Just Like This Train: Earned, not given.
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Story by Matt Train
Please join me in welcoming Matt Train to the Speed:Sport:Life family. Matt is a long-time Taurus SHO fanatic, trailer-towing iconoclast, and all-’round nice guy. His new column is called “Just Like This Train”, and if you don’t like the title, blame me; I’m the Joni Mitchell fan, not Matt. Enjoy! — Jack Baruth
The press conference made me cringe. Look, the man’s got it all wrong. It was NEVER pronounced “Taurus SHOW”. The cognoscenti always spelled the letters out: Ess – Aitch – Ohh. Super High Output. And if you knew what the letters SHO did to the pedestrian Ford Taurus, you damn well used respect when you called that car by name. Back in the day, the Taurus SHO was heavy artillery in the street wars.
Its been a long time since a Ford Taurus has been worthy of those letters. The 1989 Taurus SHO debuted to 5 people giving standing ovations, and the rest of the population wondering what the hell they were looking at. There was nothing like the SHO when it came out. In 1989 context, an exotic, quad-cam 24-valve V6 with 220 horsies slotted under the hood of a 3,100-lb 4 door sedan meant instant bragging rights, and the super-Taurus could run with the best and the fastest sports sedans in the world, period. Backed by a 5 speed manual transmission and some talented chassis tuning, it was capable of showing its taillights to almost everything in its class. When it was new, it mopped the floor with the 130 hp Pontiac 6000 STE, and embarrassed the 160 hp Nissan Maxima SE, two of the better sporting sedans in the SHO’s price class. But hey, let’s dream bigger: the Fox Body 5 liter was just a downshift away from the history books, and most BMWs were fair play as long as they lacked an M badge. Heck, even some of those didn’t stand a chance against that screaming Yamaha V6.
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The SHO borrowed some fenders from the Sable for the second-generation variant.
And what a screamer that V6 was! You know that feeling you get on the back of your neck? The one that travels down your spine and makes all your hairs stand up on end? That feeling was standard equipment on the Taurus SHO. With its dual-stage intake runners, a change in tone occurs at 4,000 RPM during hard acceleration. Those who have driven a Honda VTEC engine are familiar with this feeling, but with the Taurus SHO, the acceleration just gets harder and harder the higher you rev it. The engine seemed to love being thrashed, and encouraged regular trips to the 7,000 RPM redline – a redline that the power delivery implied wasn’t quite serious. Everyone who has driven the V6 SHO seems compelled to talk about the engine and what it did to the car. Even though the Taurus chassis was aging, the suspension still had all the right moves on the back roads, too. You knew when you drove it, that you were at the wheel of something special. Something fabulous.
The result of all this fabulousness was a sales dud. Frequently cited as the reason for the poor sales, the car lacked an automatic transmission but had a very high price tag. With most Ford Tauri maxing out in the $15,000 range at the time, stepping up to a SHO was a $20,000 proposition – big money in the late ‘80s. Ford dealers were famously un-educated on what they were dealing with, and buyers were equally mystified with a lack of marketing. Only the real car people knew what Ford had unleashed, and were willing to deal with the downsides to get it.
The new 1997 Taurus SHO was introduced as an executive express with an exotic 3.4L V8 from Yamaha, no manual whatsoever, and fish-derived styling that was borderline offensive. Adding insult to injury, the car was actually slower than a well driven 5 speed V6 SHO, and the camshaft sprockets frequently separated from the cam and grenaded the engine when doing so. While it was not without its charms (and its fans) the V8 SHO is not as sought after as a V6 car. The SHO brand breathed its last as a 1999 model amid slumping sales and a ridiculous price tag. With hindsight we realize Ford never intended to create a cult classic – it was an accident. Despite all odds, the original V6 SHO has already made a number of “future collectible” lists, and residuals of the survivor cars are starting to bear this out.
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The V8 SHO seemed as star-crossed as the troubled 1996 Taurus which spawned it.
It is this same grassroots enthusiasm for the original super sedan that has influenced a new SHO, introduced this past week at the Chicago Auto Show – the new halo model for the rejuvenated 2010 Taurus. Now, we here at Speed:Sport:Life have made no bones about the fact that we’re fond of the new 2010 Taurus, and we’re just plain fond of anything that has “SHO” glued to its rump. So it was with baited breath that we watched the Ford press conference, waiting for the moment when it was SHO-time. Despite some token references to the past car, the 2010 SHO rolled out to a standing ovation from the faithful – and a Cheshire Cat grin from yours truly. As the crowd gathered around the new car, I sat back and wondered….is it a SHO, or is it a sporty Taurus? Or can a sporty Taurus ONLY be a SHO? In short, does it earn its name?
This early in the game, we don’t have driving impressions, but on the surface, it certainly makes a convincing argument. There are discreet yet tasteful styling enhancements. 365 horsepower from a twin turbo, direct-injected V6 which is state of the art. All wheel drive is unexpected but not surprising. The interior is stunning. On the downsides, the car is also usefully large – too large for a sporting car. In keeping with the SHO’s predecessors, its also eye-wateringly expensive – nearly $40,000 for the car before options. You have to wonder how many people will cross shop this with a premium label. I also noted no SVT involvement in the development of the car, which made me wonder just how sporty this sporty Taurus is. Perhaps the biggest letdown, though, is under the hood. Where the old V6 had a bespoke, snarling, specialized V6 with an intake manifold worthy of an art museum, the new car has a corporate V6 with a black plastic shroud and an automatic transmission.
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Only time will tell.
This new SHO isn’t exactly a shot-by-shot remake of the original, but the current market wouldn’t respond well to a car that was perfectly faithful to the first-gen car. A large, manual transmission, bloodthirsty sports sedan simply doesn’t play in this economy. No, it will not please the purists, but as a reinterpretation of the original SHO formula – utility, sophisticated performance, tuned dynamics, discreet style – we think it’s a winner. Does it earn the name SHO? Could it (or should it) have been called something else? That, as they say, is the question. As with the old car, the truth will be in the sales figures. But we wish the SHO an enthusiastic good luck, and we can’t wait to get our hands on one. When we do, you’ll be the first to know!
Welcome aboard, Matt.
Nice job Matt!!!
Welp, if it isn’t all that’s promised, we can pronounce it “Show… ” If it delivers, it can keep the “Ess Aych Oh” pronunciation that the first car definitely earned.
Great piece. This is an important vehicle that didn’t have to happen — it says a lot about Ford’s commitment to car culture.
The average transaction price of a new car in the states was $28,400 last year. For what the SHO delivers amenity and performance wise (on paper) I think the price point they put it at is perfect. We’ll have to see if it all adds up once we have one in our hands though
I agree, it didn’t have to happen. IN fact, I am sure an arguement inside Ford’s walls was made that it SHOULDN’T happen. As far as Ford is concerned, the SHO was a flop that is now a cult classic.
Can they channel that goodwill into the new car? I am not sure. I love the new car very much, but I don’t have the “Its going to be a homerun” feeling that I sometimes have about cars.
That said, with the economy tanking, there could very well be people out there looking for a non-premium label sports sedan. Unlike the previous SHOs, this is basically a parts-bin excercise. Even if it sells a little bit, it will be a success.
Nicely scribbled, Matt. One must remember that a goodly number of today’s automotive “cult classic” cars are also yesterday’s flopperoos. The twentysomething of today who can spot tomorrow’s Edsel or Airflow or Marlin and salt away a few dozen of them for thirty years will be able to retire on the proceeds. Of course, they will have to endure being labelled “Crazy Uncle Joe”, or “Oh yeah, that WEIRD guy on the edge of town with all those JUNK cars”, but inside his rust-encrusted soul he’ll know he’s done the right thing.
“This new SHO isn’t exactly a shot-by-shot remake of the original, but the current market wouldn’t respond well to a car that was perfectly faithful to the first-gen car.”
I’m not sure we’ll see any present or future market be receptive to the principles behind the original SHO. Thanks for stressing that it isn’t pronounced ’show;’ I didn’t know that.
I wonder what the volume target is/needs to be. I suspect it will be a slow-selling vehicle, but if they start with that assumption, what’s the problem? If anything, it could cast the new Taurus in a very positive light.
Though, for my hypothetical money, I’d buy a G8 GXP.
Nice article Matt, great to see you posting over here!
Personally, while I really like the SHO, I forsee it having a price problem, even if they are going with a low volume target. Despite the fact that its worth it based on the feature content, quality, and performance stats, you still run into the $40k Taurus problem.
Now that I’m past that, I want one. The engine sounds wonderful, and the interior is beautiful. While it would not by any means be a replacement for a sports car, I’d love to own one as a high speed cruiser. Hopefully there’ll be news of a manual, but I somehow doubt it.
Matt Train was the last straw. I’m in!
I will add my note to say that I’m a Taurus SHO fan as well. Even the V8 version. I don’t see the point of the whole “it must stay true to the original” mandate. What matters is if it will perform at the lead pack level while maintaining it’s middle of the herd stealth factor. I see the twin turbo V6 as a plus, so is the AWD. The auto is a minus, but this is a big car and reaching the 400 hp threshold at which I (and a lot of other people) say it doesn’t matter if it’s a manual or (a well laid out) auto.
With all the aprobatory stuff I said, I will end this with a little-minded nit of a pick: It’s “bated breath” (as in holding my breath) not “baited breath” (as in breath that could catch a fish)
Thanks for the correction, flatlander. I am not exactly a slave to getting it right.
Nice to see a V8 fan here. I identify mostly with the V6 model, through I have driven a few V8s and enjoyed them.
I finally had a chance to take a moment and browse through your write-up, Matt. The first section brought me fondly back to my early H.S. years, and while it wasn’t with an SHO, the crazy things that we did with a friend’s 1986 “MT-5″ were probably 2 cylinders and a “SHO” badge away from putting us on a soft-food diet for the rest of our lives.
We had this jump/bump out on a rural county road that if taken with enough speed, (obviously, we never got it up to 88), you *could* get all four tires off the ground…..and with his suspension, on more than one occasion, we got ‘em back off the ground again on the rebound. That car was a hell of alot of fun to beat on. I can remember the day he picked it up and drove it over to my house….”Dude…you got a brown Taurus?”. All he had to do was point at the center console with a sly grin, and I knew that the days left for that car were numbered.
You see, prior to the SHO arriving to dealership floors in 1989, the Ford Taurus offered an even more obscure model, simply called the “MT-5″. If I recall correctly, it came wrapped around the 2.5L 4cyl engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission….the only Taurus, besides the SHO, to ever sport a third peddal. Beside’s a small molded-in-trim “MT-5″ on the ding rail, there was no other distiguishing exterior virtues between that brown beast and the other 43.5 mid to late 80’s Taurii rusting away in the back row of my H.S. parking lot.
thesteve,
The MT-5 was awesome:
http://www.taurusclub.com/encyclopedia/Specials/MT5.html
I remember one sitting at my local dealer for almost an entire year.
Even rarer than the MT-5 (how was that possible?) were the first-generation police package cars, which included a six-slot grille, beefed up brakes and suspension, and a freer-flowing exhaust. The package was available on both the first and second-generation Taurus, and proved popular on neither. A few civilian versions were ordered, though, by people who had a friendly local fleet manager willing to help out.
The new SHO will certainly be cool and worthy of the name, but I still get a little sad when I remember seeing that MT-5 Wagon in the junkyard several years ago.
That, and the SHO’s asking price is so crucial to its success…I hope Ford can get it down to the low 30s.