5k: SHO Boat: 1993 Ford Taurus SHO
The Taurus SHO (Super High Output) was a limited edition sports sedan built by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (the same guys who developed the SVO Mustang, Mustang Cobra, etc). The SHO may feel slow in comparison to today’s big DOHC V6s mounted in every economy sedan, but back in 1989 when it was new, there weren’t many cars capable of 6.6 second to 60mph and a 143 mph top speed. Find this 1993 Ford Taurus SHO for sale in Denver, CO for $2,500 via craigslist. Tip from slowcarSLOW-MPGlol
The 1st generation SHO was redesigned along with the Taurus in 1992, but the SHO kept the same engine and 5-speed, but an automatic (with a slightly larger engine) was added as an option. The restyled Taurus was larger and added (color matched in white cars) Italian “slicer” wheels which are uni-directional and therefore different for each side of the car.
The Taurus SHO is powered by a 3.0 liter Yamaha developed V6 that revs to 7000 rpm and puts out 220 horsepower and 225 ft-lbs of torque. Power is put to the front wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox.
The SHO is one of those cars that has sporting pretenses, but was sold for a premium to folks who expected as much luxury as sport. Therefore the inside features some overstuffed seats, some ugly wood and the entire car pushes the scales to almost 3500 lbs.
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I had a '92 5 speed for 7 years and loved it. What a sleeper, especially once you put on a more free-flowing exhaust system. Prone to rust above rear wheel wells, so inspect carefully. Would buy it now for asking if it was within 500 miles of me. Unfortunately, it's not…
Conan O'Brien's car's cousin. I love these things, tough to find in un-molested condition now a'days. Fast, comfortable, smooth but man, that interior… there's a special place in hell for the bean counters who decided hard-touch brittle plastics from the 1960's were perfectly acceptable in a 1990's car.
The nadir of boring 90s snooze car design.
Drove one in Germany during the early 90s. Lots of fun winding the motor out to the redline in each gear on the Autobahn, but didn't inspire a lot of confidence above about 110 mph. It was not in the same league as BMW/Mercedes/Audi at triple digit speeds. The motor was special…the rest of the car…not so much.