While two-door personal luxury cars seemed to be where the sales were in the 1970s, in the 1980s it was the four-door mid-size cars where the action was. Ford had a pretty good contender in the early to mid-eighties with the Fairmont based LTD/Marquis. However, it was the Taurus/Sable that really set the sales chart on fire. By 1988, Ford was selling 387,577 Taurus models, with 294,576 of them being 4 door sedans. Here is a nice 1988 Ford Taurus LX 4 door sedan for sale here on eBay in South Lake Tahoe, California. Appearing grille-less, the first generation Taurus actually had a molded-in opening beneath the bumper, while allowing additional air through the opening oval between the headlights.
You could say that Ford started the American jelly bean shape, while General Motors and Chrysler products for most of the 1980s were “square”. Ford got things going with aerodynamics with the Mustang, Thunderbird, Tempo, and Taurus. This particular car has been in the same family for decades and has been garage kept. The Medium Sandalwood Clearcoat Metallic paint is still shiny. Exterior features include a keyless entry system, cast aluminum wheels, cornering lights, and contrasting lower bodyside cladding.
The LX model provided this sumptuous cloth velour interior featuring split front seats. The dash top of this Taurus has been protected since new with the dash cover to prevent cracks. Power windows, power door locks, and power seats are all included and working as well as the air conditioning.
This engine was new for 1988, the 3.8-liter V-6 with multi-port electronic fuel injection, mated with a 4-speed automatic overdrive transmission. There are no leaks and the engine runs perfectly.
This Taurus has the rare digital dash readout with trip computer. The car only has 44,698 miles. The seller describes the car as being in museum condition. Indeed, from the pictures, it appears that way. So is this a car you would be interested in adding to your garage. At a Buy it Now price of $2,900, it appears to be a bargain.
They may have started the American “jellybean” shape, but they straight ripped-off the Audi Type 44 (5000 here) chassis which launched in ‘84.
Ripped off or not, they were fugly, but to each his (or her) own.
True, but I believe the Ford design is the better looking of the two.
More like they followed the design cues started with the 1982 Ford Sierra in Europe
Nicely equipped car with the larger V-6, excellent cosmetic condition for a 30 year old Ford coupled with an affordable price makes this Taurus a winner. I actually got to borrow a coworker’s car of this vintage once or twice
and was impressed with the driving dynamics for a family car at the time.
The smaller 3.0 was a better motor because it didn’t blow head gaskets.
These were sold as Ford Scorpio in Europe right?
The Scorpio is a different (but, also bulbous) model. Scorpios were rear-drive and sold here as Merkurs.
Looked really futuristic when it was new compared to everything else then, especially the GM family of mullet-mobiles.
I had a new 1990 loves that car traded for a new 93 Exploder. I love to own that Taurus although I had the 3.0!’3.8 were noted for intake gaskets
Bought one new. I remember the torque steer would change lanes for you.
it even has the correct 1988 California white, blue and red “plain plate.” You almost feel like jumping in and going to see Die Hard at the theater!
Or RoboCop!! 😉
The 6000 SUX!
Lol
I love the G1 Taurus. I really want to find and restore an 86 LX wagon in Medium Canyon Red Metallic fully loaded.
The car solely responsible for initiating my ongoing lack of interest in modern cars.
I hate modern cars too. I’d choose an old G1 Taurus LX over a brand new car any day.
These were such pleasant cars, especially on the highway. I had a base model ’87 Sable and was really impressed by its driving dynamics and comfortable interior. Unfortunately, like many others, mine for very expensive to own at around 90k miles. Transmission, steering, CV joints, heater core, radio, ignition switch, fuel pump and more in the space of a year or two. These got a really bad reputation in my neck of the woods. Really nice cars for the first few years, though!
At least yours made it to 90k before falling apart. My ’93 had quite a bit of warranty work, hoses failed at 50k, transmission at 62k and it all went downhill from there. I spent almost as much getting it to 104k, when I gave it away, as I spent to buy it. Unfortunate, because it was a very comfortable and attractive car.
While the Taurus, Thunderbird, and Tempo we’re indeed aerodynamic in the 80s, the Mustang retained is very boxy Fox body into the 90s. I have a hard time calling that one ahead of it’s time areodynamically speaking.
Ford did facelift the Mustang for 1987 to be more aerodynamic, and that included the flush headlights from this car. But your point is taken as it didn’t go full jelly bean until 1994. Ford Escort also stayed boxy until 1991, as did the Tempo, though I think they also got aerodynamic styling cues and tweaks in subsequent years that were inspired by this design.
This is a good buy, friends, someone jump on it.
make a great winter ride here in Michigan
It would be a good car if you can keep the transmission working.
It did sell cheap enough to handle any problems that come up.
You can see by the final sale price that the public doesn’t think much of these cars yet.
Maybe in another 20 years if you can find one, it would be worth something.
I was a kid when these rolled out. I thought they were so modern looking. I even had large Taurus station wagon toy. We had a crappy 85 Escort wagon at the time and these looked like space ships to me. I think they’ve aged well. I spent time driving the facelifted 95 Sable wagon with the 3.8 liter. White with emerald green interior, that car always felt richer than what it was.
Remember checking my own speed against these dashes on the highway… Lots of car left here for the money. Like these better than the real jelly bean models that were sold during the small/medium/large Escort/Contour/Taurus days. 82 bids, $1,500 & reserve not met.
I’d be embarrassed to pick up my mom
The Taurus was a good, dependable car that appealed to many. Hundreds of thousands sold over the course of it’s production run. I’ve had three, though all were wagons. An ’89, a ’99 and a ’05 Sable. All were trouble free cars that had decent performance and were great road trip cars. Especially the Sable which was loaded with almost every option offered then.
This Taurus would be a great every day driver or a good choice for your kids first car.
A no sale at the gargantuan high bid of $1500.
82 bids!
These were such a POS the only reason this one looks good is that it’s been sitting if it were on the road more it would have fallen apart years ago. These were also a terrible car to work on especially diagnostics. Get out the cumbersome breakout box and plug it into the car then spend the next ten hours reading ohms values and comparing the readings to a chart. Then maybe just maybe you will find the malfunctioning part. You couldn’t give this car to me or any of the fords from this era for that matter there all crap. The only thing worse than these was the Aerostar. How Ford didn’t go under during this time is beyond me. A mechanics perspective.
The only reason is nobody gave these cars proper maintainance. Take care of the Taurus and change the transmission fluid every 25 k and the tranny filter every 50k and it should not die on you. Most people didn’t take care of these and they drove them into the ground.
I loved these cars when they were introduced and it’s nice to see one in this condition today. They were everywhere and now you rarely see this generation on the road anymore. The pick a parts were littered with them for years.
One really shouldn’t have to change transmission fluid every 25k…
The next generation of Taurus had a sealed Tranny. Ask owners how THAT design worked out around 100k..
Well several owners of G1 Taurus’s told me that’s how often they changed the fluid and they never had a problem. These transmissions were high maintenance.