Well Christmas is but a couple of days away and the 2011 is knocking on the door.
Here is the last of the Auto Factoids for 2010.
Enjoy. Merry Christmas or what every holiday you celebrate and a very prosperous new year.
12/18/1970 – Lee Iacocca becomes President of Ford.
25 years before that on 12/21/1945 – Henry Ford II was named President of Ford
12/20/1868 Mr. Firestone was born in Ohio (Tires)
12/22/1900 The first Mercedes is built by Daimler
Perhaps my Favorite – on Christmas in 1878 Louis Chevrolet was born.
One of my least favorite Ford products showed up the day after Christmas in 1985. Ford debuted the Taurus and Sable (a Mercury)
Oh..nothing says “buy me” like the Taurus and Sable…look!!!!
1985 Sable or Taurus?
1985 Taurus or Sable..can you tell them apart?? Do you care?
And to finish off the year Charlie Goodyear was born in Connecticut 12/29/1800 (yeah..people blimp guy!!! and some of the best racing tires available)
Thank you for ready and drop me a note with what’s up with your 2011 car resolutions!!!
Tim
Sorry, but I have to defend the Taurus. I too did not like the car for iti’s looks and styling at first, but it grew on me for many reasons. My In Laws bought a 1985 first generation car that was bullet proof it’s first 85K miles (unheard of for a Detroit built car back then), and stayed reasonably reliable up to 180K miles. They bought another one in 1997 that was reliable and cheap to maintain and operate for it’s first 100K miles, or so. They were actually so upset when they heard Ford was discontinuing production in 2004 that they rushed to the dealer and bought one of the last models, which they still have today and will be their ‘last car’.
So what, you say, your In Laws are not car experts, so who cares?
Well, the Taurus had some significant impact on the auto business in 1985 that it showed Ford had what it took to be different, and single handed brought Ford back into the black. It was a sles smah hit for both the grocery getters, fleet, and family hauler crowds.
I believe the styling helped Chrysler get over it’s ultra conversative designs with the LH series Intrepids. I think Intrepids owe their looks to the Taurus that blazed the trail first.
I think the SHO versions (more on these later) showed the competition what a true sleeper can be in FWD form, and it kept Ford in the station wagon business with the somewhat good looking Sable versions. BTW, you can tell a Sable from a Taurus by the lighted front grill, wheras the Taurus has a simulated ‘floating’ blue oval and painted fasica.
My brother bought a first generation SHO that he misses to this day. It is the ONLY car I have been in that was quiet, stable, and smooth at 140MPH. Although his Cadillac STS was capable of 150MPH, it still was not as smooth and stable as the SHO at top speed, and cost 4 times the price of that SHO sleeper. The SHO alone should be inducted in the Hall of Fame for sleepers (if there is such a thing).
I hope history is ‘kind’ to the ol’Taurus. It needs to have the credit it’s due for it’s impact on the car world way back in 1985.
Happy New Year!