Could it be? Right in the midst of my own personal search for a mint Gen 1 (1989-1991) Taurus SHO comes pictoral proof that Ford may be resurrecting the Super High Output model. What we have here is one of many images published by Jalopnik showing the "SHO" moniker in its traditional font on the passenger side dash of a 2010 Ford Taurus. What does it all mean? That's tough to say. The safe bet is that Ford may be developing a Taurus SHO concept car that could debut after the standard model is revealed at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show next month. It would also be safe to assume that a Taurus SHO would be powered by Ford's new EcoBoost V6, which is rumored to produce 350 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque. That's a heaping helping more than the 220 hp produced by the Yamaha-built 3.0L V6 in the original SHO, but there's also a lot more Taurus to haul around these days.
While it's possible that Ford could be adding the SHO trim level back to the Taurus line, we hope these pictures portend the arrival of a concept car only. You might be wondering how such an avid SHO fan could speak such blasphemy, and the answer is that today's Taurus is far removed from the original that shocked the industry back in 1986. Back then the Taurus was a mid-size family sedan with a futuristic design that broke the mold, and the SHO was heralded as an M3 at half the price when it arrived in 1989. Today's Taurus is just too big and expensive to wear those shoes, though an M5 on sale for 50% off sounds tempting. If we're being honest, however, a Fusion SHO tuned by SVT would be irresistible.
What'd you do this weekend? I spent Saturday and Sunday agonizing over an eBay Motors auction for this 1991 Ford Taurus SHO. You probably think I'm crazy, but the SHO remains one of my all time favorite cars, primarily because of its motor, a Yamaha 220-hp 3.0L V6 designed and built for Ford. Of all the SHOs built between 1989 and 1999, the '91 model is king. It was the last of the first generation, and therefore the lightest and fastest thanks to its lack of pesky safety features that added weight to later models. I'm about ready to replace my infamous '99 Alero, and wasn't even thinking SHO until I found this auction on eBay Motors for a Burgundy '91 model – one owner with just 53,000 miles. Anyone who regularly monitors this country's stock of SHOs for sale knows that finding one with less than 100k miles is rare enough, let alone one with just 53k.
When the Freestyle failed to capture the attention of the crossover-buying public, Ford took action. Designers slapped a three bar grille on the front end, got creative with the headlights and upped the power with a Duratec 3.5L V6 engine. And they changed the Freestyle's name to the Taurus X. Well, either nobody noticed or they just didn't give a damn. Ford is finally set to end the roomy crossover's misery in February 2009 when the last model is built at Ford's Chicago plant. Ford cited in a brief release that ditching the Taurus X will enable the Dearborn-based automaker to focus its attention on the seven-passenger Flex. Since the Flex is both cooler and better than the Taurus X in every way, we'd say that was a good call. Farewell, Taurus X. We'll miss your, uh...13 cup holders.
Even though Ford hasn't admitted it, we all know what's coming to Detroit. The 2010 Ford Taurus that's been spied and rendered is on its way, and although FoMoCo's design director, J Mays, won't go on the record as saying that the new Taurus will be unveiled in Motor City, he did say the automaker will show off the next iteration of its global styling theme this January.
Ford's North American and European design teams have been working together for the last two years on the successor to the automaker's "kinetic" design language that made its production debut with the Mondeo and continued with the Fiesta and Kuga. Mays calls the new theme "post-kinetic" and says it will "have the best attributes of kinetic, but ... is going to be possibly a little more simple, a little more elegant." The rendering above – "inspired" by a singular spy shot and created by Joshua Byrnes – is a good indication of what's to come, and if that's what Mays means my "simple" and elegant," we're sold.
We've been eagerly awaiting the upcoming introduction of the 2010 Ford Taurus since we first laid eyes on the Mondeo-inspired clay mock-up that was leaked across the Internets. Ford already announced that Ecoboost technology would power at least one version of the 2010 model, and with a 350-hp twin-turbo V6 underhood, we're thinking it's finally SHO time again. The scribes over at World Car Fans have supposedly heard otherwise, though, at least when it comes to the name. Word from industry insiders has the nomenclature as Taurus ST. World Car Fans got more than a scoop on names; they got some pics of the sporty Taurus, as well. It looks like Ford designers opened up the lower air dam to help feed the force-fed powerplant. The next generation of the corporate grille is partly visible, too, and it appears as though the bars got thinner and less cartoonish in execution. Headlights visible through the heavy camo appear to be of the LED kind, and they look far more modern than the current Taurus' 1990's design. Massive, MKS-like 20-inch rims help show this undercover Taurus has sporty pretenses, as does the duel exhaust out back. Also evident from the spy pics is the fact that the bulbous roofline from the current Taurus has been replaced with something far more shapely and contemporary. We're still a few months from seeing the 2010 Taurus in the flesh, but it's good to see that the high-performance version is well on its way.
Mercury, after nearly being introduced to oblivion, was rescued from the void because Ford needs a brand that could be devoted to small cars. The Ford brand, still fighting off oblivion itself, has recently been devoted to fresh, new designs that provide consumers the flair and features they've been looking for.
Two of the hitches in those plans are the Mercury Sable and the Taurus X. The Sable, sister of the Ford Taurus, has remained so unloved that even Jill Wagner couldn't save it (through no fault of her own). In these days of the Flex, Edge and Escape, the Taurus X is a conveyance from the Myocene era. To paraphrase Sesame Street, two of these things are not like the other... and so they are being killed, according to The Detroit News.
Ford hasn't confirmed the demise of the two cars. However, sales of both are in decline, they fall outside the missions of their respective brands, and Ford is furiously retooling plants and planning new rollouts. In light of all that, the real question might be: why put off until tomorrow...
The current Ford Taurus is a safe and reliable vehicle with plenty of space for a family of five. The Taurus is also completely invisible in the large car market, due mostly to its vanilla appearance. The Blue Oval is hoping to correct this issue with the next generation Taurus, which is due in 2010. We've already seen a blurry photo of a handsome clay model back in April, and now the future Ford flagship has been spied on the street as well.
Spies have caught a well-camo'd Taurus mule undergoing testing on public roads, with a new grille and modern-looking headlights that are exactly like the model we saw earlier in the year. The test vehicle also displays the same basic shape as the model we showed you back in the spring, which carries a more subdued version of Ford of Europe's Kinetic design theme. Gone is the odd-looking bulbous greenhouse from the current model, giving the future Taurus a more modern appearance.
According to MotorTrend, front- and all-wheel-drive variants will be available, and power will be provided the new EcoBoost engines, with a possible SHO revival packing the same turbocharged mill found in the Lincoln MKR concept.
We heard yesterday from a group of Ford Taurus SHO fans who were questioned in a focus group by Ford employees working on the next Taurus program, so we know that the Blue Oval is at least considering a high performance version of the next Taurus. Combine that with a grainy cell phone pic we posted of what could be a design study for the next Taurus and you've got fertile elements for our friends over at BringBacktheSHO.com who specialize in letting their imaginations run wild. Ryan Pasch who runs the website actually attended the focus group in question earlier this week, so these renderings based off of that grainy camera phone pic may be more accurate than we realize. Pasch calls the car in his renders the BringBacktheSHO Concept V2, and judging from the pics in our gallery below, we're as ready for the SHO's triumphant return as he his.
Being an avid Super High Output fan, any news of a Taurus SHO return gets my imagination going. Should it be FWD, AWD, or RWD? V8-powered or have a twin-turbo V6 underhood? Should it be light and handle well or compensate for its mass with awesome amounts of power? I ask these questions to myself, but last Monday a group of 11 Chicago area SHO fanatics were asked those same questions by members of the Taurus program from Ford.
As told by Don Mallinson on V8Sho.com, the story goes that this band of brothers participated in a focus group and had their brains picked for an evening about what makes a SHO a SHO, and if the much missed name were to be resurrected, what should the car be like today? Mallinson is clear that he and the focus group participants did not see a prototype, sketches of a prototype, or anything else that would confirm development is well on its way. The experience was pretty much a one-way street of questions, but these 11 people may have influenced Ford's decision to bring back the SHO and, if so, in what way. Such an awesome responsibility, I probably couldn't handle it.
Around 2 AM EST on Monday night, one of our readers sent us a tip about a photo making the rounds on two Taurus-specific forums. We followed both links and came across the spy shot you see above – now rumored to be the 2010 Ford Taurus. Big deal, right? It was, but not for the reasons you think. While we like spy pics as much as the next pistonhead, we have a policy against posting photos taken inside an automaker's design studio. Unlike the shots snapped by Frau Priddy and the crew at KGP, our legal department insists that anything taken on automaker property is illegal to distribute. So after the picture began circulating on several smaller sites, we held off on publishing it... until now. With sites like MotorTrend and InsideLine throwing caution to the wind, despite Ford's attempt to quell the photo's circulation, we feel compelled to bring it to you in all its grainy majesty – until FoMoCo's legal department starts pounding on our virtual door.
With that out of the way, all of us around the Autoblog offices are split about the design direction this one particular exercise (we're sure there's at least a dozen) is taking. The front end is far more dynamic than the current Taurus, with swept-back headlamps, a pointed fascia and the best application of the three-bar grille we've seen yet -- even if it does ape the last generation Lexus IS. The profile is handsome and distinctly Mondeo, a model that may, or may not, underpin the next Taurus. And if there's an SHO variant packing Ford's new turbocharged, EcoBoost V6, we're sure Mr. Neff will have his dirty little way with it when its officially uncloaked (possibly) in Detroit.
