Taurus returns

[ColonelPanic]

http://blogs.motortrend.com/62....htmlFord came out with the Five Hundred but didn't move as many units out the door as they had wanted... How to fix? Call it Taurus! I don't think that is going to work either... The name once had some equity, back in the 80's/early 90's... But after Ford left the Taurus out there to rot so they could focus on their damn SUV's, making it only appeal to rental fleets, they kinda put a few nails in the coffin there. And the Five Hundred is/was a significantly more expensive car. Those who bought a Taurus may not be interested. Ford's gonna have to do some serious decontenting to drop the price of the car five grand or so.Oh well, at least not having every fricken model start with F is a refreshing change.

[Vibr8tr]

Maybe if they put some letters on the Taurus it would help.... like an S.... maybe an H...... and an O.....I loved the SHO's and would be alot more likely to look into it if they brought them back. Just like the SVT contour, they were stupid to drop that off and rename it sport. I don't know if they realize that there is a market out there for these "sleeper" cars. I would rather buy a higher performance car from a dealer that I knew everything worked toegther than try and piece one together and CEL's and void warranties (even though it is fun to build a faster car).Just my thoughts on it.

[zionzr2]

dont get me started on the taurus

[Whelan]

Times when Ford shot themselves in the foot:-Letting the Taurus become a fleet car-Making the Explorer bland and overly huge-Excursion-Letting the F150 go, aside from a few interior/exterior enhancements-Coming out with lame versions of cars a Focus w/o any enhancements to make it look different or more sport.-The SVT Focus was lame and for 170hp did not move like it.-The SVT Contour was a great car, just looked bland-The fact that the last person in SVT only allowed two door Fords to wear the SVT badge (Mustang, F150, etc.)-Putting way too much time and advertising into Mustang, great car but people know about it already.-Waving to the imports as they drove by.The American automakers all shots themselves when the tried to push out all these trucks and SUVs thinking that the imports can have the small car market, we sell trucks! Well britches got a little big when the market shifted to smaller, economical, sportier, fun to drive all around good looking stylish cars. They sat there and cried instead of doing something about it. GM is probably the only true american car maker that is making an impact again, car of the year (Saturn Aura), truck of the year (Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra), i put them in the same category. And making more stylish edgy cars sooner. Bob Lutz pushed things into production and is starting to put GM in the black again.Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep since it is now partnered with Benz has been steadily moving up, but they need to work on making the Chrysler a more luxury car, somewhere between the dodge and Benz, i.e. Acura-esque. Since GM is moving its Saturn brand to fight directly with Acura in the coming years (and doing a good job so far), chrysler needs to do the same. However for me, Dodge still has cheap looking/feeling plastic and the cross hair grille gets old after awhile.

[ramenboy...]

Quote, originally posted by Vibr8tr »Maybe if they put some letters on the Taurus it would help.... like an S.... maybe an H...... and an O.....that's exactly what i was thinking!they should bring back the merkur sr4ti

[drunkenmaxx]

my buddy had a murkur as his first car! looked almost just like that, but brown

[ramenboy...]

lucky buddyi always thought that was a sweet rwd car. loved the kick-(removed) double wing in the back, too

[Whelan]

lets not forget where they screwed up in the states not giving us the good cars.Ford Escort Cosworththis was a bada$$ car

[Vibr8tr]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »-The SVT Contour was a great car, just looked blandCareful with that.... those were great cars, and the reason I liked them was, just like the SHO, they looked normal, but when the light turned green, and the corners got tight, all the other cars just saw taillights.I mean comeon, my buddy had a 99 SHO, and any family sedan that has a Gov that kicks on at 150mph... they get a in my bookBut again, that is my opinion, and I know alot of people don't agree....

[ramenboy...]

i never thought the contour svt looked bland. it was just the right amount of style. a little lower than stock, i liked the grill and the dual exhausts and the mesh under the rear bumper. it was to me more european than bland americani wanted to try to find one when i was finally getting rid of my old rodeo, then thought of a mazda 3 and found the vibe.

[kostby]

Brand Management gone awry, Chapter #2109383764198387827438712 (and counting... )Holy Gran Turismo Omologato, Batman! Ford IS becoming Pontiac! Next thing you know, Ford'll be importing Chinese-made propane grills and calling them Pintos!Take an old 'favorite BBG (Baby Boomer Generation) nameplate'. Example P: GTO Example F: TaurusApply it to a vehicle that has no characteristics in common with said nameplate, except having of four wheels and a steering wheel. Example P: Holden Monaro Example F: Five HundredMarketing Philophsopy: Those BBG's did so freaking many recreational substances in the 60's (and most are STILL using them) that they'll never notice the difference!G'bye Ford. It was nice knowing you for the 104 years you lasted.

[Whelan]

I guess my taste is a bit different. Looking close to stock is good but i like a little wild too. i.e. I was saving up for my Civic to get the Factory Performance body kit from Honda.

[ColonelPanic]

I never liked the Taurus, but I will give it credit where credit is due for the whole SHO thing. The first gen had the Yamaha V6, and the third gen had the V8, didn't they? Not too shabby. They beat the GM to the "let's take our bland, boring FWD sedan and wedge a V8 in there" party by adecade or so. Anyway, there is good news to this news... Bob and Tom can come out with more commercials where they can cackle like a bunch of morons during their "Pinkley Taurus" commercials.

[northvibe]

I loved my taurus and sable!! They never had major issues and always started in the winter :D1st/2nd gen sho's (1989-1995) had a 3.0 and 3.2 L v6 from yamaha - they came in manual and auto3rd gen (1995-1999) had the 3.4 v8 from yamaha (automatic only)The manual 3.2 could beat a 3.8 v8 but they were nice cars. SVT was awesome. the focus didnt do well because they over priced it and didnt really have any performance parts besides stock stuff. the focus svt got great ratings from CR saying it handled awesome.

[Whelan]

I miss Bob &Tom. We don;t get it here in CT New England. In Ohio where i used to live, that was the best thing on radio.French Toast!!!!!