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The Ford Taurus is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States. Originally introduced in the 1986 model year, it has remained in near continuous production for more than two decades, making it the fourth oldest nameplate that is currently sold in the Ford lineup. It has had a more upscale Mercury branded version entitled the Sable (1986-2005 2008-2009), as well as a performance variant, the Ford Taurus SHO (1989-1999 and 2010). It was a front wheel drive mid size car during its first production run, and it is now a full size car available in front or all wheel drive. The first generation Taurus was launched in 1985 as a 1986 model to strong fanfare and sales, replacing the slow selling mid size Ford LTD. (The full size Ford LTD Crown Victoria remained as part of the Ford line up.) Upon the Taurus' debut, Ford was producing a range of rear wheel drive cars, as Chrysler and General Motors offered more front wheel drive vehicles. With the introduction of the Tempo, Ford had started its own transition to front wheel drive. The Taurus displayed a rounder shape than its contemporaries, often likened to a 'jelly bean' or 'flying potato', inspired by the design of the Audi 5000 and Ford's own Tempo. The aerodynamic design of the Taurus also made the car more fuel efficient, allowing Ford to meet the more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards applied by the United States government. The Taurus' success ultimately led to an American automobile design revolution Chrysler and General Motors developed aerodynamic cars in order to capitalize on the Taurus' success.
The Taurus received its first cosmetic update in 1992. The second generation car dropped the manual transmission and the four cylinder engine, resulting in all second generation Tauruses having automatic transmissions and V6 engines. Length was increased by a few inches, and weight was up a couple of hundred pounds over the previous generation. Every body panel, save for the doors, was redesigned. However, many of the redesigned components closely resembled that of the previous generation, leading many to falsely believe that this generation was just a minor face lift. The 1996 model year saw the first complete redesign of the Taurus. It used a controversial new shape that chief designer Jack Telnack claimed was penned to make the Taurus stand out to sedan buyers, and compared the current Taurus to the likeness of a pair of slippers. This shape was based upon that of an oval, which was perhaps inspired by that of Ford's own logo, and while the previous Taurus used a flat, streamlined shape, this Taurus used a rounded shape similar to that of the Chrysler Concorde. Station wagons also got new sheet metal, although from the firewall back, the Taurus and Mercury Sable wagons again shared the same panels, with all station wagon doors being the same as those used on the Sable sedans. As the new generation Taurus was aimed at a more mature, affluent customer base, its exterior contained many upscale styling touches. For example, the LX came with chrome alloy wheels, chrome dual exhaust tips, and the "Taurus" badge on the back was written in script, as opposed to the block letters used in previous generations.
