Why do I like Taurus wagons?

I realize that my last post was about fox bodied Mustangs but in my Craigslist searches I kept coming across Taurus and Sable wagons.

I hate to admit that they're exactly what I NEED. But could they ever be what I WANT? Can these be fun? I mean its fwd, auto and V6 and is pretty much the opposite of a fox or sn95 but I can't get my love for the body style and assumed utility out of my mind.

Kill me now.

Click here

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/i-like-this-guy/62934/page1/

Big squishy floaty things, like a FoMoCo Buick. Not fun, just comfy. .

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Big squishy floaty things, like a FoMoCo Buick. Not fun, just comfy. .

GR2's, SHO front sway bar and good tires.... Maybe? Huh? Anyone?

Dual cams arnt bad. You can mod anything with enough skill. I like them as well for some odd reason. Maybea contour wagon? Lots more aftermarket for it.

Jaxmadine wrote: Dual cams arnt bad. You can mod anything with enough skill. I like them as well for some odd reason. Maybea contour wagon? Lots more aftermarket for it.

Was there ever a Contour wagon in the US?

I was seriously contemplating a Taurus /Sable wagon for my wife about a year or so ago. Really nice ones can be found for pocket change if your patient, and they are durable & cheap to maintain. My wife's champagne taste put the kaibash on that plan though.

In reply to Appleseed: ha! I actually saw that one a few minutes ago on Google Images! Ever seen the chop-top?

In reply to HappyAndy: I dnt think it was. Maybe just wishful thinking?

i love them. i think making them fun to drive is a waste of time. find one with the vulcan and just enjoy simple cheap transportation.

I think they are fun to drive stock. They are sloooooow, but fun. I remember letting the tail step out in my sister's vulcan equipped sedan when I was a teenage. I would love a SHO wagon, but I think it would be too unreliable for DD duty, and too heavy for track duty, so pretty much useless.

there was a vulcan supercharger kit once upon a time ago for the Ford Ranger, wonder if it fits...

Are early SHOs unreliable somehow? The main unreliability point i see is the auto trans if one were to keep it. Taurus ones are famous for either stripping the pump shaft splines in the torque converter or snapping the shaft in half which leaves you with no movement in either case.

fanfoy wrote: I think they are fun to drive stock. They are sloooooow, but fun. I remember letting the tail step out in my sister's vulcan equipped sedan when I was a teenage. I would love a SHO wagon, but I think it would be too unreliable for DD duty, and too heavy for track duty, so pretty much useless.

Why Vulcan? I ask because the Duratec is about 45 more hp. Unless I have it backward? Reliability differences?

Ohv 3.0 tend to burn valves. Don't know which one that's called.

The OHV "Vulcan" 3.0 is one of those cockroach engines that is known to take a E36 M3load of abuse and not break.

Ah, I've seen 5 in the past 2 monhs that needed a head due to a burned valve. While they drove them out, wouldn't call it indestructable.

i've been a car dealer for over 15 years. i do not recall ever seeing a dead or even wounded vulcan engine.

Vigo wrote: Are early SHOs unreliable somehow? The main unreliability point i see is the auto trans if one were to keep it. Taurus ones are famous for either stripping the pump shaft splines in the torque converter or snapping the shaft in half which leaves you with no movement in either case.

They are reliable if maintained properly......there have only been a few sho swapped wagons ever done.

The 3L dohc duratec can handle boost, and you can swap the duratec to a manual using a contour gearbox.

The later duratec is a very reliable engine....and not that slow in wagons(high 15-low16's in the 1/4)

Vigo wrote: Are early SHOs unreliable somehow? The main unreliability point i see is the auto trans if one were to keep it. Taurus ones are famous for either stripping the pump shaft splines in the torque converter or snapping the shaft in half which leaves you with no movement in either case.

Pump shaft sheared in my wife's '95. It wasn't that bad of a fix, but only re-enforced why I hate autotragics.

I had one for a year. '00 Sable with the dual cam V6. OK for what it was, but I'll never own another. I sold it to by my Mazda6 with a standard transmission. Life is worth living again.

I used to work on one of the two SHO wagons ever built by FORD.

Pump shaft sheared in my wife's '95. It wasn't that bad of a fix, but only re-enforced why I hate autotragics.

Yeah, its a lot worse when you tear into it far enough to find out it's actually the converter and have to take the rest of the transmission out (including subframe on all the 95+).

I still want my friends first gen sable wagon that has a complete mtx sho swap done to it......aside from the slicer wheels, you would never know it was reasonably quick.

Weren't the SHOs quicker than the Mustangs of the day? That and the fact that the local junkyard is littered with non wagon SHOs, sounds like it might be a good project