The Taurus X Is A Really Cool Idea Now That Porsche's Copied It

by Jack Baruth

Published: September 26th, 2012

the taurus x is a really cool idea now that porsche s copied it

When TTAC’s reliability scribe Michael Karesh bought a used Taurus X a few years ago, he was able to get it as a nearly-new car for about half of the original retail price. It’s not hard to understand why; the Taurus X, which combined the high “hip point” from the vaguely-Volvo-based Ford Five Hundred with a rather humpbacked wagon profile, was showroom poison and widely derided by automotive journalists who were in the full flush of an industry-loved love affair with “crossovers”.

Those same journos are now competing to pile the greatest number of accolades on the “Panamera Sport Turismo” concept, presumably because there are going to be some awesome European press trips involved for the writers who can generate the most suction, er, traction on the topic.

As Porsche struggles mightily to fill up every possible market niche except that of “affordable sports car”, it’s putting the Cayenne/Panamera platform to the test. While the “Sport Turismo” is certainly a visual improvement on the hopelessly dumpy PanArabia Sportisch Sedan, it’s probably an answer to a question nobody in particular has asked. The brand’s apologists will cite Ferry Porsche’s one-off 928 Shooting Brake as “heritage”, but

that was directly based on a 928, not a vague evolution of the Touareg
it wasn’t a monstrous sedan which was developed at the same time as the company was claiming it couldn’t develop a proper small Porsche

Some sort of lip service is being paid to the Greens in Europe by the announcement that this new wagon is also a plug-in hybrid. This is important for that under-served market of German plutocrats who can drop $125K on a maintenance-intensive bauble-sedan but can’t afford to put gasoline in it. Look for Chris Harris, whose journalistic integrity regarding Ferrari and other supercar makers seems to have a Stuttgart-shaped blind spot, to pronounce it the “most mega plug-in hybrid luxury sedan in history” or something similar.

#FerdinandPorsche #Panamaera #PanameraWagon #Porsche #RollingInHisGrave

Jack Baruth

More by Jack Baruth

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 40 comments

Akitadog on Sep 27, 2012

This is what the Panamera should have looked like ALL ALONG. Who wants to bet that this was a Panamera design direction that lost out to the "purist" 911 butt, but which was picked up off the cutting-room floor for this thing?

Like Reply
Zammy on Sep 28, 2012

Oh, yay, a Porsche Pacifica!

Like Reply

Recent Comments

HotRod Not me personally, but yes - lower prices will dramatically increase the EV's appeal.
Slavuta "the price isn’t terrible by current EV standards, starting at $47,200"Not terrible for a new Toyota model. But for a Vietnamese no-name, this is terrible.
Slavuta This is catch22 for me. I would take RAV4 for the powertrain alone. And I wouldn't take it for the same thing. Engines have history of issues and transmission shifts like glass. So, the advantage over hard-working 1.5 is lost.My answer is simple - CX5. This is Japan built, excellent car which has only one shortage - the trunk space.
Slavuta "Toyota engineers have told us that they intentionally build their powertrains with longevity in mind"Engine is exactly the area where Toyota 4cyl engines had big issues even recently. There was no longevity of any kind. They didn't break, they just consumed so much oil that it was like fueling gasoline and feeding oil every time
Wjtinfwb Very fortunate so far; the fleet ranges from 2002 to 2023, the most expensive car to maintain we have is our 2020 Acura MDX. One significant issue was taken care of under warranty, otherwise, 6 oil changes at the Acura dealer at $89.95 for full-synthetic and a new set of Michelin Defenders and 4-wheel alignment for 1300. No complaints. a '16 Subaru Crosstrek and '16 Focus ST have each required a new battery, the Ford's was covered under warranty, Subaru's was just under $200. 2 sets of tires on the Focus, 1 set on the Subie. That's it. The Focus has 80k on it and gets synthetic ever 5k at about $90, the Crosstrek is almost identical except I'll run it to 7500 since it's not turbocharged. My '02 V10 Excursion gets one oil change a year, I do it myself for about $30 bucks with Synthetic oil and Motorcraft filter from Wal-Mart for less than $40 bucks. Otherwise it asks for nothing and never has. My new Bronco is still under warranty and has no issues. The local Ford dealer sucks so I do it myself. 6 qts. of full syn, a Motorcraft cartridge filter from Amazon. Total cost about $55 bucks. Takes me 45 minutes. All in I spend about $400/yr. maintaining cars not including tires. The Excursion will likely need some front end work this year, I've set aside a thousand bucks for that. A lot less expensive than when our fleet was smaller but all German.