page_title: Ford Taurus (first generation)
section_title: Mercury Sable
hierarchical_section_title: Ford Taurus (first generation) / Variants / Mercury Sable
caption_attribution_description: 1989-1991 Mercury Sable photographed in College Park, Maryland, USA.
context_page_description: The first-generation Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are automobiles produced by Ford as the first of six generations of the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. Launched on December 26, 1985, as a 1986 model, the front-wheel-drive Taurus was a very influential design that is credited with saving Ford from bankruptcy, bringing many innovations to the marketplace and starting the trend towards aerodynamic design for the American automakers in the North American market. Ford of Europe had launched the 1980s move to aerodynamic design for the company with the 1982 Ford Sierra.
  Development for the first-generation Taurus started in the early 1980s to replace the Ford LTD, at the cost of billions of dollars, with a team led by the vice president in charge of car development Lewis Veraldi dubbed "Team Taurus." Ford was suffering from a lackluster product line from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, and then-chairman Philip Caldwell staked much of the finances and future of the company on Veraldi and his team's success, giving them unprecedented leeway in developing what would become the Taurus.
context_section_description: The Mercury Sable is a sister model of the Taurus created and sold under Ford's near-luxury Mercury brand. Developed jointly with the Taurus, the Sable shared most mechanical components but had a unique body and interior and a longer length. The Sable had an exterior design that was arguably more experimental than the Taurus, featuring rear windows that wrapped around the rear quarter panel and a front "lightbar," and a low-wattage lamp between the front headlamps. These features later became a signature styling feature for all Mercury models through the early 1990s. Intended for a more upscale market, it was available in two models, base GS and high-end LS in sedan and station wagon body styles. Powertrain choices were the same, though no manual transmission was offered. The Sable was sold as the Ford Taurus in Mexico, New Zealand, and Europe. The first-generation Sable and Taurus were produced concurrently through the 1991 model year.  
  A prototype convertible Sable was displayed at the 1988 North American International Auto Show, featuring a custom two-door body with a power folding top that was built off a production sedan chassis. It never reached production, and the convertible prototype was sold on eBay in 2006. A high-performance LTS model that would be a counterpart to the Taurus SHO was also planned but later shelved out of fears that it would create unnecessary internal competition. A special edition Sable commemorating the 50th anniversary of Mercury that was sold in 1989 used the performance chassis developed for the LTS; only 50 of these were produced. The Sable was also extensively used in Ford's Aluminum Intensive Vehicle (AIV) program, which built 20 aluminum-bodied Sables with Taurus SHO V6 engines in an engineering exercise for constructing all-aluminum unit body, like that which saw production by Audi in 1994.
caption: First-generation Mercury Sable sedan
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