Ford Taurus, Part IX: When the Family Sedan Learned About Airbags and Police Duty

By 1989 the first-generation Ford Taurus was comfortably settled into its role as America’s family hauler, but Ford kept tinkering. That year brought a new Lincoln Continental spun from the same platform and the debut of the SVO-tuned SHO sedan, which landed with a Yamaha-designed V6 and a manual gearbox only. Ford had planned the SHO as a limited curiosity. Buyers had other ideas, and the car became a permanent fixture of the lineup — sold as its own model rather than a Taurus trim.

Small touches marked the SHO’s sophomore year. Its lace alloy wheels lost some shine compared with regular Taurus wheels and gained a center cap, while black cars could be ordered with black rims ringed in chrome and white examples could get fully color-matched alloys. More consequentially, the SHO donated its sport suspension to a new fleet offering.

The Police Package Arrives

Ford rolled out a Police Package Taurus for 1990, built off the basic L sedan. Under the hood sat the police-spec Essex 3.8-liter V6, now with electronic fuel injection, good for 140 horsepower and 220 lb-ft of torque. A standard dual exhaust helped it breathe, and extra grille slats flanking the Blue Oval fed more air.

The SHO’s suspension went underneath, the gauge cluster came straight from the SHO, and Ford advertised a “Certified Calibration” speedometer reading to 140 mph. For one year only, top speed was governed at 110 mph with a 5,500-rpm limiter. ABS, a power steering cooler, a heavy-duty transmission cooler and thicker sway bars all came standard.

Civilian Tauruses got their own engine news as the 3.8-liter V6 picked up electronic fuel injection and a mass air flow sensor. It matched the Police Package’s 140 hp but delivered slightly less twist at 215 lb-ft.

Airbags Reshape the Cabin

The 1990 interior update was the bigger story. Airbags were becoming a selling point and would soon be required by law, so Ford introduced a new airbag wheel that spread across its cars, trucks and vans — and even to Aston Martin, which used it in the 1992 V8 Vantage. The Taurus dash was redrawn with a binnacle that curved toward the driver, the clock moved up above the climate controls, and a center vent took its old spot.

Below the radio came a pop-out coin tray and push-button cupholders. Tilt wheel became standard across the range, and digital-gauge cars got three separate screens with a warning lamp strip beneath. Four-wheel disc ABS and an in-dash CD player were optional, though neither was cheap: the CD unit ran $491, air conditioning $817, and electronic climate control on a GL a full $1,000.

A quirk of the refresh: the Taurus and Sable dashboards merged designs, and the Sable lost its own layout. A trim panel removed for the Sable made the binnacle look like it curved farther from the driver, and the Mercury added burl wood fascia unavailable in the Ford. From here the two interiors drifted closer together.

One Last Year, and a Rare SHO Plus

The first-generation Taurus bowed out after 1991, with features repackaged but sheetmetal and cabin unchanged. The base four-cylinder and the Vulcan V6 both gained electronic fuel injection, and the LX wagon made the 3.8-liter standard while adding four-wheel discs and ABS. Every automatic car sat on the new AXOD-E, an electronically controlled evolution of the AXOD that retired the old three-speed ATX from the Tempo; automatic top speed settled at 112 mph.

The SHO got six-spoke wheels in 1991 — the only year they carried a center disc with no branding — plus amber rear turn signals, and late-build cars received a new shifter and a larger clutch. Then there was the SHO Plus, a 2,500-unit run offered for a single year.

It added a fiberglass hood with a power bulge, a rear spoiler, “24V DOHC” fender badges, body-colored trim where regular SHOs wore black, black B and C pillars, body-colored Taurus badges and chrome window trim from the LX. Some examples reportedly carried the Police Package grille with its extra slats, though Ford never documented it.

That closed the book on the first-generation Taurus, with a replacement waiting for 1992.