VIDEO: Fo' SHO: Original commercials and a Gen III on the 'Ring
Warning: If you are not a fan of the Ford Taurus SHO, look away. I'm indulging my own affection for the crown pinnacle of Taurus evolution by sharing with you a couple of posts found on DrivingEnthusiast.com. The first features two original Taurus SHO commercials for the Gen I and Gen II models. The Gen I spot is glorious dressed in its mid-80's production values with a soundtrack sourced from a $40 Yamaha keyboard and the late, great Ford tag line, "Have you a driven a Ford... lately?" The second commercial advertising the Gen II model glams up the SHO with a string section while the caption reminds us that the Taurus was the best-selling car in America at one point. Sigh... those were the days.
Finally, we bring you a video of something that never actually took place: a Gen III Taurus SHO running the famed Nurburgring in Germany. We have Sony Computer Entertainment's Gran Turismo 4 to thank for this one, which allows one to choose from an exhaustive palate of undeserving automobiles to race on the world's most prestigious tracks.
From what we've heard, there's little to no chance that Ford is working on reviving the SHO using the new 2008 Taurus (read: Five Hundred) as its base, and we can't blame them. The Five-Hundred is an even worse platform on which to build a performance sedan than the original Taurus. Nevertheless, we continue to hold candle vigils for the original SHO (specifically the first gen that remained truest to form), which played to host to an outstanding, high-revving 3.0L V6 from Yamaha that looked like underhood art and went like stink.
Check out the other two videos after the jump.
[Source: DrivingEnthusiast.net
Gen II commercial
Gen III running the 'Ring
2010 Chevrolet Camaro priced: LS $22,995, SS $30,995
BREAKING: GM and Chrysler talking about merger
Spy Shots: Nissan 370Z again, with interior shots
2010 Mazda3 unveiled ahead of LA Auto Show
Spy Shots: Nissan 370Z caught undisguised
Knight Rider: The Liveblog -- Season 1, Episode 3
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Mazda RX-8 R3, return of the "hummer"
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Chevy Corvette Z06
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
Paris 2008: Le Day 1 Wrapup
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BCM @ May 22nd 2007 4:06PM
"The Five-Hundred is an even worse platform on which to build a performance sedan than the original Taurus"
Really? True, it's bigger and heavier, but the suspension and brakes are probably better, and it's already set up for all-wheel drive. With direct injection and forced induction, the new 3.5l mill ought to be good for at least 350hp, probably more. Some will sneer, but that puts you north of the 300C Hemi AWD with 400 fewer pounds to haul around. It wouldn't have the raw quality of the original SHO, but few new cars would, they're just so much more sophisticated and well-equipped compared to 20 years ago. I doubt it will happen, but then I didn't expect the Marauder to make it into showrooms either, even for the few years that it did.
Pedro @ May 22nd 2007 4:06PM
Ford should pass the SHO mantle over to the Fusion. A spirited sister to the Mazdaspeed6, that might be a pretty spiffy sports sedan indeed.
Or just drop pretenses and bring the darn Mondeo over!
3cubedminus3squared @ May 22nd 2007 4:12PM
The yshould make another SVT focus. The new is supposed to be lighter than the outgoing model.
aaron @ May 22nd 2007 5:03PM
3cube, they should make another Focus SVT...as soon as we get rid of the warmed-over first gen model in the states. Then we can have the Euro Focus, and then maybe another SVT.
SVT WILL COME BACK, they it said it awhile back that they would and I actually believe them. But I think the company's fortunes ride on next years new F-150 and the Falcon....hopefully the Falcon.
Deezee @ May 22nd 2007 5:52PM
GT4 has the most inaccurate sounds of cars I've ever heard. My friend has a SHO and it sounds nothing like that.
Build a muscle car in GT2, then do the same in GT4, you'll see what I'm talking about. Horrible sounding game.
PeterB @ May 22nd 2007 6:37PM
Call me when they stick a '89 Shelby CSX in there.
John R @ May 22nd 2007 8:47PM
Dezee,
Was your friend's SHO from Gran Turismo or real life? I'm assuming you're refering to his SHO as being real.
As this might be the case, the one in the game sounds so different from your friend's as the virtual SHO has been tuned to make 402bhp.
As I don't think there many 3rd generation SHOs tuned to make this power out in the real world(i haven't heard of any), the creators of GT4 have little to go on except of what a heavily tuned Yamaha motor from the mid 90s might sound like.
To me this GT4 SHO is probably best understood as an interpetation of what a substantially modified Taurus SHO might sound like.
Deezee @ May 23rd 2007 4:19AM
John R, my friend has a Stock SHO. But theres no type of modifications that would cause an SHO to sound like that. Unless you turned it into a hybrid somehow.
Matter fact I made this little mp3 to explain exactly what I'm talking about. We all know what muscle cars are supposed to sound like. Well heres the exact same 68 Camaro, with every single upgrade applied. The first in GT4, and the second in GT2. The Camaro in GT4 sounds like a damn nissan silvia!!!!
http://www.capabel.com/GT4/GT4vsGT2-EngineSounds.mp3
Please don't pretend like car sounds are accurate on GT4, they simply are not. I'm just stating the facts. The sounds on GT4 are horrendous. GT2 was WAAAAAYYYYYYY more accurate when it came to car sounds. They blew it completely on GT4.
Ralph @ May 22nd 2007 9:41PM
The first generation may have been truer to the concept, but the second generation was the better car. The first generation came witgh clutches that were toast in 15,000 miles, and it took Ford half the model year to develop one that could handle the Yamaha's power. It also had much more torque steer than the second generation and less accurate steering.
But that second generation SHO was just about perfect.
Too bad Ford can't seem to cerate products like that today.
Bryan @ May 22nd 2007 10:08PM
I still love the SHO in every form. I really hope when Ford redoes the next Taurus we have an SHO to go with it. They made a Marauder again..why not an SHO? Bring it back Ford!!!!!
adelossa @ May 23rd 2007 3:17AM
Oh, god. Please tell me that the engine doesn't sound like that (referring to the GT4 Taurus video)
John R @ May 23rd 2007 9:39AM
Yikes...that sounds pretty awful. I got rid of GT2 a long time ago so it's hard to remember. I'll have to buy a '68 Camaro (in GT4 that is) and check this out. I've used a Corvette for the American races.
Deezee @ May 23rd 2007 3:39PM
Go for it. Try it yourself. When muscle cars sound like nissan skylines, theres a major problem.
I have all the GT games and have gone past 95% complete on all of them. GT2 is BY FAR the best sounding one. Each car had its own character. GT4 is simply horrible. Not even close to accurate. It ruins the game for me I cant even play it anymore.
John R @ May 23rd 2007 9:48PM
Since we're feeling nostalgia for the '90s...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhQKfQSQP8