1986 Taurus
Posted on 10/19/2006 10:56:56 AM PDT by floridareader1
DEARBORN, Mich. - Sometime next week, the assembly line at a Ford plant near Atlanta will come to a halt, signaling the end of a family sedan so revolutionary that its 1985 debut changed forever the way cars look, feel and drive. ADVERTISEMENT
Say goodbye to the Taurus.
After 21 years and sales of nearly 7 million cars, Ford Motor Co. is giving up on what some call the most influential automobile since Henry Ford's Model T. The Taurus is credited with moving America away from boxy V-8 powered gas-guzzling bedrooms-on-wheels to aerodynamic, more efficient cars with crisper handling.
To many, the Taurus' death was slow and painful as Ford in recent years abandoned the car that saved the company, focusing instead on high-profit trucks and sport utility vehicles.
"When that thing came out, it was a big deal," said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. "It so much became kind of the template of what a modern car was going to look like."
The Taurus, so futuristic that critics called it a "jellybean" or a "flying potato," made its debut late in 1985, with 1979 gasoline shortages still fresh in consumers' minds. The U.S. economy was just pulling out of a downturn when the scalloped Taurus, initially equipped with V-6 and four-cylinder engines, hit showrooms. It was an immediate hit, with buyers snapping up more than 263,000 in 1986, its first full year on the market.
It became the best-selling car in America in 1992 with sales of nearly 410,000, unseating the Honda Accord just as Japanese imports were starting to take hold in the U.S., and it held the top spot for five straight years until it was supplanted by the Toyota Camry in 1997. Even near death in September, it remained Ford's top-selling car.
Ford also sold another 2 million Mercury Sables, the Taurus' nearly identical twin.
"It was really the last full-size American passenger sedan to dominate the segment," said Jim Sanfilippo, senior industry analyst for Bloomfield Hills-based Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc.
Ford was losing billions in the early 1980s when Taurus was just an idea. Philip Caldwell, chief executive at the time, challenged designers and engineers to come up with a radically different car that would return Ford to profitability.
"We were in terrible condition financially," recalled Jack Telnack, chief designer on the original Taurus who retired in 1998. "He said `Look, we need something really different, really new, that will kind of set the pace out there.'"
Nearly 1,000 people worked on the car, many coming from Ford's European operations. They had spotted a trend that U.S. buyers were moving away from big, cushy cars to better-handling European models, Telnack said.
Engineers met that trend with a stiffer suspension, and they also gave the car more interior room, firmer seats, better ergonomics and more trunk space, said Telnack.
The car also had a lot of new "surprise and delight" features including a cargo net to hold grocery bags in the trunk and rear-seat headrests and heat ducts, said Joel Pitcoff, the Taurus' marketing manager at the time.
It was a hit in market research tests, and sales beat expectations, said Sam Pack, owner of three Dallas-area Ford dealerships who took part in Taurus research.
The car's sales remained strong until it got a makeover in 1996. Although the second version sold well, it never matched the original's numbers.
Still, company officials said the Taurus restored Ford's reputation for quality.
Frank Ribezzo, a lawyer in North Smithfield, R.I., is selling a 1997 Taurus for $950 after running up 210,000 miles. It's his third Taurus, with the first two going over 220,000 miles.
Ribezzo said he buys them used because they don't cost much and, save for the transmissions, they're reliable.
"As far as used cars, their value just goes to hell in a handbasket in a couple of years. But they run," Ribezzo said.
In the late 1990s, the Taurus became symptomatic of Ford's current ills. The company focused on high-profit trucks and sport utility vehicles, leaving the car almost unchanged for 10 years with little advertising support. In the meantime, competitors had copied the Taurus and refined their models, and the Taurus eventually became solely a rental car and fleet vehicle.
"It didn't keep pace. That's the whole story in four words," said Pitcoff.
Ford, left with few desirable cars, was caught flat-footed this year when consumer tastes shifted away from trucks. Sales have dropped 8.6 percent through September, and the company lost $1.4 billion in the first half of the year.
"They put no money into that product for the last several years," Telnack said of the Taurus. "They just let it wither on the vine. It's criminal. The car had a great reputation, a good name. I don't understand what they were waiting for."
The lack of attention to the Taurus has angered workers at the assembly plant in Hapeville, Ga.
Earle Chafim, a 22-year electrician who repairs welding robots, said workers met company goals, yet Ford still decided to shutter the plant.
"The biggest part I hate is we got the No. 1-selling car in the company, we won so many awards for being No. 1, it's a shame. We're still outselling other cars, and we're not even taking orders anymore," he said.
Ray Daniels, a 33-year company veteran, blamed Ford for not updating the Taurus and keeping the name.
"If they'd kept the name, we'd still be here," he said.
Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, said he, too, can't understand how the company strayed so far from the Taurus. He wasn't with Ford when those decisions were made, but said he knows well that Ford's 1980s turnaround was led by appealing products, something he's trying to duplicate now.
"We are very, very focused on what customers want," he said.
When the lights go out on the last Taurus in Hapeville next week, there won't be any ceremony.
"It's not a reason for celebration," said plant manager Dale Wishnousky, proudly adding that workers raised quality levels since Ford announced the plant closure. "There will certainly be tears shed. There's already been tears shed."
it may very well have been
PR folks churn this stuff out by the megabit
lazy journalists can copy and paste
If you divide the purchase price by 10 years, that is a really great car!
Yes, the Caprice 94-96 looked like Shamu. But some of them had a basic version of the Corvette engine in them that is a tuner's dream: the ultimate sleeper car, if you bolt the right stuff on there.
And the 96 Impala SS came off the assembly line as a four-door sedan with the heart of a muscle car.
Unlike, for example, Datsun which has been around...no wait that's Nissan now, isn't it?
Did they ever! And that can be the biggest cost of all. Ask me about my Toyota Camry which runs like a watch -- and my Daughter's new Honda. Compete or perish.
1986 Taurus
Funny thing, my co-worker's daily driver is a '94 Taurus with over 200,000 miles. It's not in bad shape but we still teaze him about his car.
My sister has one too and it has been a good vehicle for her. The only problem she has had was the starter, but the car had over 100,000 miles on it when that happened.
As I recall, the Taurus starter is positioned almost directly under the oil pan drain cock.
Yet another WTF moment brought to you by Ford.
Too funny! Have had two Taurus'-both 94's. Brake problems with both-shimmy-no one can find anything wrong. My husband and my BIL both wrecked my wagon-I know better-don't tailgate anyone and don't hit the brakes hard. There is a gremlin in the windshield wiper control-sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. If you use the emergency flashers, the steering column makes a buzzing noise. Temp gauge bobs erratically if you don't keep the resevoir overfull. Current Taurus has close to 200,000. Going to drive it until it croaks.
I bought a Taurus in 2001. They redesigned it in 2000 with a square back window and a flat butt...Looks cool! I love the adjustable foot pedals, since I am short. I like how solid it feels, and the roominess inside.
We rented a Lumina once, and it felt like a paper car compared to the Taurus.
When I buy my next car, years from now, what sedan can I find that is a nice big size and sturdy-feeling, like the Taurus?
If not the pan drain, then the filter. One way or the other, the positioning is almost guaranteed to drip oil on the starter at least at every change, if not also between changes.
That's still not as bizarre as the Caprice mentioned up thread, which puts the ignition coil packs next to and directly behind the water pump (!?!).
Buick's version of the outrageously ugly Pontiac Aztek was known as the Rendezvous which I'm fairly confident Tiger Woods wasn't driving when he wasn't working...even though he provides endorsements for that GM brand.
Ford unfortunately doesn't provide anything in their current product lineup that would be particularly attractive to active people in their late-30's. The only exception is possibly the Fusion model or perhaps the Freestyle crossover, if cargo capacity is an issue. As the pleased owner of a Contour SE which proved reliable and fun to drive, I'm seriously considering a VW GTI so I can obtain a four-door hatchback with an interesting engine and transmission. Ford has somewhat abandoned me.
~ Blue Jays ~
I have three Fords and I love them all!
Me too, an '04 F150, an '03 Mustang Mach 1, and a Ranger. All are solid vehicles btw.
I've had four Crown Vics in a row, and when I've finally beaten the tar out of this one, I'm buying another.
My criticism of Fords is (mostly) affectionate.
" I thought the "Taurus" was being retired to be replaced by their new homo-friendly philosophy as the "Anus"? "
Yeah, it'll be the "companion vehicle" to the new minivan the Ford Hemorrhoid and the full-sized Ford Colon.
Sorry.
ff (a Virgo who drives a Cavalier)
Then at 15 thou a year there should not be a single on on the road by 2009. Built to fall to pieces at 60K. Any anyone would "buy American" is beyond me. First off you'll probably have more Americans working at a Toyota plant in Kentucky than a Ford plant in Michigan so don't let that be your reason.
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