Look, it is Christmas Eve and that means you are panic shopping today. Here’s some advice. Forget everyone else and just spend all your money on this. Seriously, you have spend $2,500 on way worse stuff than this 1992 Ford Taurus wagon that a dude has built into the sport wagon that Ford should have built back then. This car is flipping awesome and we’re about to tell you why but first…personal interlude! My parents always did a pretty strange job of new car purchases. The first car I remember riding in was an AMC Concord Wagon, complete with wood grain, an inline sixer and all of its various trappings. That was followed by a 1986 Taurus wagon that they had for a decade. Ford had to replace a trans or something along the way and my dad replaced the heater core which looked like the most insane job ever one winter but other than that the thing ran like a top. In retrospect I am kind of proud of Bob and Ginny for taking the plunge and buying what will forever be seen as a revolutionary car for Ford. It literally saved the company. That’s the reason this car totally made me pee when someone tipped us off to it. I AM SORRY TO WHOEVER SENT THE LINK BECAUSE I CANNOT FIND YOUR NAME. I AM A BAD PERSON.
Rather than rehash the CL ad, here it is – $2,500 is STEALING THIS THING:
I have a rare gem for sale. This is a ’92 Taurus GL with a ’94 SHO Yamaha 3.0L V6 engine and manual transmission swap done to it! This was done by the previous owner in Kansas, where I bought it from, making it virtually RUST FREE. Before the conversion, the previous owner told me it was owned by an older man and babied too. I drove it here from Kansas City with no issues at all, and wouldn’t hesitate driving it that far again. This car is a real sleeper with the only thing hinting at what’s lurking under the hood is it has an SHO front bumper and headlamps on it.
Here’s a list of the parts on it:
-’94 3.0L SHO engine, with upper 60K service recently done and newer rod bearings.
-’94 SHO MTX transmission, with very good clutch, new shift linkage bushings and fresh oil.
-’04 Taurus front brakes (larger rotor and caliper).
-Mid-90’s Lincoln Continental front air suspension struts (plumbed to a schrader valve to adjust the air pressure as needed and doesn’t leak).
-Rear spring helper air bags, used to keep the rear from sagging with lots of cargo or towing.
-SHO front bucket seats, center console and sun visors (SHO’s had dual visors on each side).
-SHO gauge cluster reading about 177K on the clock from the donor car and drivetrain, but the chassis only has about 125K on it.
-Class II tow hitch and 4-pin trailer wire pigtail.
-2.5″ single catless exhaust with resonator and muffler.
-’94 SHO steering wheel (instead of the ’92 box shaped one)
Recent work done to it:
-Oil & filter change
-Trans oil change (used Valvoline MaxLife ATF)
-New front brake pads
-New rear brake shoes
-Brake fluid flush and bleed
-New coolant temperature sensor
-Coolant flush
-New high flow Spectre cone filter modified to fit inside the factory airbox to make a true cold air intake and to keep a stealthy appearance
-New spark plug wires
-New coilpack
-Re-gapped spark plugs (looked fairly new)
-New rear KYB shocks
-Larger rear sway bar from a 1st generation Taurus wagon (’86-91)
-New front sway bar links
Cons:
-It is a 22 year old car that has some dings and dents in it
-The Kansas sun has started to fade the clearcoat on the roof.
-Because it still has the base GL hood on it, the intake sometimes hits the hood under hard loads, but I also suspect it may need a new motor mounts in the future too.
-Leaks a small bit of oil that needs to be topped of once and a while (less than a qt between oil changes). I believe it’s the rear main seal, which I have a new one that will come with the car, I just don’t have the time to put it in.
-The previous owner who did the swap didn’t hook up the A/C or cruise control, but claimed everything for the A/C should be there. It never really bothered me, so I didn’t look much into it, but I can tell you the the condenser, compressor, lines and drier are present as well as the cruise buttons on the steering wheel.
I’m only asking $2500 for this very rare machine. Please call or text me if interested (nothing past 10pm please). Sorry NO TRADES.
I also don’t need any services to help me sell my vehicle, thank you.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE CL AD FOR THIS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME 1992 TAURUS “SHO” WAGON –
That’s how you do it.
I hate myself a little for liking this car….
I vaguely recall Motor Trend or Car & Driver test driving a SHO + manual trans “demo” car that Ford built. And even they said it was a car Ford should build.
I remember that article. They road tripped it out west and were really impressed with it.
The only thing it needs is roof racks. Wagons just don’t look right to me without them. That, and stock SHO wheels, but the seller says he has some, I’d opt for those over the other two wheel options. 2500 is a steal, as 2500 barely buys anything that isn’t complete junk nowadays. And it is a manual wagon, you’d be a hero over at Jalopnik.
This car belongs to a friend from Dearborn. It’s a REALLY nice example. If I had space it wouldn’t be for sale.