Junkyard Find: 1996 Ford Taurus SHO

The Ford Taurus has been among the most numerous of junkyard inmates for nearly 20 years now, and a sprinkling of Yamaha-engined SHO versions show up among the bread-and-butter commuter Taurii. However, the third-gen Taurus SHO, with its 235-horse V8, is much rarer than the earlier V6 SHOs; in fact, this weirdly purple car I found in Denver is the first V8 SHO I've seen in the junkyard for at least a few years. The 1989-95 Taurus SHO was very quick, if fragile; we've even seen several SHOs win 24 Hours of LeMons races over the years. The V8 SHO was also quick, but engine problems fed most of these cars to The Crusher a long time ago. On top of that, you couldn't get this car with a manual transmission, presumably because Ford didn't have a non-slushbox transaxle that could survive behind the Cosworth/Yamaha V8. Sure, it blew up early and often, but just look at that engine! Ford took a big gamble with the oval-centric restyling of the 1996 Taurus, and it didn't really pay off; it wasn't long before the Taurus got the rectangular back window of the Sable and went through a general appearance de-radicalization program. Should we miss the odd vehicle colors of the early-to-middle 1990s? from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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