The fact that the Ford Taurus SHO isn’t more of a collector’s item is one of the more disappointing realities for me as someone who grew up ogling 90s-era performance cars. The SHO offered the rare combination of a 5-speed manual transmission, high-revving Yamaha-built V6, racy body cladding, and comfortable seating for five in a sleepy exterior that would shock nearly anyone in a stoplight grand prix. Today, these cars trade hands for relative peanuts, and this clean example listed here on eBay opens up at just under $6,000 with the reserve unmet.
Now, I realize this SHO being at a dealer means that the reserve price is likely somewhat high, but given how these cars are typically safely under $10,000 for even a decent example, I don’t expect that the reserve is much higher than the opening bid. I’ve never understood why this car doesn’t have more of a fan base, outside of the usual perceptions of sedans being boring or running counter to what one perceives a performance car should look like. The interior was certainly not all that different from a standard Taurus, but it did come with nicely bolstered front seats and a conventional 5-speed gearbox.
The engine was a work of art, in my opinion, thanks to the gorgeous intake manifold courtesy of Yamaha. One of the saddest sights is an SHO in the junkyard, as the cars themselves are usually trashed but the engine still looks like new. The SHO is known as a high-revving sedan that offered car buyers 220 horsepower when new and 0-60 times safely under 7 seconds. The SHO was also capable of reaching a top speed of 143 miles per hour, all while hauling 5 passengers and their luggage. It was a legitimate performance sedan, and a good deal, too.
What was perhaps most impressive about the SHO at the time was how handily it outclassed other cars in the segment, all while appearing to be a significantly better value than cars like the BMW M5. The SHO easily out-performed benchmark cars like the Mercedes-Benz 300E, Audi 200, and the Saab 9000 – cars that today, still seem to have more of a following than the SHO. Given how many cars from the 80s and 90s have taken off value-wise, I suspect the ship has sailed for the SHO – but all that means is the time has never been better to get into one of the best fast Fords of the modern era.
Excellent analysis of the SHO Jeff. When one shows up here, there typically are several people who chime in with their experiences. And the theme is usually: great engine, a blast to drive, but the underlying Taurus was just so-so. That was how I would describe my black 92 5-speed.
I too wonder why it never took off in the collector car market. Maybe it is the fact that it is “just a Taurus” at its core, dismissing the styling and trim upgrades and the outstanding engine. Since the Taurus was the epitome of a bread-and-butter car of its day.
The silver lining is, today one can get a very fun sedan– maybe your collector car needs to be able to do backup duty transporting the grandkids– for not much money.
Bob these were Factory 🏭 4-Door Rockets 🚀. Such a cool car back in 89′. Your 92 stick model in black, must’ve been alot of fun. Bigtime top speed.
You ever wind up the SHOGUN up around a buck-forty Bob ? 🏁 😲
I wanted one in the early-90’s, but the prices being asked, for even used ones made little financial sense. You never see then anymore, unfortunately.
This dealer has it listed on their site for $19,995. They are fond of their inventory, having over 1,300 cars currently listed on eBay, with 11 sold over the last 90 days.
Steve R
Listing ended with no bids.
Probably the best value and immediately recognized at C&Cs and Radwood events. My 92 in fact being green is called the Connan car at Radwoods(so far its been to 4 events). It currently is also used to teach the grandkids to drive a stick. This SHO has been treated to adjustable Koni(s) at the corners, heavier anti-sway bars, larger front disc brakes and a Quaife posi. Oh, the driving position is for me a treat and the ’92 linkage is a huge improvement over the series one cars. Max speed can only be seen in 4th gear as 5th won’t carry the day.
I liked these back in the day. A gentlemen’s hot rod I thought. Had that whole Euro sedan thing going on. Should be interesting to see where this ends up but I agree the reserve is probably too high.
Back in the ’80s one of the car rags periodically used to do an article on “Q-Ships”–“factory sleeper” cars that had serious go-fast ability but that wouldn’t attract attention from the local gendarmes. The first-gen Taurus SHO was frequently mentioned as was the second-gen V6 Toyota Camry, which could be had with a 5-speed back then.
Very well written Jeff.
Agreed that it is a mystery these have not held value.
I owned a ’91 in 1995 and joined the Atlanta based Club, the SHO Registry. Still have the magazines we got monthly! These were $20k in ’89 and about $24k in ’91 for already loaded models.
Lots of shift linkage and suspension improvements by ’91 (nice 16″ wheels), so along with about 20 other SHOs the Club members rented the Talledega Gran Prix in Alabama- a motorcycle track where we easily blasted past 100 mph in the straights and pulled over 7,000 rpms coming out of the 180 degree hairpins in 2nd gear. Car on a motorcycle track ? SHO yes with that 24 valve Yamaha mill and tuned suspension, FOX body not so much.
Look that track up – still there and rentable for humility seekers. The too- small front brake rotors were an issue still in later models and would warp and need turning by a shop and the terrible exhaust had too many chokepoints. These engines were easily modifiable and by far the very biggest change was having a pro craft/install a set of true dual exhausts (!) from engine back (pipes on top of each other). Huge change and got it ready for Talledega.
Take a mechanic with you but for the money a later model (’91- ’92; not the V8/ later 3.4 L) would be better buy.
Great comments. Please explain more about the engine differences…. wasn’t there a point in time where Ford dropped Yamaha.
The 1st/2nd gen SHO V6 and the 3rd gen SHO V8 engines were all co-developed and -built with Yamaha. The 4th gen SHO got a twin-turbo Ford Ecoboost V6.
Front wheel drive, I was a young man during the time this car came out & 2 things made me cringe, front wheel drive & v6 engines . Sure it’s a Yamaha but Cadillac bailed on the Northstar & people paid attention. I wanted rearwheel drive & a v8 like NHRA & NASCAR not a Northstar!
Did over 130 mph in my SHOs many times, but brakes and suspension did not inspire great confidence.
Any of you guys that love these ever R&R a clutch???
They were FWD, 6 cylinders, in a boring sedan.
My 87 5.0 LX Mustang was, cheaper, faster, RWD, and a V8.
I bet they would have sold a lot more of these & even regular Tauruses if a 2 door was also offered.
I never see any ’80s or ’90s Tauruses, T-birds, etc. on the road anymore or even at car shows. Did they all rust out or is lack of
necessary-to-run electronics support responsible?
I imagine that, like most boring, workaday cars of past years, they were simply run to the end of their useful lives and discarded.
Do you see ANY 80’s or 90’s cars being daily driven on the roads today? Cash for Clunkers took what little were left to that great car boneyard in the sky.
Never had the opportunity to drive one. My opinion is they would have done better had they made them a two door rear wheel drive possibly using the thunder bird platform with different styling. But just like the Mercury Merkur Ford didn’t really advertise or promote the vehicles performance so the executives sat around scratching their heads as to why sales were so low.
Speaking of Merkur, they really should have upgraded the XR4Ti to an XR6i using the SHO engine. I’ve read it fits fine, using the bellhousing from an Aerostar or Ranger equipped with a manual and the Vulcan V6 (same bellhousing pattern as the SHO V6).
The Merkur transmission couldn’t handle the 175hp 4 cylinder. The SHO engine would have turned the tranny into many fine metal shavings. My first-shipment-to-USA 1985 Merkur started popping out of fifth gear on lift-off. I found that Ford took the 4 speed developed for the Capri and tacked a 5th gear overdrive on the back. Two dealers tore down the tranny and tried to fix it. The successful fix was replacing it with a BW T-5 and Bell housing from Russ Harness.
The value will climb eventually. I thought my Mazda Rx4 and Corvair Rampside would always be ugly ducklings. Boy was I wrong!
Give it time.
I always loved the intake, the rear bumper, and the sound at autocross always made my head turn.
Ford built it but didn’t know what to do with it. A coupe version definitely, and hot wagon as well should have been the offering, with a suspension to match.
I owned a ’94 SHO that I bought used in ’96. It was fun to drive but it needed a new clutch every 30,000 miles. It was the only car I owned that I had to replace clutches so often. It also had a serpentine belt that had to be replaced on a schedule (I forget the mileage requirement.) I sold that car when it was due for a belt change when it had 130,000 miles on it. I always wondered why the 94-96 Impala SS became a classic, but the SHO is just a non-collectable old car.
I generally liked and owned a 1988 [regular] Ford Taurus, with a V6. I LIKE a four-door “bread and butter” sedan — my favourite kind of car! A coupe, I would not own. That said, the first generation Taurus was frought with particular problems (they did get a mild face-lift in 1989 which degraded their looks, in my opinion. In ’86, this was a shocking new car — much as the 1949 Ford was when it first appeared in June of 1948 (if this old memory serves). For a relatively small car, the Ford Taurus was accommodating, comfortable, convenient, smooth-running, practically drove itself, and held a lot of “stuff” (so much for the good news). The cassette player worked well, but the radio SUCKED (particularly on A.M., where I’ve always done most of my listening, since the 1940s, and still do). Performance was more than adequate from a family car; HIWEVER… that TRANSMISSION was a bear! I would never drive a “sport” standard, neither have bucket seats and centre-console (when I can help it). The six-cylinder engine was fine. But that automatic transmission was prone to premature failure, even if never driven “hard”, and the fluid and filter regularly changed. Transmission problems were the bane of the Ford Taurus (I mean, the regular family sedan — I know nothing of the SHO, and never wanted one). But these were horrendous rust-buckets — even when you kept them spotless underneath all winter long — they simply didn’t hold up. The lip of the trunk-liid gleefully rotted away, as did the rockers and wheel-wells. Holes rotted through the trunk-floor (especially behind the rear wheels). I drove my 1988 Taurus for 407,000 miles, before I finally gave up on it when the rusted straps holding the gas tank fell apart
I generally liked and owned a 1988 [regular] Ford Taurus, with a V6. I LIKE a four-door “bread and butter” sedan — my favourite kind of car! A coupe, I would not own. That said, the first generation Taurus was frought with particular problems (they did get a mild face-lift in 1989 which degraded their looks, in my opinion. In ’86, this was a shocking new car — much as the 1949 Ford was when it first appeared in June of 1948 (if this old memory serves). For a relatively small car, the Ford Taurus was accommodating, comfortable, convenient, smooth-running, practically drove itself, and held a lot of “stuff” (so much for the good news). The cassette player worked well, but the radio SUCKED (particularly on A.M., where I’ve always done most of my listening, since the 1940s, and still do). Performance was more than adequate from a family car; HIWEVER… that TRANSMISSION was a bear! I would never drive a “sport” standard, neither have bucket seats and centre-console (when I can help it). The six-cylinder engine was fine. But that automatic transmission was prone to premature failure, even if never driven “hard”, and the fluid and filter regularly changed. Transmission problems were the bane of the Ford Taurus (I mean, the regular family sedan — I know nothing of the SHO, and never wanted one). But these were horrendous rust-buckets — even when you kept them spotless underneath all winter long — they simply didn’t hold up. The lip of the trunk-liid gleefully rotted away, as did the rockers and wheel-wells. Holes rotted through the trunk-floor (especially behind the rear wheels). I drove my 1988 Taurus for 407,000 miles, before I finally gave up on it when the rusted straps holding the gas tank fell apart
Wrong-Wheel-Drive just kills these. Great engine in search of a proper platform.
Body cladding doesn’t look very racy to me.
I raced the 1991 SHO in IMSA Firestone Firehawk Series. Our team had 4 cars each painted for a different Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. The “inventor” of the Ninja Turtles sponsored us along with Ford. We were allowed an upgrade to 16″ wheels which made a big difference.The cars were pretty reliable considering all our races were 4-6-8 and 24 hour races. It was a really fun year in 1991 when we surprised a lot of competitors with these huge 4 door sedans.
These were great cars. Absolute rockets. I snagged 3 or 4 of their transmissions and sold them on Ebay and they were snapped up with a quickness.