Junkyard Gem: 1986 Ford Taurus GL Sedan

In 1985, Ford’s midsize sedan providing was the angular, rear-wheel-drive LTD, a automobile that regarded and drove just like the Seventies design it was (don’t confuse the Fox-platform LTD with the unrelated and far larger Panther-platform LTD Crown Victoria of this period). Although Ford did have trendy, environment friendly small automobiles to promote Individuals that yr the Tempo and the Escort — the shortage of a powerful competitor within the all-important battle with automobiles such because the Chevrolet Celeb (and its many A-Physique siblings), Plymouth Reliant (and its many Ok-Automotive siblings), plus such more and more threatening imports because the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord had grow to be an actual drawback in Dearborn. The 1986 mannequin yr would change all that, nonetheless, as a result of that is when the brand-new Taurus hit the scene and have become an prompt gross sales hit. This is a type of first-year Tauruses, now leaving the highway after 36 years of service.

The unique Taurus stayed in manufacturing all over the 2007 mannequin yr, with some facelifts and chassis enhancements alongside the way in which, gone the period wherein the midsize sedan was Individuals’ most popular technique of getting round. Even after that, the Taurus identify proved so beloved that Ford revived it just a few extra instances, with the final North American Tauruses coming off the meeting line in 2018. Even as we speak, the Taurus identify lives on in China.

It is laborious to think about how radical this automobile regarded when it was new, as a result of everyone went straight to the wind tunnel to make extra aerodynamic designs instantly after the 1986 Taurus hit the streets, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than most automobiles regarded quite a bit prefer it. To be truthful, Audi beat Ford to that smooth-curves/flush-glass design by just a few years, however Audi 5000s had been very unusual sights on our roads then (and 5000 gross sales had been about to fall off a cliff).

It is a GL, which was the second-from-the-top Taurus trim degree in its introductory yr (just under the loaded LX however properly above the manual-transmisssion-equipped MT5 and prole-grade L).

The MSRP on this automobile got here to $11,322, or about $30,605 in 2022 {dollars}. The very least expensive Taurus L four-door value simply $9,645 ($26,070 as we speak). In the meantime, your native Honda vendor would promote you a brand new Accord DX sedan for $9,679, however you needed to settle for a compulsory guide transmission at that value (value with automated: $10,149).

The GL got here with an automated transmission and a V6 engine as base gear, years earlier than American-market Accords and Camrys supplied a V6. This 3.0-liter pushrod Vulcan made 140 horsepower, whereas the Tempo-sourced four-banger within the L and MT5 was rated at simply 88 (struggling) horses. The Vulcan had its debut within the 1986 Taurus and went on to have a profitable profession that stretched properly into our present century; it was neither smooth-running nor significantly environment friendly, but it surely acquired the job accomplished.

The GL got here with such niceties as an AM/FM stereo radio and distant energy mirrors thrown in totally free, however cruise management, air-con, energy home windows, energy seats, and different options we take with no consideration as we speak value further. This automobile seems to have been optioned pretty closely.

Ford used five-digit odometers on these automobiles, so we will not know what number of miles this one traveled throughout its lengthy life. I am keen to wager that the entire was a lot greater than 2,918 miles.

In reality, the yard rattle-can inexperienced paint job (the unique paint was Medium Grey Charcoal Metallic) and rope-through-grille hood tie-down inform us that this automobile in all probability drove a minimum of 202,918 miles and might need traveled higher than a half-million. 

The Taurus— and nearly each different American-market automobile that wasn’t a truck or truck-shaped automobile— fell sufferer largely to a different Ford product: the fantastically profitable and influential Ford Explorer, which first appeared as a 1991 mannequin. Taurus gross sales waned as Explorer gross sales waxed, however they began from such a excessive level that true relevance actually solely dimmed for the Taurus (and its Mercury-badged sibling, the Sable) within the early years of the 2000s.

Unusually, all of the hype on this advert about Ford’s new philosophy turned out to be true. You should definitely keep for the advert for the AH-64 Apache!

Associated video: