Ford never offered a wagon edition of their fabulous Taurus SHO but as today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate proves, enterprising individuals are filling in the gap. Let’s see if this custom longroof is worth taking the SHO on the road.
It’s been said that good things come in small packages. I’m pretty sure that phrase was originated by people who possess said small packages.
The 1993 Mazda MX-3 GS we looked at yesterday was an appreciably small package—a pocket-sized sporty coupe with an even more notably tiny V6 engine—and it was pretty good. A relatively small $2,795 asking price rounded out the package and earned that Mazda kudos in the comments and a 58 percent Nice Price win.
At one time, Mazda and Ford got along like peas and carrots. Ford, in fact, once owned a sizable chunk of the Japanese carmaker and leveraged the latter’s expertise in making smaller cars to fill out the Blue Oval Brand’s global range. Sometimes, however, Ford went elsewhere for help.
That was the case for the 3-litre Super High Output (SHO) engine that Ford dropped into the hot-rod version of the original Taurus. That mill was designed and manufactured by the Yamaha Motor Company.
The engine was based on Ford’s Vulcan V6 but was given four-valve heads and dual-stage intakes for one of the coolest under-hood snake pits on the planet. That two-fer intake was designed to create different flow patterns depending on engine speed which offered a flatter torque curve. The end result was 220 horsepower at 6200 rpm and that made it one of the highest-output per displacement naturally aspirated engines of its era. Ford dropped the hot V6 in their hot-selling Taurus sedan and thus created the SHO.
The only major gaffe Ford made with the SHO was not offering it in the Taurus’ wonderfully weird wagon edition. This custom 1994 Ford Taurus wagon seemingly seeks to rectify that situation.
Now, SHO swaps into Taurus or Sable wagons are nothing new. I think the most surprising thing about the move is the fact that the wagon platform is able to accept the floor shifter for the five-speed manual transmission. That was some pretty impressive foresight on Ford’s part since the take rate for stick shift wagons must have been appreciably low even back then.
This Taurus looks the bomb with its stately two-tone paint and aggressive SHO bladed alloys. The ad claims it to be “a very well done swap car..” and notes it to have 157,000 miles on the body and just 100K on the drivetrain. The bodywork is said to be completely rust-free and seems in solid shape except for a modest dent on the driver’s side front fender.
The engine looks right at home under the wagon’s hood. And why wouldn’t it? It’s the same space it would have previously occupied in its original sedan abode. The only major bit of sketch here is the block of plywood capping the battery. What’s that all about?
The interior is a bit of a dog’s breakfast. The upholstery is mismatched with black leather SHO seats bolted into the blue color-keyed non-SHO space, and those sit in stark contrast to the velour bench in back.
Regardless, it all seems to work and it’s amazing just how much kit these cars carried at the time. There’s keypad entry (best feature ever), dual sliding sun visors, while in back there’s both a third-row bench and a fold-out picnic table. The seller says that everything—including the A/C—is still in working order on the car.
On the down-side, the dash looks to have lost a fight with someone, suffering some exposed foam on the passenger side. Those SHO seats also look a little worse for wear.
The biggest issue may be the clutch which the seller says needs replacing. That doesn’t require the engine to be pulled so maybe it’s not that big a deal to do yourself if you’re adept with a wrench.
That seems to be the major reason the car is offered for sale as the seller says they want to focus on other projects. It’s also being offered for $2,000 which is seemingly what that unfocused present owner has invested in the car. The parts for the clutch replacement seemingly are included in that price.
What’s your take on this Yamaha’d wagon and that $2,000 asking price? Does that seem like a fair deal even with the clutch work looming in the near future? Or, is this Franken-SHO too sketchy to ask so much?
You decide!
Facebook Marketplace out of Stanhope, NJ, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Rob S. for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.