The Taurus debuted in 1985 as Ford’s new, front-wheel-drive, full-size family car. In a move to compete with Euro sedans like Mercedes and BMW, they added the SHO edition in 1989 – Super High Output. Borrowing from Yamaha, the SHO’s DOHC V6 engine was quite powerful, especially when paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. The seller’s 1989 version has both, but it’s been wasting away in the elements for perhaps many years. Located in a backyard in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this once-hot Ford is available here on craigslist for $500. Bravo to Barn Finder Barney for the tip.
SHOs were offered initially from 1989 to 1994, and 16,561 were produced in ‘89 alone. Looking like a Mom and Pop car, the Taurus SHO was a sleeper in its time and has developed something of a cult following years later. The 3.0-liter V6 that was “tuned” by Yamaha kicked out 220 hp. We’re told that the seller’s ’89 SHO is original and complete, but the seller only provides two photos. The car doesn’t run, the paint is almost faded away (loads of patina), and we have no idea what the interior looks like. But, if you have another one of these you’re fixing up, how could you go wrong for $500 for this one?
There’s an element of satisfaction seeing this car in such poor condition. For me, the Taurus signaled the end of my interest in cars. It went agin everything a Yankee Doodle Dandy like me,,,held dear in cars. Front drive, a Yamaha motor? Good heavens, ol’ Hank(s) spinning in their graves. I think they were okay cars, the motor does nothing for me, and a smile on my face when “Grave Digger” flattens it, but a sad smile just the same.
Should Ford have ceded the class to the imports? Did you ever own a Taurus or a Sable? I owned both and they were revolutionary cars.
All of us who had, or wish we had, a SHO (or even admired them from afar), agreed that the engine was an absolute gem.
My 93 sho has the 3.2 L TRD engine and it is an absolute beast.
My 93 sho has the 3.2 L TRD engine and it is an absolute beast.
The perfect parts mule, considering it looks awful with all that “patina”. Speaking of Yamaha engines, I tried telling my brother-in-law his 1974 Toyota truck had a Yamaha-built engine. “Scoff scoff” he scoffed. Until I opened the hood and showed him the tuning forks on the block.
Yamaha even made the 18RGU Toyota cylinder heads. Back in the ’70s!
I don’t recall ever seeing these with gold badging. Was that some kind of dealer thing like Lexus does?
i would put a big motor, upgraded trans, and suspension. Also upgrade the interior. But leave the body and paint as is. I love that look
Waves fingers across beltline “…this is not the car you want…”
This one looks worse than many I’ve seen in the junkyards here over the years . Amazingly, I still see a few from time to time here in the AZ yards. One of these is still on my hypothetical “25 favorite cars I’d like to own someday” list. For now, one of those beautiful intake manifolds hanging on my garage wall suffices.
When the SHO came out, I quickly traded my M5 (Taurus). Perfect family car with performance including handling, although torque-steer was quite challenging when spinning the tires at the traffic light turned green….a sleeper of sorts that surprised many drivers of Detroit iron. This one looks GONE….
$250+/- over scrap value 185k miles per the seller if you could get it running it might be a fun candidate to pull the engine and trans and put it in something else a little lighter with better suspension
The photo of the engine certainly doesn’t match the exterior and the same photo shows up in a reverse image search in multiple places. I image the engine bay in the car looks about like the exterior.
How much to blueprint that engine? And would it outperform a Coyote?
I had 89, 92 and 99 SHOs. The first two had Yamaha V6 and manual trannys. The 89 ran exceptionally well. The 92 was more lux with full leather and JBL sound system. Was great touring car. 99 had V8 and totally different car.
Take that motor and put it in a 240z and you have a great resto rod.
shobag. leave it where it is. i would not give 5 bucks for 1
I worked at a,Ford store when these came out. Great fun! The dealer principal and I were going to a Ford meeting in California early one morning. I was driving and as we were going over Donner Summit on I80 we kept hearing this warning chime that neither of us had heard before. Finally I noticed a dimly lit warning light flashing “speed, speed” someone had set the speed warning, or maybe it came from the factory set at 125 mph. Anyway, the boss said to SLOW DOWN!
An interesting tidbit, the SHO uses the same gearbox as the lowly Escort! That is one stout transaxle! The only driveline issues that I remember is a “galling” of the clutch release bearing to the transmission front bearing retainer. (The retainer is also the guide of the bearing. Same issue we had with the early T5 transmissions in the Mustangs. )
“THIS IS NOT TURN KEY!” That’s an understatement.
I had a 93 SHO with the automatic transmission. This was the weakest part of the drivetrain. I bought the extended warranty thank God. Trans blew at 60k, dealership put 5 transmissions in the car. One transmission only lasted me 1 week,finally getting frustrated, I sold it to a friend of mine. When it ran right,it was a blast to drive and I loved the car. One time had to pick up my boss at John Wayne airport,it was Steve Saleen. He wasn’t impressed with the car at all. I told him he didn’t know what he’s talking about,he just laughed. Boy was I wrong…….
We bought a new SHO in 89. The SHO was my wife’s car (I had a Celebrity wagon company car) we traded her 86 Z/24 in on it. The SHO was a great car to drive and it was a lot of fun blowing the doors off of unsuspecting 5.0 Mustangs, Z/28’s, Nissan Z’s, etc with a plain black 4 door. Unfortunately, the car was the worse built piece of junk I owned in the 54 years I’ve been driving. The build quality of it and the general reliability of it was beyond subpar, and far worse than any GM car I owned before or since. It probably didn’t help that the Ford dealers around me sucked. We traded it in three years later on a Bonneville.
While I was never so happy to see a car go, I hated to see it go too, because it was so much fun to drive. The SHO was the first and last (post WWII) Ford I’ve ever owned, or ever will.
For the asking price a great parts car if it is all true there. Though one can only imagine the mess that awaits when the hood is opened.
How many of these came with a 5spd?
I have to agree with Howard on this one. As a total motor head coming up in the 1960’s, the move to v6, front wheel drive was the death knell of standard american cars for me as well. What’s the problem with rear wheel drive!!!
SHO are interesting beast with an interesting story. Ford never really advertise these and that’s why the production numbers are fairly low. But they were beast when they first came out. The Yamaha V6 was very stout and was putting out some good horsepower. Yes, Ford build quality was not great during its production years but does not take away from its performance numbers. Maybe the lack of advertising was due to the fact it could humble a 5.0 Mustang. I have a 2016 SHO and this thing is a beast! Fun to drive with all the luxuries you would want.
There’s a car called the “Shogun” (Jay Leno has one). The whole Taurus SHO drivetrain was reversed and put into the back of a Ford Festiva. A venerable pocket rocket, like the Renault R5 Turbo from the ’80’s.
Taurus automatics put a lot of food on the table for tranny shops… can any readers think of an auto trans with worse reputation? VW? Deserved or exaggerated?
Total agreement Keith! I had one interim Taurus that I drove as a stop gap car when I needed an immediate ride. Yes, the trans went with not that many miles…. There were many Taurus’ that were perfectly good (?) cars with busted trans’! Alas…. my last!!!
I worked at Galpin Ford in the 80’s, the Fordo guys weren’t that busy. Now when the Exploder came out, THAT was a different subject.
Not being an American car guy, the only American cars I drove in the 80’s were my free company cars. When the SHO’s came out, I was intrigued right off the bat as they were only offered with a 5 Speed manual ( which I liked). The reason for no automatic was that Ford did not have a transmission that could handle the Yamaha motor ( at the time) A friend bought one and I got a chance to drive it once. I wanted one but the opportunity never arose. Then then automatic version came out and the stick numbers dropped. I had no interest in an automatic. It was definitely a neat car as a driver. Alas, I never did get one however this is the model I would have chosen……
All the automaticTaurus transmissions were weak. Working in the dealership my boss (the owner) never ordered an SHO with an automatic transmission. I had a Sable wagon with the 3.8 engine (because it was a,screaming deal) and serviced the transmission every 12 months. I always expected the transmission to fail and never let it shift for its self in the mountains. (I live in the .most mountainous state in the lower 48.) The transmission ever failed. My sister and I bought my Mom a,Taurus wagon that only had 10,000 miles on it when it ran over a rock that came off the mountain. It had a brand new (from Ford) transmission with all the latest updates. My instructions to my Mom, have the transmission serviced every 12 months. And bought her an extended warranty. (She lived 2,000 miles away from me.) The warranty paid for 2 more transmission! But the last transmission lasted over 200,000 miles. Luck of the draw? I still see later Taurus cars with transmission issues. Just like Chrysler mini vans, and many Mercedes. (I had one of those also)
So, what is the plural of Taurus, Tori ? (octopus=octopi) right? LOL!
If this helps: “In geometry, a torus (pl.: tori or toruses) is a…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torus
I always thought it was a double “i” on the end of that kinda pluralization.