page_title: Ford Taurus (first generation)
section_title: Exterior
hierarchical_section_title: Ford Taurus (first generation) / Overview / Exterior
caption_attribution_description: Ford Taurus GL 3.0 1986
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 exterior of the Taurus used an aerodynamic design, often likened to a 'jelly bean' or 'flying potato,' inspired by the design of the Audi 100 and Ford's own Tempo. The aerodynamic design of the Taurus also made the car more fuel efficient, allowing Ford to meet the more stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards applied by the United States government. The Taurus' success ultimately led to an American automobile design revolution; Chrysler and General Motors developed aerodynamic cars in order to capitalize on the Taurus' success.
  The Taurus is credited with bringing many new design features into the mainstream marketplace. The Taurus used flush aerodynamic composite headlights and was one of the first American sedans to do so. Originally, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) required that all cars sold in the United States use standardized round or rectangular sealed beam headlights. Ford had to convince them to change the rule to allow the headlights be any shape, as long as they met federal lighting standards.
  Also, instead of a grille, the Taurus had a front panel to adopt a grille-less 'bottom breather' nose, first pioneered by the Citroën DS in the 1950s. The Taurus' doors flowed up into the roof, designed to make the interior airtight, and had the door handles and windows flush with the rest of the car. The bumpers on the Taurus were designed to also be incorporated with the rest of the car's design, being flush with the rest of the body. The wheels were also pushed out to the ends of the frame, and were flush with the fender, instead of being recessed into the fender. This not only improved the car's aerodynamics, but it also improved handling as well.
  These design features helped to make the Taurus one of the most aerodynamic cars of its time, with an aerodynamic drag ratio of 0.32. Many of the design features were adopted, and are still used today, on most cars. Because of this, the exterior only received minor changes throughout the first-generation's production run. The only major change came in 1988, when the Taurus received a new slimmer grille and headlights, with a full-length chrome bar underneath for model year 1989.
caption: 1986-1989 Ford Taurus GL
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