A Lesson on the Flying Potato That Saved Ford From Bankruptcy in the 80s – autoevolution

In todays automotive market, Ford Taurus is not your flashiest vehicle out there, but the history it carries with it is quite impressive. The Taurus car had a development budget of $3 billion and managed to save the company from bankruptcy in the early 80s.

The original Taurus family sedan was a godsend in 1980 when Ford had incurred $3 billion in losses and was desperate to climb back the stairs of success. In a final and desperate attempt to recover, Ford invested the equivalent of todays $7 billion in a new, revolutionary design that gave birth to the first generation of Taurus vehicles.

The design of the Taurus was so groundbreaking that the 1986 Ford Taurus was featured in every movie depicting the future.

The company had so little faith in its new endeavor that it even kept its LTD mid-size range in production, just in case their new plan failed. But it didnt. Not only that, but it even became the bestselling car in America back then.

However, the so-called jelly bean or flying potato car didnt come with the most performance-orientated features. Hence the Taurus SHO was developed, as the performance version of the Taurus, with a Yamaha-built V-6 engine, four overhead cams, and 24 valves. The SHO used a Mazda-sourced 5-speed manual and was the most powerful front-wheel-drive sedan in the world.

But the SHO didnt have the success of its predecessor, with the original Taurus selling in 400,000 units per year. The SHO didnt even manage to get close to the companys target of 20,000 cars sold annually. Well let you find out for yourself why, in Jason Cammisas Revelations video.

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A Lesson on the Flying Potato That Saved Ford From Bankruptcy in the 80s - autoevolution