Ford Taurus

Ford Taurus at a glance

The Taurus is part of our Ford catalogue, next to its smaller European-built cousin, the Ford Fusion of 2002–2012. To set it against rivals such as the Toyota Camry, use our car comparison tool, or search used sedans by size and power in the car finder.

How the 1986 car changed Ford's sedans

In the early 1980s Ford's large family sedans, led by the LTD, still had rear-wheel drive and upright, square bodies. The Taurus and its Mercury twin, the Sable, were developed as a clean break: transverse engines, front-wheel drive and a smooth, aerodynamic body that looked nothing like the cars it replaced. Production started in October 1985 and the car went on sale on 26 December 1985 as a 1986 model.

Buyers took to the shape quickly. Ford built 236,362 Taurus in the first model year, and the one-millionth car was sold during the 1989 model year. Wikipedia's production table adds up to 1,959,671 first-generation cars, including 472,157 wagons, while its text speaks of more than two million. Either way, the Taurus set the template for American family sedans of the next decade.

Price mattered too: a 1986 dealer video, shown again by Ford Authority, put the Taurus GL at US$11,748. It claimed the car undercut the Chevrolet Celebrity by about US$800 in 1986 and held its value better.

Taurus generations from 1986 to 2019

First and second generation: the best-seller years

The first Taurus (1986–1991) offered a 2.5-litre four, the 3.0 Vulcan V6 and, from 1988, the torquier 3.8 Essex V6, with a five-speed manual or three- and four-speed automatics.

For the 1992 model year Ford gave the car new panels everywhere except the doors, a longer body, a rounder roof and a new dashboard. Only V6 engines and automatic gearboxes remained in the regular range. A passenger airbag became standard in 1993–1994, which made the Taurus the first American mid-size sedan with two front airbags as standard. The second generation reached 1,509,031 cars in four model years, and the Taurus stayed America's best-selling car through the whole period.

Oval styling and the New Edge redesign

The 1996 redesign was bolder. Under chief designer Jack Telnack the whole car was built around ovals: the grille opening, the tail lamps, the rear window and the side glass all repeated the shape. The DN101 platform added 64 mm of wheelbase, and a new 3.0-litre Duratec DOHC V6 joined the Vulcan. Critics nicknamed the car the "bubble" Taurus. It stayed America's number one car in 1996, but rental fleets took about half of that year's sales, and in 1997 the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord moved ahead.

The fourth generation of 2000 answered the criticism with a more upright tail, a higher roof and a much larger boot. Designer Moray Callum kept the doors of the old car but gave the rest a conservative "New Edge" look. Side airbags were available, and the Duratec V6 was dropped after 2005. Wagon production ended on 8 December 2004, retail sales of the sedan stopped after the 2006 model year, and the last car left the Atlanta plant on 27 October 2006. The 2007 model year was sold to fleets only.

Full-size era on the Volvo-derived D3 platform

In 2006 Ford's new chief executive Alan Mulally asked how the Taurus could go away when it was "the best selling car in America". Soon the Ford Five Hundred full-size sedan, built since 2004 on the D3 platform derived from Volvo's P2 (Volvo S80) architecture, was facelifted and renamed Taurus for the 2008 model year. It received the 3.5-litre Duratec 35 V6 instead of the old 3.0-litre, and a six-speed automatic developed jointly by Ford and General Motors replaced the CVT. All-wheel drive became available, the 2008 car was an IIHS Top Safety Pick, and it scored five stars in the US government crash tests. The crossover version of the same car was sold as the Taurus X until February 2009.

The sixth generation followed in June 2009. It kept the D3 base (2,868 mm wheelbase) but had a new, larger body. The 2013 refresh brought more power for the 3.5 V6, a new grille, LED tail lamps, torque vectoring, the MyFord Touch screen and an optional 2.0 EcoBoost four (to 2017). From 2013 the Police Interceptor Sedan, with a police-only 3.7-litre V6 of 227 kW (305 hp), replaced the Crown Victoria.

Ford announced the end of its US sedans on 25 April 2018, and the last American Taurus left Chicago on 1 March 2019. In China the name lived on in a long-wheelbase sedan based on the Fusion/Mondeo. Changan Ford built it in Hangzhou and sold it from 2016 to 2022 with EcoBoost four-cylinder engines and a 2.7 EcoBoost V6.

Taurus SHO: Yamaha V6, V8 and EcoBoost

Ford's Special Vehicle Operations developed the SHO (Super High Output), which appeared in late 1988 as a 1989 model. Its 3.0-litre DOHC V6 was built by Yamaha and produced 164 kW (220 hp); for the first years it came only with a five-speed manual. Sales were higher than Ford had expected, so production continued through 1991.

From 1993 the SHO could be ordered with an automatic, paired with a 3.2-litre Yamaha V6 of equal power. The 1996–1999 SHO switched to a 3.4-litre V8 with 175 kW (235 hp), designed with Yamaha heads and a Cosworth-cast block, but automatic only. Its camshafts could separate from their sprockets around 80,000 km (50,000 miles); welding them is the usual fix.

After a ten-year gap the SHO returned in August 2009 with the twin-turbo 3.5 EcoBoost V6, a six-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive. The Performance Package added a 3.16:1 final drive and stronger brakes. This last SHO stayed in the range until 2019.

Engines and power

All Taurus engines except the manual-gearbox SHOs and early five-speed cars were paired with automatics: four speeds until 2007, six speeds from 2008. The last 3.5 V6 was rated at 19 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, roughly 12.4 and 8.1 l/100 km.

Dimensions and weight by generation

Prices over the years

• 1986 Taurus GL: US$11,748 in 1986.
• 1996 base car: about US$18,000 at launch in 1996.
• 2009 Taurus SE: US$24,125 in 2009, about €17,300.
• 2010 Taurus SHO: US$37,995 including delivery in 2010, about €28,700.
• Price at the end of production: about US$28,000 in 2019, about €25,000.

Outside North America the Taurus was a rare sight: Ford Australia imported the third generation for 1996 only, and later the China-built car was exported to the Middle East from 2020.

Photo gallery