Ford Taunus 17M P3, 1960-1964 / Ford Motor Company
Although it was never officially offered in the U.S., the 1961 German Ford Taunus 17M — nicknamed “the Bathtub Taunus” for its oval-shaped aerodynamic styling and peaked fenders — made a big splash in Europe, and it also attracted some attention from curious American journalists. In January 1961, Sports Cars Illustrated (soon to be renamed Car and Driver) offered a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the development of the Taunus 17M P3, the first German Ford actually designed in Germany.
A mea culpa is in order: Earlier in 2024 (before I found the SCI article presented below), I had erroneously asserted that this Taunus 17M (known internally as Projekt-3, or just “P3”) was designed in Dearborn — you can imagine my embarrassment! In fact, the P3 was actually the first true in-house design from German Ford subsidiary Ford-Werke AG in Cologne.
The Detroit-styled 1960 Ford Taunus 17M de Luxe (P2) / Ford Motor Company
Previously, Ford-Werke had mostly relied on either the home office in Dearborn or in outside coachbuilders for its design and styling work. There was a styling studio in Cologne, but it was small and had few resources. The outgoing Taunus 17M, the 1957–1960 P2 (above), was designed in Dearborn, and looked it, but in April 1958, Ford of Germany got a new American senior design manager, Wesley P. Dahlberg, who immediately began work an all-new, all-German successor, developed with studio chief Uwe Bahnsen (who would eventually become VP of design for Ford of Europe). That’s Dahlberg kneeling in the center of the top photo on the first page below:
The Taunus 17M was the senior German Ford model, although it was somewhat smaller than the Ford Falcon and offered only four-cylinder engines. These were OHV inline-fours, initially offered in 1.5- or 1.7-liter (91.4 or 103.7 cu. in.) sizes; the Taunus V-4 was still in the planning stages, and wouldn’t be offered on the 17M until the next generation.
1961 Ford Taunus 17M Super / Darin Schanbel via RM Sotheby’s
As the text above explains, the 17M P3 was lighter than the P2, and also much more aerodynamic, with the body shape refined by testing scale models in a rented wind tunnel in Stuttgart. The P3 had a claimed drag coefficient of 0.40, more than 25 percent better than a full-size 1960 Ford and about 20 percent better than the P2.
These improvements really paid off on the road. The text above says the 17M could go from 0 to 60 mph in 21 seconds, but the West German car magazine Auto, Motor und Sport (AMS) found that a new 17M with the 1.7-liter engine and optional four-speed gearbox could hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in 20 seconds flat and reach a top speed of 86 mph (138.4 km/h) — not exactly a tarmac terror even by European standards, but very respectable for a largish middle-class family sedan of this era. The cheaper 1.5-liter engine still allowed 0 to 62 mph in 24.6 seconds and a top speed of almost 83 mph (132.9 km/h), about what the heavier, draggier P2 could manage with 1.7 liters.
1,698 cc OHV I-4 with 60 PS / Darin Schanbel via RM Sotheby’s
The 23.5 to 25.5 mpg fuel economy claimed in the text was a trifle optimistic unless you drove very gently, but AMS managed a test average of 23.5 mpg (10.0 liters/100 km) with the 1.5-liter engine and 21.8 mpg (10.8 liters/100 km) with the 1.7-liter, both with a lot of hard driving. Since the P3 was roomier than the P2 and had much better performance, this was still quite decent for the time.
1961 Ford Taunus 17M Super / Darin Schanbel via RM Sotheby’s
(The B&W photographs in the SCI article, by the way, are by acclaimed German racing photographer and photo journalist Julius Weitmann, also a regular contributor to AMS in this period.)
When the SCI article appeared, the development of the Ford “Cardinal” project had already become one of the auto industry’s worst-kept secrets. The text’s speculation that the 17M P3 “may well hint at the outline of the V4, front-drive Cardinal-to-come” was a common assumption at the time, although it turned out to be mistaken.
The photo in the upper right shows modelers using a type of styling bridge to establish the dimensions of the full-size clay model based on the 3/8ths-scale model. If you look closely, you’ll note that the full-size clay has cutouts for dual sealed-beam headlights rather than the oval-shaped lamps of the scale model, which wouldn’t have been legal in the U.S. Ford-Werke didn’t end up exporting the P3 to the U.S., but it was obviously considered. (By the time it was ready, it would have been too close to the Falcon in size and price, and Ford of Germany had greater need for it in Europe.)
On the lower left is a photo of what looks to be a steel “body-in-white” being tested on a machine that subjects it to “constant racking, bumping, and shaking” to look for problems with the joints and seams. On the lower right is a photo of two 17M prototypes being tested on the road in Corsica. The text notes:
A few laps at the Nurburgring revealed that the car has a fairly soft ride, although rough sections on the circuit were more noticeable in the rear than in the front seat. The engine is the familiar 60-bhp powerplant used in the current Taunus models. Reportedly, there’s a 75 bhp unit in the works, but it’s expected that it will be used first in police cars before reaching the public.
At launch, the 60 PS 1.7-liter engine was the most powerful option on the 17M, but starting in the fall of 1961, there was a new 17M TS model with a 1,758 cc (107.3 cu. in.) engine offering 70 PS on premium fuel. The hotter 75 PS version was finally added to the civilian 17M TS in September 1963, giving a top speed of almost 98 mph (157 km/h) and 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 13.3 seconds, which was hot stuff for a German family sedan of that time. The 17M TS was also the first German Ford to offer front disc brakes, introduced in 1962.
1961 Ford Taunus 17M Super / Darin Schanbel via RM Sotheby’s
This was all very impressive in its way, but the real star was the styling. The German press was initially not sure what to make of the new 17M and its oval-themed design, but the public loved the “Bathtub Taunus,” and it’s not hard to understand why. German Ford (and Opel) designs of the ’50s had looked like shrunken American cars, which was kind of an acquired taste for European buyers. The P3 had a sleek aerodynamic shape with many cool little details inside and out, but unlike the glitzier U.S. models of its time, it wasn’t straining to look like a jetliner or a rocketship — it was seen as a smart-looking, thoroughly modern European design. A 17M was still a fairly inexpensive car, so it was nothing special mechanically, and German Fords of this time didn’t have the assembly quality of a Volkswagen or the solidity of a contemporary Mercedes-Benz. However, the P3 was functional as well as stylish, and it went pretty well for its time and price class. Many buyers found it an appealing package and a fair value.
1961 Ford Taunus 17M Super / Darin Schanbel via RM Sotheby’s
Ford of Germany went on to sell 669,731 of the “Bathtub” 17M in four years, which made the P3 the most successful model Ford-Werke had ever offered. (Most were sold in West Germany, but some were exported to other markets, including France, Denmark, and the Netherlands.)
The headline “Stromform heißt Sparform” means, roughly, “Modern Shape Means Savings.” Ford of Germany advertised the P3 with the tagline “die Linie der Vernunft”: “The Line of Reason.”
As you might imagine, Ford of Germany was pleased to receive this coverage in the U.S. press, but the editors of SCI/Car and Driver subsequently got a letter from Cologne (printed in the July 1961 issue) offering an important correction about the designer:
The legibility of the text isn’t ideal (the above item was scanned from microfilm), but it offers some useful biographical information about Wes Dahlberg. Here’s what it says:
AN AMERICAN ABROAD
Thank you for the coverage you gave to our new Taunus 17M in your January issue. However, one correction — you stated that Mr. (Wesley P.) Dahlberg had spent a preparatory three years in the United States. Actually, he spent most of his life in your country and only the past three years in Germany where the new Taunus 17M was developed.Incidentally, you may lie interested to know that in breaking away from the “current European Angular trend,” the Taunus’s new form has stimulated widespread enthusiasm among writers and the public. Its great success in our world-wide market seems to mark it as an important new approach to production car styling.
Robert W. Zvanetti
Foreign Press Service
Ford-Werke Aktiengesellschaft
Koln-Niehl
GermanyMr. Dahlberg, above, was born in Muskegon, Michigan, Sept. 21, 1917. A graduate of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he served as an art instructor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to joining the Ford Motor Company in 1947, he served four years in the Air Force and was associated with product design firms in Minnesota and Washington state. He was appointed head of the Ford of Cologne styling division in 1958, an assignment which included development of the Taunus 17 M.
Wes Dahlberg remained with Ford-Werke in Cologne until 1967, when he returned to Dearborn for a new posting in the Corporate Advanced Studio, under Don DeLaRossa. In 1968–1969, Dahlberg developed a design proposal for the Lincoln Continental Mark IV, which Ford president Bunkie Knudsen selected for production over the objections of Dahlberg’s boss, Gene Bordinat. Dahlberg and Jim Arnold were then assigned to the Lincoln-Mercury studio to develop the interior of the Mark IV.
Dahlberg went on to live a remarkably long life: He died in November 2023 at the age of 106!
This to me looks like a baby ’61 “Bullet” Thunderbird
For sure.
Great write up. I’m kind of a committed Ford guy but I know very little about the German Fords. I could see myself owning one of these back in the day had I lived there.
The oval shaped headlamps were new for mainstream cars. The only other car with them was the Citroen Ami, which was introduced at a similar time.
Interesting stylistic detail on the first series P3 Wagon (called “Turnier”): High mounted tail/brake light units.
These were later abandoned in favor of conventionally ones embedded in the fender tips.
Image: A survivor from Finland
The other interesting detail is that there was also a panel van version, which had a side-hinged tailgate. (The Turnier gate was hinged at the bottom in the usual way.)
I’ve always preferred the US styling of the `57-`60 P2 version. A little bit `58 Ford, big round taillights like a `59 Ford, and overall styling more in line with US products than Germany. Those and Opel Rekords of the same period have always been attractive cars to me.
The wheels on that white one ((first pic)) look soo tiny..
My main aesthetic gripe with the P3 is that its track width is fairly narrow, and the curvature of the body sides makes it look pigeon-toed at some angles. (It’s not, and the tires were 5.90S-13, which was pretty typical for this class, but it sometimes looks a bit awkward.) I’m not a fan of the later P5’s fright-mask grille treatment, but it had a wider track that gave it a better stance.
So the fuel consumption, in miles per US gallon, on the P2 was plus or minus the same as the 0-60 mph time in seconds. I suppose that was also true (the relationship, not the absolute numbers) for a full-size American car. How times have changed!!
Very clean styling on the Taurus, but mostly a dead end. Hard to believe the same guy went on to do the Continental Mk IV.
Ford-Werke facelifted the P3 for the P5, which I don’t think looked nearly as good, but was even more aerodynamic.
Here’s a Ford Motor Company photo of the P5 (via Ford Heritage Vault):
I think the P5 series was more than just a facelifted P3. The P5 was longer, wider (hence more interior space) and had a higher curbweight. And likely most important: The engines were the new V4 and V6 Cologne engines to replace the ancient I4 mills.
This is sort of a semantic thing: “Facelift” is probably underselling the P5, but I think it had a lot of structural commonality with the P3, much of which was still pretty obvious. They increased the wheelbase by about 3 inches and pushed out the body sides so they could increase the track width, but the increase in overall width was only a whopping 45 mm (1.77 inches). I think the reason the P5 looks kind of odd is that the P3 was so committed to the oval aesthetic that it became challenging to give it a new look while retaining the carryover inner structure — sort of like the 2001 Taurus versus the fish-faced ’96, or the 2007 U.S. Mk1.5 Focus, where there are awkward aesthetic clashes between the new and old themes because the hardpoints were still the same.
The P5 did have the Taunus vee engines, but the inline fours weren’t exactly “ancient.” The P2 and P3 had the postwar short-stroke OHV engines, which debuted in 1957. (The 12M still had the L-head 1.2-liter, which was basically a warmed-over German-made version of the English Ford 10 HP engine of the mid-’30s, but the OHV engine was an unrelated postwar design.) Switching to the V-4 and V-6 engines was a production thing: Ford-Werke had a big new engine plant that was originally supposed to be supplying V-4 engines for the U.S., so they need to use that capacity.
I was always quite fascinated by these, especially the similarities of the front end to the Thunderbird and Continental. I did not appreciate just how aerodynamic these were; looks can be deceiving. The boxy Alfa Giulia sedan was other one that was more aerodynamic that initial appearances would suggest.
That German-issue Taunus was years ahead of the Taunus Americans got in 1960!
Why is that? And we think we’re so…. ‘Great’…
I have always wanted to know more about the Taunus. I have seen very little information about them. Thank you, Aaron, for covering a new CC car. That alone is quite an accomplishment.
I don’t like it. Even as one with a profound German car bias, I’ve no enthusiasm for it. IMO the nose has potential, though it needs more work, but the tail, uh, uh, does not.
I like both the P2 and the P5 much better, the P5 being ahead of it’s time in styling that reminds me of the BMW Bavaria/E3 and Audi 100LS, which were several years later. Again, I don’t like the trunk look, but it looks like they’re making progress.
One thing rarely noted is in ’61, Germany was still a damaged country recovering from WWII. They were making progress, major progress, but WWII was not a distant memory. It was real and everyone of working age and many below had clear memories of it, not to mention relatives killed and bombed out buildings visible. They didn’t have a ton of money for R and D.
The resemblance to the UK Mk1 Ford Consul is striking to my eye. They were first released in the UK in 1963 with the Mk2 called the Ford Corsair V4 from 1965 to 1970. Seventeen years, talk about flogging a dead horse. Weirdly, the Taunus appears to have cribbed the stylish circular rear indicators from the Mk1 Ford Contina. Wikipedia says ‘The Corsair was designed by the same team as the Mark 1 Cortina, with Roy Brown Jr. overseeing the styling by Charles Thompson’. A case of Quid pro quo?!
A lot of these themes were just stuff that was floating around in Dearborn in the mid-’50s. Ford styling at that point was sort of like the El Pollo Loco menu: a finite number of ingredients for a large number of products.
However, note that the Taunus P3 was already in production while the Mk1 Cortina was still in development, so it did not crib anything from the Cortina.
A film was made at the time about the Taunus’s development.
A very interesting film. Thank you for making it available to us.
Kind of mini Ford TauRus before its time…it took a long time (22 years) for Ford U.S. to apply some aerodynamics , first with aero-Bird , Tempo and then Taurus .What remains an additional 40 years more?: a Mustang mach-e and a lot of square boxes. Note that the aero-European era only resumed in ’82 with the Sierra. I still prefer a Ford Flex over any F-150.
Ford U.S. only ever cared because it helped their CAFE numbers, and the weak truck standards and later the stupid “footprint” model eventually made that irrelevant, so now they’re a truck and SUV manufacturer whose lineup looks like a U-Haul ad.
So if this was a home grown German design, where did the Cardinal program fit in? I thought the Cardinal was initially a US design that was rejected and moved to Germany?
The Cardinal was originally an attempt to create a smaller C-segment car that could be sold in both the U.S. and Germany, with Ford of Germany making powertrains for both. It was a class down from the 17M in size and price, and it was still in development when the 17M P3 was entering production. The German version, the 12M (P4), arrived in fall 1962, two years after this car, and was sold alongside it. The Cardinal/P4 had a torturous development history, but the mechanical stuff was all designed in Dearborn, which adapted exterior styling developed in Germany for a smaller Kadett-size RWD car. (The initial design was by Dahlberg and Bahnsen, but it was scaled up and simplified in Dearborn, so I don’t know how much they would have wanted to claim it.)
CC did a really good article about the Cardinal.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/automotive-history-how-the-american-ford-fwd-cardinal-became-the-ford-taunus-12m-from-dearborn-with-love/
I also wrote 23,000 words on it at Ate Up With Motor this summer, if anyone is keeping track.