The Taurus SHO is the fastest, most expensive Ford sedan | Revelations with Jason Cammisa | Ep. 08
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2021
- With a development budget of $3.5 billion, the Taurus was Ford's most expensive project ever. It was also a Hail Mary for the company, which was in financial trouble.
And the SHO was the fastest version of the Taurus.
If the Taurus failed, so, too would Ford. It was so important to the success of the company that Ford restructured the engineering and design teams to work together on the new family sedan.
The Taurus's design was so revolutionary that Ford kept its previous mid-size sedan, the LTD, in production at the same time, just in the new car failed - as the other American car executives predicted it would.
Instead, Taurus was an enormous success, eventually becoming the bestselling car in America. The performance version, the Taurus SHO, used the same basic 3.0-liter Vulcan V-6, but instead of pushrods, it used four overhead cams and 24 valves. The DOHC 4-valve heads were designed, manufactured, and assembled by Yamaha in Japan.
The SHO used a Mazda-sourced 5-speed manual and was the most powerful front-wheel drive sedan in the world. The only four-doors quicker or faster in America were the BMW M5 (E34) and 750iL. It was a performance bargain.
But although Ford sold around 400,000 Tauruses per year, it didn't come close to its target of 20,000 SHOs annually. Except for the first year with the new, optional automatic transmission and larger 3.2-liter SHOgun engine.
Why didn't the SHO sell? Well, because it looked like a Taurus - then, the de rigueur family sedan for the person who didn't care about performance.
So the SHO was a victim of the Taurus' success.
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can we just take a second to appreciate the production value of this video. These guys made an exceptionally good looking, well made, well lit, excellent audio quality, tv quality youtube video.
That SHO V6 is one of the most aesthetically pleasing engines ever made. The intake manifold is nothing short of a work of art.
I had an 89 SHO when I was in high school. I remember thinking it was an absolute rocket at the time and could do burnouts through 3rd gear. It was the ultimate sleeper car of its day.
I am one of the few that actually loved that the SHO didn’t stand out. The little styling tweaks Ford did do to the SHO were perfect, understated, handsome, and tasteful. And made it into one of the greatest sleepers of all time.
When the SHO breaks down, you fix the SHO
I always wanted one of these with a license plate that says “SHO TIME”
I owned an '89 SHO and later a gen 3 '97, absolute maintenance nightmares but I still enjoyed them both. Worst was the '97 and the cam shaft gear / bent valves problem ughgh. Loved this video!
One of the best sleepers ever. I got one as my first car and was addicted. I owned 8 after that. Watching that spirited drive at the end makes me miss mine terribly. I still have a supercharged 1990 that’s been in storage for years. That car would surprise the hell out of people. The most beautiful intake manifold ever.
I remember when the SHO was released and on the road. It was a factory-made sleeper car. Most people had no clue the balls it had because it looked like the regular Taurus.
I drove a black 1990 Taurus SHO with the darkest window tint I could legally get in college. It had the benefit of being invisible to cops and super visible to "those who knew". It was a fabulous car.
My dad had an original Taurus SHO as a company car. An important reason why not many were sold is that you just couldn't find them at dealers. The few that had one would put them in the middle of the showroom and not let people test drive them. My dad ended up ordering one without having driven it based on magazine reviews alone. As it was a company car he didn't care too much, but I imagine the average consumer would want to drive one before deciding to take the plunge.
When you get Yamaha involved in the engine design of your car, you know you're going to end up with something weird and exciting. The same problem that sank the SHO (the lack of differentiation from the base model sedan) is the same thing that sank the Fusion Sport. The Fusion Sport was easily one of the best sedans out of America in terms of power, handling, and creature comforts. The problem was that you couldn't readily tell it apart from the standard Fusions, and that's a problem when you're paying a non-trivial premium to get one. I got the 2.0L ecoboost AWD with the titanium and electronics packages, so it's every feature from the Sport model at the time, except for the V6 (which I do wish I could have afforded at the time. The extra power at marginal fuel economy sacrifice would have been really nice).
These type of reviews are really important to be on the internet. Thank you Jason!
The SHO was a sleeper back in the day. Kicked a lot of ass!
1991 SHO was my first car. What a fun car to drive, plus it's spacious. Unfortunately, it eventually needed too many repairs, and at the time I couldn't afford to get it fixed. After sitting in my driveway for years, I finally sold it to a neighbor who was interested in it. Happy it went to a good home, but sad that it's gone. One day when the stars align, I'll get another 1991 SHO!
I was working at Ford when the Taurus rolled out and it was a happy time for sure. Then Ford claims to have outsold the Honda Accord and spent millions on advertising claiming the achievement with a grand celebration planned. But then Honda called foul and had damning evidence to back up the claim.
The drive scene was very authentic...the engine light was on the whole time.
I bought an '89 SHO back in 2004 from a Dealer Auction for $650 and it had "No Problems" & it was SUPER FAST!!! I loved it!!
Got a 94 SHO that currently needs a little TLC.. hope to have it back on the road soon! Truly an amazing car. They sound great, handle way better than I thought it would at first glance, and have one of the most beautiful intake setups you’ll ever see!
My dad still talks about the cool digital dash in his 92 Taurus to this day. Revolutionary stuff back then