The 1989-91 Taurus SHO Still Punches Above Its Weight

The business theories of W. Edwards Deming, especially the notion of total quality management, aren't something we enthusiasts consider when discussing the Ford Taurus. But the pre-Taurean Ford Motor Company definitely stood up and took notice, after Deming's teachings made Japan Inc. a force to be reckoned with. His Fourteen Points could be considered the foundation, and the ubiquitous 1986 Ford Taurus is the mansion atop this new bedrock. That's especially true of Deming's ninth point:

"Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service."

This happened with Ford's Taurus, to the point that Team Taurus became a phrase used inside and outside the company. In Eric Taub's book Taurus: The Making Of The Car That Saved Ford, it was noted that Ford engineers worked with designers in remarkable ways. One such example is when an engineer told VP of Design Jack Telnack that the Taurus' front end design wouldn't work for the cooling system. Telnack remarked, "Fine, then we will redesign the front to work for you."

Apparently Telnack's response shocked the engineer, as designers generally force their work upon engineering departments. But teamwork truly made a superior vehicle. That's where Ronald Glantz, a partner Montgomery Securities, was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying the Taurus "looks like the car was designed by one person."

Luckily for us enthusiasts, that "one person" wasn't some plain jane suit interested in hard numbers. And by 1989, they had a penchant for making a segment-busting, sports-car dominating, SHO-stopping performance from a family sedan template.

Enter the 1989 Ford Taurus SHO (Super High Output), a vehicle with plenty of digital ink spilled across the internet in its name. We wrote about it here and here, and Jason Cammisa's in-depth coverage leaves little else to say.

And with all this acclaim, a few salient points remain: The SHO was quicker than anything this side of a BMW M5, handled with Germanic flair, and sported a base price just under $20,000. No vehicle is perfect, and the SHO was subtle in a sea of already radically designed Taurus sedans. But this couldn't stop the SHO from winning near-universal praise, doing everything from securing a spot on Car and Driver Magazine's 10 Best List, to earning a cult-like following.

And yet, somewhat tragically, the magic of the original Taurus SHO was slowly watered down over time. This isn't referring to the later addition (1993) of an automatic transmission, as Ford was clever enough to increase displacement of that iconic Yamaha-designed engine from 3.0 to 3.2 liters to compensate for the torque-converted gearbox. Instead, consider how the first-generation SHO (1989-91) translated into a second generation, where performance was dulled to the point it can be tracked by the shrinking anti-roll bar diameters and the increasing levels of understeer they bestowed upon the Super High Output Taurus.

With the revolutionary good looks and impressive suspension prowess, the first-generation Taurus SHO has been appreciating at a rate on par with the broad crescendo of its Yamaha motor revving to its 7,300 rpm redline. Ten years ago, a SHO in #2 condition was a mere $4,700, and only $3,000 for an example in #3 condition. But today those same examples fetch $12,000 and $8,100, respectively.

A 155 percent appreciation rate is no small feat, especially for anything that looks like a family sedan from the 1980s. And the SHO has near-universal appeal, as Millennials quote 34 percent of SHO policies for Hagerty, while comprising 23 percent of the market. That outsize interest from younger enthusiasts suggests a strong near-term outlook for the SHO. Boomers comprise 32% of quotes sought, while Gen X comes in at 21 percent and Gen Y follows at 10 percent-all a little low relative to their percentage shares of the market, but still healthy. All told, there might be enough generational consensus to suggest the Taurus SHO is the United Nations of classic cars!

But the SHO's appeal is also on par with vehicles that cost far more, with far more prestigious nameplates attached to them. While Hagerty Valuation data is sparse for this class of vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz 300E (W124) was $5,000 (#2 condition) and $3,700 (#3) back in 2014. That's in line with the first generation SHO, but today the 300E is $14,600 and $8,200. While #3 condition examples of both are similar, even the $2600 difference between #2 examples is a testament to "Team Taurus" and what they created here in America.

We pulled Hagerty's average insured values of both the Saab 900 Turbo and the BMW 535i (E34) for more context. Compared to a Taurus SHO in #2 condition, the Saab is over $1,000 cheaper ($10,818) while the BMW is insured for over $2,000 more ($14,364). Indeed, there are signs suggesting the Taurus SHO is still punching above its family sedan weight, going deep into European performance sedan territory.

This data sheds new light on a passage from Taurus: The Making Of The Car That Saved Ford, when Ford's consumer advocate Joel Pitcoff discussed how chatter on the upcoming Taurus was heavily skewed to imported competition like the examples chosen here. While the base Taurus was supposed to be a mundane sedan worthy of Chevrolet Celebrity references, Pitcoff recalls the world didn't see "a step up from a Celebrity." Instead they saw "the near equivalent of a $25,000 import car that you could buy for $15,000."

So with over 30 years of hindsight available, perhaps it comes as no surprise that a $20,000 Taurus SHO destroys everything even remotely close to that price point. It's certainly not a bold statement to suggest that teamwork made dreams come true for a humble American family sedan. This is one moonshot design that paid off, be it for a mid-level Taurus GL in 1986, or in the year 2024 for the first-generation Taurus SHO.