The Ford Taurus SHO rocks, and Conan agrees
I have an unhealthy obsession with the Ford Taurus SHO, the Super High Output version of Ford's workhorse family sedan, the last example of which was built not even two days ago after being in production for over 20 years. It's an unhealthy obsession because, quite frankly, the Taurus is not a vehicle worthy of anyone's obsession. But obsess I do, mostly over the SHO's 3.0-liter V6 developed by Yamaha, but also because the SHO was a killer car back in the day, especially the first generation. In the late 80s, the SHO could stand grille to grille with a BMW M3 for about half the price.
I've been mocked plenty of times on account of my affection for the Taurus SHO, but today I learned that I'm not alone. None other than late night host Conan O'Brien considers himself a SHO lover like myself, and this YouTube clip proves it. Mr. O'Brien owns a second-generation 1992 Ford Taurus SHO in Emerald Green (that's even my favorite Taurus color!) and is rather proud of that fact as the video shows.
Pay particular attention to the Ferrari guy he gets to sit shotgun in the SHO. His revulsion is more apparent than the surface rust for which the Taurus is famous. Sigh... they'll never understand us, Conan.
[Source: YouTube via Jalopnik]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Whydrive @ Oct 28th 2006 8:36PM
The Taurus SHO pales in comparison to Toyota's ultimate sports sedan back in the day - the 1991 Camry V6-LE Alltrac with 153 horsepower. The moment you sit into the sculpted bucket seats, turn on the ignition, hear the beautiful whine of that modern engine, you'd instantly recognize the beauty of real Japanese engineering.
RC @ Oct 28th 2006 8:46PM
I want to say Brad Pitt later drives conans car in that episode.
Oliver @ Oct 28th 2006 8:54PM
Whats with some people and their obsession with Toyota? You must be paid spokespeople. Who the hell cares about the camry?
Love
Oliver
jscro @ Oct 28th 2006 8:59PM
This was one of my favorite cars back in high school. When I tried to extol the beauty of that engine to my friends, most of it fell on deaf ears.
MUSASHI66 @ Oct 28th 2006 9:05PM
Am I the only one that is not missing the irony in this video? It is a big joke, he does not even call it SHO, not even once, he just mentioned 220HP once. It does not look to me that he realy loves this car.. I do, although not in green, I had a red 1991 MY some 5 years ago...
Dave @ Oct 28th 2006 9:43PM
Thanks for the Taurus/SHO stuff over the past few days Jeff... I was never lucky enough to pick up a true SHO, but my first car was handed down from my old man... it was... wait for it... an '87 Taurus MT-5. When I received it at 110k miles it still had the original clutch. It was a great car that I still talk about and miss to this day. Good to see others out there remember it too.
That One Person @ Oct 28th 2006 9:54PM
I like the Taurus. Mostly because they are reliable and dirt cheap...even the ones that are only a couple years old.
But the SHO was sweet...even today. But 220hp from a 3 liter engine in a car that was half the price of sports cars 17 years ago was insane and even five years ago it was still respectable. I would love to get my hands on a 1995 Taurus SHO five speed.
Chris @ Oct 28th 2006 9:55PM
You think that someone earning Conan's kind of money would still be driving an old Taurus if he didn't love it MUSASHI66?
Brad Drake @ Oct 28th 2006 10:04PM
Must go nice with his SHOgun.
gerrynjr @ Oct 28th 2006 10:08PM
To #7... regarding the reliability of the taurus: I owned a 1996 taurus GL for 3 years. During this time, the brakes died on me 3 times, the radiator failed once, and eventually, at 125k miles, the engine blew up in a fireball at a gas station. I did take care of the car and replaced parts preemptively if I noticed them worn. These cars are definitely pieces of crap.
That said, for what I paid ($2000) with 75k miles, it did work for what I had at the time.
Brian W @ Oct 28th 2006 10:19PM
I loved that clip when it was on his show. He said he had it when he got the job and kept thinking he would lose his job so he never sold it. Didn't Yamaha build that engine for Ford?
That One Person @ Oct 28th 2006 10:38PM
#10...and I know someone with a 94 Taurus with 180k miles on it and a girl I went to hs with has a 2000 Taurus with 130k miles on it...both cars are flawless. Some people have bad luck...some people have good luck. Kind of like a friend who had the engine in his Civic replaced before 40k miles and another friend had the trans replaced in his 98 Maxima at 80k miles. Yet there are people out there who have no problems. The Taurus is known to be very reliable but there will always be problems here and there. It happens to every car out there.
Bstryd @ Oct 28th 2006 10:39PM
Ok all you young'ens! This car in its day was really a great car (not counting the goof ball comment with the Toyota V-6). I owned a '90. That sucker would handle and flat get down the road. I remember going 145mph with it - and still it was smooth. The transaxle was a thing of beauty, the Yamaha engine a masterpiece and the BOSE sound system WWWAAAYYY ahead of it's time. Sure wish I had it back in many ways. It was a normal man's 5 series with all you could want. Way to go Conan -- it's a killer.
Howard @ Oct 28th 2006 11:21PM
I never owned one but wish I had. To me it was the ultimate sleeper. Other than the embossed SHO in the rear bumper it looked like a stock Taurus sedan. I happen to think there is a reasonable market out there for "sleepers" but they are few and far between. Too much bling and to much "look at me" in the performance market. What other unadorned reasonable performance cars are on the market? Accord V6, BMW 330 ?
A&W @ Oct 28th 2006 11:23PM
How did I miss this one? Classic Conan for the car buff. Did anyone else see this as a shot at Leno?
El Norte @ Oct 28th 2006 11:35PM
I'm not quite sure what's more amusing, that hilarious clip or the complete lack of irony displayed by the Taurus aficionados who've come out of the woodwork.
epp_b @ Oct 29th 2006 12:32AM
I've always liked the "sleeper image". You can drive around inconspicuously and then kick a Mustang's sorry butt at the traffic lights.
Jason @ Oct 29th 2006 1:43AM
Making the dream come true (for you).
asp @ Oct 29th 2006 2:43AM
the SHO could stand grille to grille with a BMW M3- and in which particular fantasy world will that come true! Thankfully the M3, especially the original E30 M3, was designed for real driving with corners, crazy concept I know. But if you're someone who just appreciates going moderately quickly in a straight line then buy one of these gems, personally I'd take the M3
o5stangfan @ Oct 29th 2006 4:36AM
To # 17...Not my mustang!