 12 years!
When I graduated college in 1987 from University of Maryland I ordered myself a 1987 Ford Thunderbird Sport 5.0 EFI loaded and received A Plan discount as an employee of Ford Aerospace (we were working on a Hubble Space Telescope Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Our parking lot at work was majority Fords, Mercurys & Lincolns since we all received A Plan price plus very inexpensive extended warranty plans only available to Ford employees plus incredible Leasing Prices too!!
Ford Aerospace which was an awesome company with awesome benefits eventually became a Division of Lockheed Martin
Although they look quaint today, when the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable were introduced, they looked futuristic and revolutionary for the time. Those cars got your attention back then.
My best friend had a 89' Taurus SHO , for a high school car it was nice.
my dad had a ‘94 taurus in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, and me and my twin sister’s first car was an ‘07 taurus. ironically all three of us are tauruses lol.
I had a '89 Ford Taurus that I bought brand new, but had issues like in 40,000 miles I replaced the ball joints & outer tie rod ends,at fifty thousand miles I replaced the water pump,I put 2 batteries in it in 70,000 miles,it knocked and pinged despite having the timing reset by the dealership- forced to use premium gas to keep it quiet and it used 1.5-2 quarts of oil in 3000 miles and then the Motor started knocking so I put heavier oil in it to quiet it down and the warranty and extended warranty had run out so I would have to pay for a new engine (dealer said they tried to get Ford to pay for it but got told no 3 time's- traded it in on a 1993 crown Victoria with 20,000 on it and drove it until it had 193,000 miles and the motor was on it's way out and gave it to charity for the tax deduction
My family had the privelage of growing up with a Ford Taurus throughout the years. My parents had a couple of them. We had a 1993 Taurus wagon with a carphone! Got it in 1995. My parents kept it until my mom was pregnant with me and my brother. They had to sell it due to the rear seats not being certified for child seats in 1999. My dad then got a 1989 mercury sable. He loved that thing. But in 2001 the cars water pump blew leaking coolant into the engine. (It had the infamous 3.8 Essex.) He had to get rid of it. Then in 2011 my dad purchased a 2007 Ford Taurus SEL with 88000 miles. We loved that thing dearly. it was the perfect highway car. We took it to Florida and back. My brother got rear ended at 50 mph in it by a hyundai Elantra. That car was completely totaled. Other than a slightly torn bumper the taurus took it all in stride and was completely drivable. My dad had to replace the spark plugs and power computer module which was causing power surges in July 2015 (1600 dollars). Then ironically on August 24th, 2015 my dad was rear ended on an on ramp in a 5 veichle crash. He suffered whiplash and has suffered from neck and back pain since. But the car protected him. It was going to be my brother Jake's first car. We were all sad to see it totaled. I got a 2008 Ford Taurus sel last year as my first car. It's been amazing. I love it so much. I got it at 103500 miles. It's now at 138280 miles. My parents looked for a Taurus for me and picked it over other cars. I'm gonna keep it on the road for as long as possible.
Thanks so much for sharing your family's history with these cars. I was recently rear ended in my own 91 Taurus and it did surprisingly well. Thanks again for sharing.
Love the history and facts. Amazing videos.
🎶Torrrus Taurus🎶 Torrrus Taurus🎶
They really took pride in the fact that it’s an American car.. This car saved Ford numerous times over the years, along with the Mustang and F Series. Unfortunately it’s being discontinued (again) likely along the their Lincoln Continental and the Chevy Impala (by GM) and various other sedans.. Ford has been very smart over the years and they know how to follow the trends according to consumer demand. Ford saw the crossover fad taking off before anyone else and then came the Taurus X crossover which replaced the Freestyle crossover before it too was replaced by a few other nameplates.
Makes me nostalgic for my first marriage and youth.
To me, the item which remains outstanding is the hidden talent which laid dormant for years until some key management changes freed that talent and set the dreamers in motion. If I'm not mistaken, Ford Motor Company spent some $5B developing the Taurus, and another $3.5B developing its next iteration.
Buddy of mine just picked up a 2001 mercury sable with 68,000 oroginal miles. I drove it and it runs like new in every regard. Tranmission was replaced he has the paperwork.
Ugliest cars ever.
I loved our 1998 Taurus and our 2008 Mercury Sable we miss them ford should of never let them go.
*should've. But yes.
My father had a 1988 Ford Taurus. It was a comfortable vehicle. Even had a little high technology in it at that time. It was the 1st car with a keypad on it for my parents. Even my father traded it for a 1991 or 1992 Ford Taurus. It wasn’t as comfortable as the first one was. I was looking at a 2004 Ford Taurus before getting my 2005 Ford Focus. I’m glad that I didn’t. I was in a car accident in that Focus with a Ford Taurus in early March 2012. I think the Taurus was from the mid 90’s to late 90’s. The first generation of Ford Taurus was a head of it’s time in the 1980’s.