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Say Goodbye to the Ford Taurus
The Daily Auto Insider
Friday, October 20, 2006
October 2006


Sometime next week, the last Ford Taurus will roll off an assembly line at a Ford plant near Atlanta, The Associated Press reported.

After 21 years and sales of nearly 7 million cars, Ford is finally giving up on what some call the most influential automobile since Henry Ford's Model T, the story said. The 2006 and 2007 models of Taurus were only sold via fleet sales after they were taken off the public market in 2005.

The Taurus became the best-selling car in America in 1992 with sales of nearly 410,000, unseating the Honda Accord. 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, the AP noted.

Ford also sold another 2 million Mercury Sables, the Taurus' nearly identical twin.

good riddance.

It looks as if Ford is going to turn themselves into a niche automaker. (3 or 4 models only)

Can't say I'm sad to see it go. It was long past its time.

I think it was a decent car, and will be missed (older people loved it, as did families alike) but the upside to all this, Ford will (hopefully) do what the Oakville plant did, and retool for flexible manufacturing in order to meet today's demand for constant changes to lineups.

goodbye. U will NOT be missed :)

The SHO models were the only ones that had any ray of usefulness in them. The V8 models were noteworthy in that they had more power, sounded better but they're actually slower than the previous gen. manual V6 models.

As for the rest... :puke:

On SNL Weekend Update they mentioned it, the joke was about how 30-somethings who have given up on life will have to find a different car. :P

euro_zx5,Oct 22 2006, 10:19 AM Wrote:I think it was a decent car, and will be missed (older people loved it, as did families alike) but the upside to all this, Ford will (hopefully) do what the Oakville plant did, and retool for flexible manufacturing in order to meet today's demand for constant changes to lineups.
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the plant in Atlanta is permanently closing. It is near the airport and was sold for future expansion to the Atlanta airport.

Bye bye jobs.

Dislike it all you like, Ford sold tons of them.

Carmakers only wish half the s***boxes you revere were as successful.

How many insert your favorite car here out there again?

I thought so.

OAC_Sparky,Oct 22 2006, 02:36 PM Wrote:Dislike it all you like, Ford sold tons of them.

Carmakers only wish half the s***boxes you revere were as successful.

How many insert your favorite car here out there again?

I thought so.
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Agree. :(

OAC_Sparky,Oct 22 2006, 02:36 PM Wrote:Dislike it all you like, Ford sold tons of them.

Carmakers only wish half the s***boxes you revere were as successful.[right][snapback]212924[/snapback][/right]

Yup ... Ford took a huge chance with the Taurus but when it was first launched it rocked the automotive world like few cars before it. It really saved Ford’s bacon too because they were losing serious ground to GM at the time and of course the Japanese were also taking market share.

Not only did the Taurus change forever the way North American’s looked at design, it finally gave us a car that at least came close to European ride, handling and materials. At that time the Taurus name became synonymous with a possible resurgence of all North American auto manufacturers … the automotive equivalent to the ‘great white hope’ of boxing fame.

In short, with Taurus Ford earned tremendous street cred and unprecedented brand value and in the market place both were worth billions. It’s a shame that Ford’s management over the years squandered the value of the Taurus name by continually attaching it to cars that never lived up to the standards and the promise of the very first Taurus. It could have been to sedans what the Mustang is to pony cars. It should have been.

And on a personal note, the Taurus was the car that switched me from GM and Honda to Ford (I owned 3 Tauri) … and although I’m sad to see the Taurus name disappear, it’s the right thing to do considering the damage Ford’s done to the brand over the past decade.

Ford with the Taurus, had I think, the chance to make a nameplate that could have become as revered as the Camary and Accord. But Ford's management made so many bad decisions regarding the Taurus they eventually killed off any goodwill the car may have garnered in the beginning.

My sole experience with the Taurus was perhaps the best (worst?) example of where Ford went wrong with the Taurus. A 1986 Ford Taurus auto that had been saddled with the 4 cyl.

While the car rode very well, it suffered from an engine that was far too weak for the size of the car (Being basically a bored out Tempo 4cyl. motor) and drank gas at insane rates. It also was the first car I even owned that actually left me stranded at the side of the rode thanks to an inherent design flaw (One of the electronic control modules in the 2.5L was put too close to a major source of heat in the engine)

Still, I will admit that when I was replacing my last car, an '05 Taurus was on my short list to replace it, but the horror stories regarding the auto tranny scared me off...

NefCanuck

ZTWsquared,Oct 22 2006, 06:22 PM Wrote:In short, with Taurus Ford earned tremendous street cred and unprecedented brand value and in the market place both were worth billions. It’s a shame that Ford’s management over the years squandered the value of the Taurus name by continually attaching it to cars that never lived up to the standards and the promise of the very first Taurus. It could have been to sedans what the Mustang is to pony cars. It should have been.[right][snapback]212942[/snapback][/right]

Yes, very true.

It's unfortunate that Ford chose to concentrate on trucks and SUVs than keep the Taurus fresh. But they did that across the car line, not just the Taurus.

I'm currently on my second Mercury Sable, and to be honest, I won't miss the new ones. The last nice Taurus that was made was the '99 SHO with the Yammy V-8 (too bad they liked to destroy cams).

When it comes time to replace the Sable, I'll be looking at probably a Fusion, Mazda6, or an SUV.

Nobody can't say that Ford can't milk a good thing. The Taurus floorpan/drivetrain (Vulcan-A4XN combo) /suspension remained relatively unchanged for 21 years. Almost as long as Fox Mustangs. :P

Ryan

our family had an '87 Taurus with the electronic dash... nothing like paying out the ass to keep replacing bulbs behind the LCD displays. But it was probably THE coolest electronic dash ever--even to this day IMO.

it was a great car.. awesome looking in that day and time... and it held up pretty well.

my paps has a '99 Taurus wagon....and never had a problem with it.....and it just hit 200k in it....daily driver and plus we load that trunk often

I remeber the first time I saw the round radio bezel.

:lol:

I thought to myself...there goes any aftermarket ideas....then thought to myself...IT'S A TAURUS!

:lol:

When the Fusion & Five Hundred came out in 2005, the Taurus was supposed to dissapear entirely.

Not sure if anybody saw this (or cares :D) but here is the ABC news video on the end of Taurus production.

ABC Farewell to Taurus

Jason Kennedy, who they interview, is one of the head's of the TCCA, another board that I frequent.

Ryan

I had a 95 Taurus wagon, in red, with a 3.8L It wasn't a bad car, you felt the road when you were driving, instead of floating down the road. Transmission went at 50,000K, Taurus went at 60,000K, bought an Escort. Taurus's were famous for bad transmissions. But, because people bought them, Ford figured they didn't have to redesign the transmission, just put a rebuilt in. That's okay when you have warranty, but afterwards............................