I’ve kept quiet so far in the comments about the 1996 Taurus, because I didn’t want to get banned from this site for using hate speech and foul words. Let’s just say that I have no idea what the Ford was thinking. Well, it’s obvious what they were thinking, but the question is why. Don’t fall in love with your ideas that seem so brilliant to you.
Anyway, here’s my favorite catfish Taurus. I showed it to you once before a few years back, but it continues to evolve. Like the Taurus should have.
And it never fails to make me smile when I see this redecorated Taurus wagon. I love this! You think it was an accident that they picked a Taurus? Ever see an Audi art car?
New additions sprout regularly here; as suitable objects are found, presumably.
I’m not sure what this device with the chimney is, or is supposed to be.
I don’t think we’re supposed to know.
I know. I’ve never been a fan of this generation Taurus/Sable. They look fine from the side, and from the rear of the car, but hey look hideous at the front.
“They look fine from the side, and from the rear of the car….
No, they don’t.
gradual improvement as suitable items come to light, these guys should have been working at Ford back in the day.
My guess would be that it’s ventilation for the built-in meth lab
The work put into this is incredible all that “iron work” had to be quite time consuming to do this nicely. Of course I guess it could be some sort of plastic but it certainly looks like hand formed metal.
It’s been quite a (Taurus) week, including lots of non-love for the Gen3 styling. I just figure that–like one’s favorite car or pin-up–they look more/less flattering from different angles, or through different lenses.
BTW, Paul, did anyone mention these cars’ low drag coefficient this week? I’ve always figured that the Cd helps my Gen3’s gas mileage a bit.
Oh, and if this is guaranteed to distress our admired host Paul [wink], then I guess I’ll post my ride now, and not wait until 1 April next :
That might be the most interesting Taurus in the world.
“The most interesting Taurus in the world”
I don’t always drive a Ford, but when I do…..
Personally, I think if they did something different with the front end, these would have been decent-looking cars. If I were designing this, I’d do something with the front fascia, and change the interior radio pod. Other than that, these looked pretty nice to me….
Yeah, pretty much the 4th generation addressed those two points and I think also used the Sable rear window for the Taurus. I thought those changes made all the difference in the world and made the car relatively attractive again, or at least a natural progression from Gen 2.
The 4th generation was a tad bland, but it was much better cosmetically in my opinion. I’m not a fan of the stereo pod that the 4th gen got, but it was a little nicer than the 3rd generation one.
The headlight change really helped the 4th gen.
I think the gen 3 Taurus wagon, like the Dustbuster minivans, the early 50s Studebaker Champion, and the Pacer to a lesser degree, was almost a parody of what a futuristic car should look like. IMO, that’s what makes it perfect here. It had a failed ‘Buck Rogers’ quality to it.
The designer is very talented, and made a great subject car choice. The quality of the original ‘distressing’ and detailing is excellent. Unfortunate that it hasn’t weathered well.
Maybe a mortar?
Offending adults and scaring children…you have reached your goal !!
As bad as the Gen 3 Taurus looked, it was the only Taurus of the 1986-2008 that really drove well and felt like a good car. The ones with the 3.0 litre 24V engine were very nice indeed, a huge improvement over the horrible Vulcan, a motor I just loathe since it is so Crappy and Cheapola. Mind you, having a lightly driven, and well maintained Vulcan blow up on me this year may make me biased, but for domestics GM had it down with the 3.1 pushrod motor and THM. The new engine really transformed the 1996 car.
Alas, Americans tend to buy their cars by the pound, and the extra price for the Gen 3 model is what really made it a flop. That said, the sedan market was fast dwindling at the moment, and then horrid Gen 4 was a reflection of this.
I actually like the 2000 to 2007 Taurus design…..The only thing that perplexes me is the lackluster fuel economy in the mid 20’s highway.
I own a 2005 Impala which is a similar size to the Taurus..The 3800 V6 consistently delivers upper 20’s to around 30 mpg on long trips with 200 HP along with it.
I despised the one I had to tolerate. A total also ran. I can’t believe just how inferior it was to my TL.
We had a 2000 Impala with the 3400 for a few years. That poor car took a lot of abuse- we inherited it from a relative who went from 100k miles to 200k with only three oil changes. We ran it for 15k miles after he passed away, and sold it to a man who wanted the body to drop his subframe in.
Even though it had plenty of electrical gremlins, I really liked that car.
I still have my Impala….bought it new and it has 160,000 miles on it now….Consistent 2000-3000 mile oil changes all its life thus far…..had to replace tranny at 131,000 when it failed……Aside from 2 cylinders with bad valve stem seals causing some oil consumption, car still runs well and I have no plans to get rid of it…..It will be kept beyond 200,000 miles.
There is a cleanliness, originality, and purposeful elegance to the exterior design of the first gen Taurus wagon that was lost in the gen 3. Unlike the ’96, there isn’t a contrived line in it’s exterior. It appeared more mature. I’d suggest the exterior design has aged significantly better in fact than the lumpy, and more gimmicky mid 90s version. It was Ford’s designers view at the time on what represented leading edge design. Thankfully, this look as expressed to a lesser degree in the Escort and Mystique, never caught on.
+ 1
I loved the original Taurus wagon. I pushed hard to get my dad to buy one, and almost succeeded. However, the Ford salesman screwed up the deal in a moment of heady hubris – having a car that people actually wanted for the first time in a generation- and my dad bought a Camry instead and never looked back.
The problem with the Gen 3 styling was that it pegged the needle on the “Contrived Styling” meter.
“The problem with the Gen 3 styling was that it pegged the needle on the “Contrived Styling” meter”
Perfect comment.
What is on the top of the car is a knock off version of the famous flux capacitor. When this car hits 88 mph all bets are off…
Great minds ….. !
Doc Brown definitely got his hands on THAT
example, lmao!
I still want to know exactly how much hate speech and foul language it takes to get PN kicked off of a website HE OWNS….
Gave me a laugh tho!
I was thinking in terms of a company founder/CEO getting ousted, and wondering when I missed the stock offer!
Definitely entertaining.
As for an Audi art car, while I concede your point about the Taurus–in a vacuum–I’ve rarely seen an Audi that lasted long enough to reach art car status. Never seen an Audi art car, but can’t recall the last ’96 Audi I saw either.
I think this generation looks better as a wagon than a sedan.
Not the most attractive car, but I like seeing them. It was my dad’s last car before he died. Whenever I see one, especially in blue, for an instant, I think he’s coming to give me a ride. The car I have the most emotional attachment to.
Holy Steampunk! (Also, nice bungalow in the background)