Ford Taurus Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1986

Model year 1986 was a critical one for Ford. With sales slipping and customer confidence flagging, the company put its chips on the Taurus to bring it back to prominence.

Answer: LTD

Midsized LTDs were offered in Ford's lineup from model years 1983-1986. Its relatives include the 70's vintage Galaxie 500 and the 90's super cruiser Crown Victoria.

Answer: MT-5

The MT-5 was the earlier alternative to the automatic transaxle found in many Tauruses. The sedan version of the MT-5 was available from model years 1986-1988, and the wagon version from model years 1986-1987.

Answer: 1989

The SHO was a high-powered, high-performance upgrade of the MT-5. Originally featuring a manual transaxle, the first automatic transaxle SHOs appeared in model year 1993. The SHO was aimed at aging baby boomers jaded by "boring" family cars.

Answer: Sigma

Sigma was the working code name of the Taurus program. At the time, it was also an active nameplate on a compact Mitsubishi sedan. Aerostar wound up as the nameplate for Ford's first minivan. Chevrolet took Lumina as the name for its own mid-sized sedan. And Starfire was the name of Oldsmobile's equivalent to the 70s-vintage Chevrolet Monza.

Answer: Chicago and Atlanta

Two of Ford's oldest automotive plants had the responsibility for making one of the world's most popular cars.

Answer: 1998

When Ford discontinued production of the modern Thunderbird and began reworking the type as a retro roadster, the Taurus was tapped as Ford's stock-car platform. Taurus remained on the circuit, which itself was renamed the NASCAR Nextel Cup, until the end of the 2005 season.

Answer: Rusty Wallace

Although Mark Martin was the first driver to win a Winston Cup race in the Taurus (the No. 6 Valvoline machine, to be specific) on March 1, 1998, at the Las Vegas 400, Rusty Wallace was at the wheel of the No. 2 Miller Lite Taurus when he won the Bud Shootout at Daytona on February 8, 1998. Even though the Shootout doesn't impact the point standings, it is a NASCAR event. (Thanks to #1ruddfan for additional information.)

Answer: Sable

Sable featured more amenities and sports a more chic look than the Taurus. It also came at a higher price. Mystique is the Mercury equivalent to the Ford Contour; the Marquis is the Mercury equivalent to the Crown Victoria; and the Comet is the Mercury equivalent to the 70s-vintage Maverick.

Answer: Jackie Stewart

As a three-time Formula One champion, Stewart's feedback to Ford on the 1996 Taurus, the controversial oval-themed redesign of the type, provided valuable information to the designers.

Taurus would undergo one more major redesign for model year 2000, in which many of those oval elements were softened. The model year 2005 Taurus was the last sold to the general public in the United States. Ford replaced the sedan variant with the Five Hundred and the Fusion, and the station wagon variant with the Freestyle.