Taurus & Sable: A revolution, but nothing lasts forever 

The original "Blobmobiles" 🙄 But they were good cars and modern ones at the start, which is exactly what Ford needed as they were behind the times before these came along. That look was kind of polarizing; you either thought it was OK or you hated it, but everyone else was 'rounding off' their styling too so it did gain acceptance. Personally, I never cared for the look but I like it better than today's overly angular styling which to me looks like a schizophrenic bipolar child's exercise in extreme geometry shapes🤮 Ford did carry the look further than anyone else with everything everywhere being rounded off. Other than the SVO's there was nothing really exciting about them, but most people don't need exciting cars; just good reliable ones. They were also spacious and comfortable compared to smaller cars, some of which felt cramped to the rear passengers, and something only matched by "large" cars today. Some folks may be derisive of fleet sales but cars which do well there are cheap and reliable which means they're at least pretty good cars as that business can't afford bad cars. Maybe that's why the CC's for this vid often call it "Tourist" instead of "Taurus" 🤣These may be Ford's 'last hurrah' for cars which were fading away as SUV's took over. Ford did stretch them out for as long as they could until nobody was buying them anymore; maybe a good business decision for the books but not a good approach for marketing where people like something new after awhile. IMHO that was a death wish for the Mercury division which by now had lost all of it's brand identity except for tacked-on trim pieces. The only reason to buy a Sable was to be a bit different than your Taurus-owning neighbors, and any other car can do that for you equally well. And in that approach, Ford allowed the Japanese cars with their newer models, more frequent styling changes, and better technology to overtake them in the market. That's the same thing which killed AMC, which should have been obvious to Ford 😕Or maybe they saw the writing on the wall for cars and decided to make this their last endeavor in that part of the market. Maybe they could have gone one more round with something newer- after all we still have mid-sized cars doing OK in sales. You still see these on the roads, but they are disappearing as part of the 'disposable car' era we have today where there's no point in spending a lot on major repairs for a car which essentially has no market value left in it, and which isn't going to last long enough to warrant the investment. But generally today's cars do tend to last longer between major repairs with some glaring exceptions like some Kia and Eco-Tech engines and some Ford and Jatco CVT transmissions. I feel like the whole world is now in a race to the bottom with everyone going for cheaper aiming for the most minimum of specs instead of trying to do their best. Even many expensive high-end cars are now fraught with expensive problems by design. The Taurus and Sable didn't have these kinds of problems, indeed they were good cars by design and thus a good value for those who bought them (even if they did look like "blobs") 😛

For that era when the Taurus SHO came out, auto enthusiasts liked it for the sporty 4 door sedan. It was a breath of fresh air in the sedan market, especially again for people who liked sportier sedans.😎

In the late 80's early 90's Mercury was going to bring out the Sable LTS, a similar variant to the Taurus SHO with the Yamaha engine and a 5 speed manual. But it never came into existence. I saw an episode on Motorweek when they did a review on the first gen Taurus SHO and they showed a preview of it could have been a Mercury Sable LTS 35 years ago. That would have been the coolest Sable Luxury Touring Sedan at the time.

Thanks for another thorough and insightful auto history lesson! I was only 10 when these rolled out. I liked futuristic designs, but for some reason I didn’t care for the Taurus. I understood how significant it was (all the car mags couldn’t praise it enough). When the SHO appeared in 1989, it was enough to get my attention. IMHO, the ’92 SHO is peak Taurus. They still look great today. My best friend got his first company car in 1997 and I was a little surprised that it was Sable. The “ovoid” Sable was so damn ugly. But it was comfy and drove well as long as you didn’t try to hustle the Vulcan V6. It had been around 30k miles when it was assigned to him. Shortly after the 40k mark, the transmission failed. That’s when we christened it the “diSable”. For some reason, when he got to order a new one in 2001, he got another Sable. Then there was a 2003 Taurus followed by a 2005. All with same the Vulcan V6 and 4-speed slushbox. The innovative car that had taken the world by storm was reduced to generic fleet fodder. I think it's safe to say that Ford milked out every cent possible before finally pulling the plug.

90/95 Taurus/Sable was tight. It’s a shame the Big 3 can’t make anything affordable and good now.

My mom had an 88 Taurus sedan with the upgraded V6. It had some novel features such as oscillating headrests and a lidded cubby in the rear parcel shelf. We kept travel games in the cubby and they ended up warping due to the sun.

Almost missed this one. I like what you do with these lost American beauties. Thank you for this posting!

It’s like you’re in my life the moment I get a 2002 Ford Taurus you post a video

I remember when they came out. Nothing looked like them. Mom had a 4 door, 4 cylinder Taurus. Plenty of room for 4 kids.

I bought my Taurus GL in 1988 and it was a very comfortable ride. Had it up until the engine practically died on me in 1998. I wish I still had it with me.

Great chatter. If I could choose 3 variants it would be a 1993 SHO and 1999 SHO. I thought those Yamaha engines were cool, especially the 3.4-liter. The other variant would be a 96-99 Sable. I like how that gens earlier model had an illuminated Mercury logo, kinda as a way to transition from the previous lightbar. Thanks for the mention too!

hey! I just wanted to say thank you for your videos.

People shit on GMs and Mopars from the 80s all the time, but every now and then you'll see a clapped out old K car or GM A body driving down the road all these years later. These Fords were just as, if not more popular than those cars and were a staple on American roads back in the day but you NEVER see these. The transmissions were weak and 1st and 2nd gens had fire issues. My uncle watched from his living room as his '89 Sable caught fire by itself and burned to the ground. Fords were junk then and theyre junk now. Regardless, great video! Definitely a blast of nostalgia.

never knew anyone who had a Taurus though my dad's Friend Jack drives a 2009 Mercury Sable LS 09 was the last year of the Sable after 23 years of production and around 3 million units sold not bad

Love our 1994 Taurus and our 2oo4 Sable

I am planning on building an AMT model kit of the 89 Taurus SHO next week....

You did a great job telling the story. I did want to did say it was Lincoln Mark VII that introduced flush or European style headlights to the United States in 1984. It was Ford that got that approved for the American market and other cars followed in Ford and outside of Ford. By 1987, most Fords had the Taurus headlight design. I preferred the Sable over Taurus for its features and styling. These cars were large inside and in trunk space. I did hope you would have mentioned the Taurus and Sable spawned the 1988 Lincoln Continental which used the platform in a more sophisticated way. The 1992 restyle was good also. Things went wrong in 1996 and were not corrected until 2000. The 1996 was too radical. Ford lost that sales crown. GM copied the Taurus and Sable look on many of its car. The biggest example was the 1991 Chevrolet Caprice they called the "beached whale". Honda and Toyota never looked back with Accord and Camry. They did it over time and gradually. They are still standing strong in 2024. I guess the Taurus that was las here is another video. The Taurus lives in China and the Middle East in 2024. Ford took a huge gamble with these cars for 1986 . For us! Taurus for us! Have you driven a Ford...…Lately! I recall Oldsmobile took a shot at Taurus in the 1988 and 1989 commercials with Cutlass Supreme. They are here on You Tube. I recall the Sable LTS that was supposed to happen, but did not. It used the same engine as the Taurus SHO. Conan O'Brien still has his Taurus SHO. Thank you for the video.

I had an 88 and a 95 Tarus .absolutely great cars I wish they still made them . The transmissions were there weak point . Ford just cheated out . $200 more spent on the 4 speed auto would have made them world beaters . Thus is the history of Ford

My mom had a 2007 that she brought as a company car. It always smelled of burning coolant and cheap plastic. Blew the head gasket at 75,000 miles. The seats were really nice though, especially for cloth

These were absolute game changers. Very much like gen1. 92 and newer you can see massive cost cutting in the interior which looked very cheap and chintzy. I will add a gen 1 to my collection but the 92 and newer were just bland appliances, imo.

I've been on the hunt for a 1986 Ford Taurus LX wagon for over 5 years I want to restore one day. It's been so hard to find one. I had the chance to get a clean LX trim 86 wagon I found in Portland in 2019 but my dad got in the way. I wish someone would help me find one.

That T-Bird was so smooth, women would famously compare them to Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls. Still homemade back then.

so... 0.32 was considered great for american vehicles...in the meantime the Opel Omega in europe with its 0.27, the Audi 100 with it's 0.30. But yeah, the taurus did make it so that european vehicles and japanese vehicles could actually homoginize their facia between the homecountry and the US...for a good part at least.

Robocop was what made me think these Taurus’s were amazing when I was a kid.

The 3rd gen was fords allegro. The 4th gen wasnt much better. I am really surprised they sold as well as they did.

Those cars where not good cars. As they aged they fell apart fast! Not to mention the rust problems !

Wasn't Yamaha motors the reason why Toyota became reliable? -yup, that's their secret-

What ford should've done around 2004 and 2005 was have 2004 be the final model year for the fourth gen Taurus and stable, then have the fifth generation Taurus and stable be introduced for 2005 and not have them called five hundred and Montegro respectively.

Those ford's were Junk! The topaz, Taurus, tempo and the like were complete trash.

As a millennial raised around GM W-bodies (a 1996 Lumina among others) and currently still daily driving a 2007 W-car I've always kinda marveled at how the Ford Taurus was initially the better product that Ford made progressively kinda worse (the 2nd gen was nice tho) while the initially tepid W-body became an almost great car post 1997. Particularly when paired with the GM 3800.

Great video! So much nostalgia remembering these cars, lots of good times! I like the shout-out to Antique Tags! That was indeed a great video and channel overall!

I had an 07 Taurus that still ran like a top when I traded it in with 165K miles but the rust was eating it alive!!

The 1991 Taurus and Sable,transmissions did not hold up.The Ford 3.8 essex was a huge pile of junk,they ate headgaskets left and right.The SHO,it was a Ford MTX that did not hold up behind it.The 3.0 duratec was a Mazda engine

No king rules forever…

Your voice is so comforting. My aunt had a 2nd gen Taurus in silver and it was brand new. I thought it was the coolest thing as a lil kid, I remember that new car smell it had. Great vid!

What about the last gen Taurus? The 2010?

The electric windshield de-ice option was really neat. Sadly it didn’t stick around long as I guess it was very expensive and didn’t get many orders. I know it was also available on the Crown Victoria for a few years as I had a friend who had one with that option. I had a 2001 Taurus with the 24 Valve DOHC V6 and four speed automatic and that car would really go. It had a lot more pep than the standard 3.0 Vulcan V6 which I had in a 2005 Taurus.

My friend's dad bought the first gen Mercury Sable and I was so amazed on the roomy interior, nice ride and handling back then compared to a lot of the other cars that were out in the 80s.

The definitive AN CAR

The best Taurus was the ‘98 - ‘02 Lincoln Continental. The Continental was built on the same platform and had some suspension changes, but a number of shared components under the skin. Plus the Continental had the silky smooth and quiet DOHC modular 4.6 V8. Detuned to 260 hp it had enough punch for a mid 15 second 1/4 mile and 25 to 28 mpg. I have a ‘98 and an ‘02 in my fleet, very enjoyable drivers, very responsive and very comfortable. I also have a 2006 Lincoln Town Car and I honestly think the Continental has a smoother ride.

24:59 - Nice fellowship

12:52 - That quest to claim #1 was, to me, a mistake. Their fleet sales tactics trashed the car's resale value. On top of that, their heavy incentives made it difficult to sell their "world cars", Contour/Mystique.

I remember when they first came out I thought they were very futuristic