Junkyard Find: 1996 Ford Taurus SHO
The Ford Taurus has been among the most numerous of junkyard inmates for nearly 20 years now, and a sprinkling of Yamaha-engined SHO versions show up among the bread-and-butter commuter Taurii. However, the third-gen Taurus SHO, with its 235-horse V8, is much rarer than the earlier V6 SHOs; in fact, this weirdly purple car I found in Denver is the first V8 SHO I’ve seen in the junkyard for at least a few years.
The 1989-95 Taurus SHO was very quick, if fragile; we’ve even seen several SHOs win 24 Hours of LeMons races over the years. The V8 SHO was also quick, but engine problems fed most of these cars to The Crusher a long time ago. On top of that, you couldn’t get this car with a manual transmission, presumably because Ford didn’t have a non-slushbox transaxle that could survive behind the Cosworth/Yamaha V8.
Sure, it blew up early and often, but just look at that engine!
Ford took a big gamble with the oval-centric restyling of the 1996 Taurus, and it didn’t really pay off; it wasn’t long before the Taurus got the rectangular back window of the Sable and went through a general appearance de-radicalization program.
Should we miss the odd vehicle colors of the early-to-middle 1990s?
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Changing the rear plugs or coils wasn't bad once you'd been back there once. Wouldn't trust a dealer to do it though; I heard more than one story of someone being charged for both banks only to find only the front had been done.
I've owned many a nice sports car, and a few sport sedans incl a Gen I SHO and a '98 SVT Contour, and yet the car I miss most is a '96 Charcoal Gray Metallic SHO I had until a family van purchase pushed it out of the picture. Wasn't a "fun" car (use another car for that), but it was a beautiful car for freeway cruising and the daily commute. Small V8 without much power by today's standards but it was smooth and sounded fantastic. Spend $1K to weld the cam sprockets and add an extra trans oil cooler, and you've got a reliable and long-lasting drive train. The cars were also really well-made fit and finish-wise, with impressive details, esp the '96s before they were de-contented ('99s were hit the hardest). I also love the early '60s War of the Worlds styling (particularly the back lights on the SHO). Only thing I didn't like, besides the lack of a MTX, was that skate board on the trunk. A nice lip spoiler or none at all would have worked better. Anyway, because of the eccentric styling and the cam failures, an under-appreciated car.