Blah, blah blah, Ranchero, Yada, yada, yada, El Camino. Let us not get into a debate over the merits of car-based pickup trucks, let us only bask in the awesome possum that is today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe SHO Taurus truck, the only debatable element of which may be its price.
When, back in the eighties, GM's Pontiac division released the Fiero, it caused Ford Motor Company to crap their collective pants because not only did GM have a new and pointier Corvette to lord over Ford, but now they had a mid-engine sports car, the engine position of kings! Ford quickly called up Yamaha, and said Dudes! Build us a wicked cool V6 engine, something that looks like it has snakes crawling all over it, M'kay? They then called Roush Engineering and commissioned them to design a killer chassis for the new Yamaha engine - one where it would go in the middle.
As it turns out, Ford continued to sell more Mustangs than GM sold Camaros and Firebirds combined, while the Corvette still attracted the kind of buyers Corvettes always had - how you doin'? And the Fiero? Once Ford realized that GM had emasculated their mid-engine car to the point that, at every stop you'd expect 16 clowns to emerge, they breathed a collective sigh of relief and cancelled their GN34 mid-engine project.
But it turns out that Yamaha had done such a good job designing the V6, and that the 2,986-cc, 220-bhp quad-cam engine looked like something you'd want to make the sexy times with, that Ford decided to keep it. They dropped it under the hood of their wildly popular and slipperier than prison soap Taurus, and the SHO was born. Backed up by a slick 5-speed manual transmission and featuring bolstered and muy macho leather-clad seats, the only thing the SHO Taurus lacked was a choice of body options, a four-door sedan being the only one.
But that needn't be the case for all eternity. This 1989 Taurus SHO offers up a body style that even the base Taurus lacked - that of a Ranchero-like pickup truck/car/thing. Sure a wagon may be more practical, unless of course your transportation needs involve extreme Jenga games, or proof positive that they really do stack shit that high, in which case the unlimited headroom of a pickup is your BFF.
The seller says that his brother wrecked this Taurus on his way to Chicago, perhaps in pursuit of those slippery Blues Brothers, and that he bought it off his sibling intent on customizing it, and due to the fact that it had been pre-disastered. His modification tools included a Sawzall and some Bondo, and apparently little else, to create this most ultimate of Utes. There is a full cabin cap sealing out the weather and Illinois Nazis, with a sliding window installed to help facilitate the car's 2-65 A/C.
It's said to have sat for 10 years, and since its de-rip van winkling has seen new brakes (rotors and calipers) a new timing belt, and in the back, new struts. The seller claims that the switch to Ranchero form-factor was done without the aid of a professional, and that's pretty obvious from the pics. Not to put the builder down or anything, but it does seem a little rough around the edges. Regardless, he says that it runs and drives just fine, and with only 84K on the clock, it's not like it's on its last legs.
The SHO holds a special place in the hearts of Ford fanatics, and it goes without saying that should you show up to a FoMoCo car show in this SHOchero, you will either be the belle of the ball, or get repeatedly kicked in yours. How fun would it be to find out which one it is?
To achieve that not so ultimate enlightenment, one would need to come up with the $2,400 cost of entry the seller has set for this one-of-a-kind Ford. What do you think, is that a price that have you saying SHO-nuff? Or, is that too much loot for this custom ute?
You decide!
eBay or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to John Moore and DarkL1ghtn1ng for the hookup!
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