| The 2006 model year will end the heralded | | | | Taurus. I needed something similar in size |
| Taurus name and for this writer it is a | | | | with the Taurus and at that time Saturn had a |
| bittersweet time as Ford retires what once | | | | lease deal that could not be beat. In |
| the best selling car in all of America. | | | | addition, I still wasn't impressed with the |
| | | | Taurus which I felt had been out-engineered |
| When Ford introduced the Taurus along with | | | | by other cars in its class. So, I took home |
| its cousin the Mercury Sable in the mid 1980s | | | | the Saturn and donated my Taurus to the |
| the car represented a radical departure from | | | | Kidney Foundation. |
| the standard American car of the day. Fairly | | | | |
| large, front wheel drive, and very | | | | The 2005 model year represented the final |
| aerodynamic, the Taurus quickly rose to the | | | | year that Ford would offer the Taurus through |
| pinnacle of the American car sales charts and | | | | dealers; for 2006 the Taurus is only |
| was the best selling car for several years in | | | | available as a fleet car and it is unchanged |
| a row. A much delayed "reskinning" did not | | | | from the previous year's model. The slow |
| occur until 1996, some ten years after the | | | | selling Sable was mercifully put to rest one |
| Taurus and Sable were first released. The new | | | | year earlier. |
| style, perceived by some to be ugly, quickly | | | | |
| cost Ford sales as newer and more modern | | | | For Ford, concentrating on trucks and SUVs |
| Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords out gained | | | | meant neglecting much of their car line up, |
| the line. Slight changes in style | | | | including the Taurus. Bigger and stronger |
| incorporated with the 2000 model year took | | | | SUVs, including the Expedition and Excursion, |
| some of the edge off, but by then the Taurus | | | | were introduced as America's tastes continued |
| was considered to be too old and outmatched | | | | to shift from passenger cars to SUVs. In |
| by the competition. | | | | addition, the ever popular F Series pick up |
| | | | trucks went through regular style and |
| I purchased an all new 1994 Taurus and kept | | | | engineering changes every four years or so as |
| the car for seven years, racking up 117,000 | | | | did the Explorer, Ford's midsized SUV. |
| miles before deciding it was time to trade in | | | | |
| the car for something newer. I found the ride | | | | Higher gas prices and changing tastes are |
| to be comfortable, the interior room to be | | | | once again impacting Fords' line up. The |
| expansive, and I enjoyed the overall style of | | | | beefy Excursion is gone and new cars |
| the car. I was also one of the first people | | | | including the Five Hundred and Fusion are now |
| to purchase a Taurus in the then new Hunter | | | | part of the line up. These two new models |
| Green color, an attractive deep green that | | | | represent a fresh change for Ford and a |
| was admired by many. | | | | promise that the attention once given to the |
| | | | Taurus would be given to the new models. For |
| When 2001 rolled around, I elected to lease a | | | | that, I am glad. |
| Saturn L series instead of going with the | | | | |