The Ford Taurus SHO remains a solid buy in the emerging 80s/90s performance vehicle bracket. With a Yamaha motor that screams at the top of its lungs, sleeper-style looks, and enough aerodynamic tweaks to differentiate from the bread-and-butter Taurus, Ford got a lot right with the original recipe for one of America’s foremost performance sedans. All these years later, it still looks fast standing still. This SHO is a first-generation model with the must-have 5-speed manual. It does have some rust issues but overall looks solid, and it’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace for just $3,500.
If you had asked me in 2021 if the Taurus SHO was going to rise in value, it was one of those cars that I felt confident would be borderline out-of-reach for the casual enthusiast by this point. It what is a good news/bad news story, it hasn’t as cars like this go to show. The bad news side of that equation is that the marketplace is effectively saying the SHO will remain a vehicle where only the absolute cream of the crop rise to the top, and even then, the high water mark appears to be $20,000 or so. While I don’t wish to see enthusiast vehicles go out of reach, I do like to see good cars get the recognition they deserve – and the SHO always struck me as one that deserved more appreciation. In the case of our subject car, you can see some of the rust issues mentioned on the rear wheel arch above the wheel.
The SHO came with nicely bolstered bucket seats, attractive alloy wheels, a body kit, and of course, the Yamaha-kissed engine. The interior of our car does look quite tidy with just some wear on the driver’s seat leather to register as a concern. Ford didn’t go over the top when distinguishing the SHO from the garden variety Taurus, and I’ve always felt that was a blessing. The SHO was a gentleman’s sports sedan, not intended to look like an overcharged performance vehicle with wild colors and wings. In many ways, the sedan was all about its engine, which was significantly worked over by the Yamaha team.
The 24-valve engine really was a work of art. The gorgeous intake manifold accommodates 12 intake runners, with each plenum hosting three short and three long runners. When the engine is putzing around town, the short runners stay closed, but when you open it up, butterfly valves open, allowing the engine to suck in air through all 12 and sing to a redline of around 7,300 RPM. Other hardware includes forged-steel crankshaft and connecting rods and oversized cooling passages, among other evidence of Yamaha’s genius. For less than $5,000, you’re getting a nice price of 80s exotica, and bearing witness to a segment of sports sedans we’re not likely to witness again any time soon.
Thanks Jeff for the good analysis. This SHO isn’t low mileage and shows wear and tear. But it is cheap. Perhaps cheap enough to dedicate funds to improve the upholstery, deal with the rust, and fix whatever else needs attention. If not, just treat it as a beater… a very fun-to-drive beater. For example the grandkids would enjoy you making a fast run through the gears when you take them home from school.
7300 rpm. That’s a singing six for sure. 🏁 😎
I had a white one FUN car to drive had both auto and stick ( stick weas more fun LOL (
It’s not the rust you can see, but what you can’t see is what you’d worry about. Whoever wants this car had better scoot underneath it first to see how bad the cancer is, and I’ll bet it is bad. I truly hope the engine is in good shape because that’s the star of the SHO here.
The family sedan and street sleeper. That engine is a gem with those intake runners. The SHO Yaha6 require a valve adjustment at around 60k mi. Curious is such had been done and when.
Not needed. In fact if you never changed the cams, you could go a couple of hundred thousand and find that the valves are still within spec.
Only thing you should do is change the timing belt somewhere in the 150k-200k range. Or not (non-interference engine). Most folks would then do a new water pump and crank sensor while they’re in there.
I do like under rated sleeper cars and this has always been one. Just get the rust and valve adjustment repaired and take it to your nearest rad wood show.
North Canton. That’s a short trip down the freeway from me. If I was in the market I would be checking this out but for an Ohio car it begs the question. How bad is that rust? If it was confined to the area above the wheel arch I just drive it for some cheap thrills.
Did you know that if you looked up automobiles in the 1960’s World book encyclopedia than went to cars of the future the drawings look very similar to this car? I had a Taurus for a little while started smelling like rotten eggs every time I drove it so instead of fixing it I got rid it.
packing some rot on the r/s for sure. i bet there’s more where that came from. i can’t get on f/b to see the listing but you can bet underside may look like that.1/4
I don’t know about the SHO, but the pedestrian Taurus of 1986-1990 was a sweet-driving and nice riding little vehicle. If it had the V-6, it was plenty peppy. That’s the good news. The BAD news is, very sudden transmission-death was a serious problem. And these are among the absolute worst of rust-buckets! If this one is as badly-rotted above the rear wheels as it looks, look for bondo-fills throughout the lip of the trunk-lid, and for structural rust-through in the front wheel suspension area. Check the floor-panels and the bottom of the gas tank — and especially those straps holding it on! Rockers rot away quickly, and holes appear around and behind the headlamps: these are worse than Pintos and Mavericks, for the advanced tin worm. Put this one up on a lift, and bring a magnet with you! Very few 1986-1990 Ford Tauruses and Mercury Sables remain on the roads to-day, for a REASON!!! They were surprisingly comfortable in a long trip, and exceptionally reliable cars… until they weren’t. They were good for about their first ten years — and then everything went, as if on cue.
I had a 1994 Taurus SHO with a auto after looking and not being able to find a 5 speed. Even with the auto it was a lot of fun and was great as a family car with two kids. Also bought a 1999 SHO with the 8 cylinder engine that was again with a Yamaha head with the block supplied by Cosworth. The 8 cylinder was only 15 more horsepower at 235 only made with an automatic that loved to rev. Still would have been a much better car with a 5 speed but still loved both of them.