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500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #1 –
It's still U-G-L-Y.
2005 Subaru WRX STi|daily driver

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #2 –
I got laid off when Mulally took over at Boeing. I guess the same things been happening at Ford for a while. Probably would've happened no matter who was in charge. Gotta expect that when you work for a manufacturing giant.

The whole lay off thing actually did me a favor though. Worked out pretty good in the end!

Anyway, I still think Mulally's a British cigarette...
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
86 5.0 Turbocoupe (Katrina), 87 5.0 Sport (Rita)

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #3 –
Might as well call it the "Oops". I mean, Ford NEVER should have killed the Taurus name, but now they did it seems silly to bring it back and tack it onto an old car in hopes it increases sales. Now, if they actually had something new to put the name on that'd be OK, but consumers aren't stupid enough to think a warmed over Five Hundred (albeit a greatly improved one) is the same thing as the good ol' Taurus. Calling the Five Hundred the Taurus seems to me to be an indication that Ford thinks the only thing wrong with the car(and indeed, the only thing right with the Taurus) was its name.

I find it intriguing that nobody can seem to figure out why the Five Hundred (or the Fusion) were not called Taurus to begin with. It's simple: Ford was not confident the new cars would sell well, so they wanted to sell the new and old cars at the same time.They needed two names to do so (unlike in 1997, when you could buy two completely different F150's).
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;127953
I find it intriguing that nobody can seem to figure out why the Five Hundred (or the Fusion) were not called Taurus to begin with. It's simple: Ford was not confident the new cars would sell well, so they wanted to sell the new and old cars at the same time.They needed two names to do so (unlike in 1997, when you could buy two completely different F150's).
That and it seemed they were working for a full vehicle lineup with all names that started with F. Of course there are exceptions, they just didn't get to the new replacement "F" versions yet.
Focus
Fusion
Five-Hundred
Freestyle
Freestar
F-series Trucks

Just like Mercury going to all "M" cars and Lincoln doing all "MK.."

Sorry Ford, that's not a Bold Move, that's just lame.

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #5 –
Quote from: 5.0willgo;127962
That and it seemed they wanted a full vehicle lineup with all names that started with F. Of course there are exceptions, they just didn't get to changing their names yet.
Focus
Fusion
Five-Hundred
Freestyle
Freestar
F-series Trucks

Just like Mercury going to all "M" cars and Lincoln doing all "MK.."

Sorry Ford, that's not a Bold Move, that's just lame.


Maybe they'll change the Mustang into the fornicatestang:hick:
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
86 5.0 Turbocoupe (Katrina), 87 5.0 Sport (Rita)

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Dogcharmer;127963
Maybe they'll change the Mustang into the fornicatestang:hick:

*climbs back up on chair.....LMFAO....*

So true! Hahaha!  :hick:

*climbs back up on chair again*
One 88

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #7 –
I for one am glad they are going to re-use the Taurus name. I just wonder how all those 500 owners who have already bought theirs feel? Kind-of strange......
Alan Mackin--Semi Professional Ford der
83 T-Bird 460
83 T-Bird Heritage 5.0
84 T-Bird 5.0
86 T-Bird Turbo Coupe NHRA Stocker & Super Stocker
87 T-Bird Turbo Coupe
88 Bronco II Drag truck 302
95 Mustang GT auto
2004 F-350 CC Dually V-10

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #9 –
its a positive to try to build on the rep that the taurus had, yet, as stated, most people arent that dumb. (tho we have some come in everyday that make you wonder)  trying to name all ford vehicles starting with the letter "f" is retarded.  do you know how hard it is trying to look up parts when you have to "focus" (no pun) on every name to tell them apart because they are so similar in spelling??  my thoughts were if you were going to call it that, you should have done it in the beginning when it came out. its ugly but very quality oriented.  it woulda been like the chicken said about the f150, finish out the old body style as a taurus, and introduce what was the 500 as the new body taurus.  sell them along side each other for a while, and then people would have accepted it better, as a taurus, maybe.....  and calling the freestyle the taurus X....dont even get me started on that.  its just retarded.  the person that thought of that, laugh him out of the building.  THE person that said "we're gonna go with that" should be FIRED!.......
-'87 turbo coupe with only 740 ORIGINAL miles.... :dunce:
-'86 turbo coupe, 5sp. Cali Car.......:cool:

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #10 –
Quote
THE person that said "we're gonna go with that" should be FIRED!.......

Well...technically I don't think Mulally can fire himself. Read the full article here and you'll see the rather minimal thought process that went into the renaming structure:

Quote
The idea was hatched by Ford Division's new marketing guru, Barry Engle, following an exchange with a handful of journalists prior to the Detroit auto show in early January. Engle acknowledged to the press that he, too, thought killing Taurus had been a mistake. (He could safely say that, since he was far away, handling Ford's marketing in Brazil, at the time.)

The next day, Engle kicked the idea of a reincarnation up the ladder to Cisco Codino, the marketing group vice president, and Mark Fields, president of Ford North America. The trio took it to Mulally, who gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. The entire decision was made in a matter of days, according to Ford sources.

Hasty? Perhaps a bit. Bold moves? I don't think there's any doubt about that. The timing could not have been more closely cut. I suppose we'll know a year from now if the decision was the right one. Mulally obviously wants the world to know that he's in charge at FoMoCo, and is beginning to emulate Bob Lutz over at GM in that respect. Hopefully he will command as much respect in the long run.

Realistically the Five Hundred sedan does resemble the older Taurus design, at least from the side. It is much larger than the older cars. It has more safety features, including a five-star crash rating. There is AWD available. It gets better fuel economy. It has way more power. It has a much more reliable transmission (LOL). And more importantly, it is both positioned and priced above the Camry and Accord, whom Ford will wisely let the impressive Fusion fight. In a sense the Taurus badging was impeccably timed and executed in such a small time period that rivals must be scratching their heads in awe. Let's see a decision at GM or Chrysler go through that quickly from the head office. I'm stopping short of calling the move "brilliant" because the last version of the Taurus, although technically a solid car, has left a bland impression with a lot of people. But, better to resuscitate a solid brand name from fleet sales than try to build upon an unknown name for umpteen years with marginal projected gains. Ford will definitely realize cost savings from this "badge engineering", that's for sure.

I'm just happy the Sable name is back. I always loved it...what a perfect representation of the Mercury flagship brand in the 1980s. Now bring back the "laser bar" on the trunklid. ;)

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #11 –
They need to LOSE the tri-bar grill. It makes every car but the Fusion look like @$$! The "new" Sable looks very good, and if I cover up the grill with my thumb, the "Taurus" isn't bad, but one look at that grill and I start to dry heave.

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #12 –
Quote from: EricCoolCats;128240
It has way more power

 
WTF?
 
my grandmother was very kind as to lend me her '05 500 limited over my winter break while i worked on the cat's HO conversion. i thought it had PLENTY of power, and looking it up online the 0-60 mph time was 7.6 seconds which is...well...great for a sedan like that! the average car is usually like 8-9 seconds, maybe a little more for  a truck or SUV.
 
and you got all these magazines bitchin' "WAH its grossly underpowered."  what the hell are they expecting, that it be as fast as a mustang? :confused:
1987 20th Anniversary Cougar, 302 "5.0" GT-40 heads (F3ZE '93 Cobra) and TMoss Ported H.O. intake, H.O. camshaft
2.5" Duals, no cats, Flowmaster 40s, Richmond 3.73s w/ Trac-Lok, maxed out Baumann shift kit, 3000 RPM Dirty Dog non-lock TC
Aside from the Mustang crinkle headers, still looks like it's only 150 HP...
1988 Black XR7 Trick Flow top end, Tremec 3550
1988 Black XR7 Procharger P600B intercooled, Edelbrock Performer non-RPM heads, GT40 intake AOD, 13 PSI @5000 RPM. 93 octane

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #13 –
You may have read that wrong...I meant, it's got way more power than the older Taurus (I was comparing "new" Taurus vs. the previous version). Sorry if you got cornfused.

The only reason magazines say anything about a lack of power with the Five Hundred is because the competition has more of it. Although they are technically correct, just about anything with at least 200hp will move out of its own way. But with 260hp now it is definitely more competitive.

500 renamed Taurus!

Reply #14 –
WTH is CORNFUSED? I've been staring at my screen for 10 minutes Eric, explain yourself! :hick: