Is the 2008 Ford Taurus built on the same frame as the 500 which provided higher seating?
The Ford 500 was built on a copy of the Volvo frame which allowed for seating that was higher from the ground. As both my wife and I are handicapped, this feature allows us to enter and exit the vehicle easier and less painfully – that's why we bought the 500 – we love it.
Tagged with: ford • ford 500 • volvo • volvo frame
Filed under: Ford Taurus 2008-2012
The new 2008 Taurus is the 500 with different cosmetics. The brought back the Taurus name because the 500 was such a non-descript, casper-milquetoast, bland, failure of a vehicle, much like the Freestar, and the Freestyle.
The Taurus nameplate changed nothing about the mechanics of the car, only the headlights and grill. Frankly I don't see how changing the name and front fascia will help this waste of a vehicle.
Ford brought back the Taurus back after Ford's plan to brand the 500 nameplate into consumer's heads backfires…
…well sort of. Last year Ford announced it had stopped production of the Ford Taurus (they were still being sold outside the US.) However new Ford CEO Alan Mullaly said he was disappointed that Ford had stopped using such a successful name plate. So today they formally announced that the Ford 500 would be renamed the Taurus beginning in 2008. The Mercury version of the 500, currently called the Montego, will get Sable badges. To answer your question, the 500 had the best frame/platform than any other ford car and sadly, the Taurus doesn't have those specifications
What is ironic is that the Taurus and Sable were once Ford’s best selling cars, while the 500 and Montego have been pure disappointments – with sale of the 500 dropping from 108,000 in 2005 to just 84,000 in 2006.
Clearly the new CEO thinks bringing back the old names will change consumer perception about the new models. Hard to say, but it will certainly make for an interesting marketing case-study.
they did not build it on the 500 frame…they just changes sheet metal lights and a few other things and added a taurus badge…it is a 500…
Yes. The Taurus is built on the 500's platform. Differences between the two is that the Taurus now has a more powerful 265 hp engine, more safety features, and a different facial and rear design. The Taurus also has more padding around the doors to give it more of a classier sound when opening and closing the doors.
the new taurus and the 500 are the same car….a bit of a nosejob ,a bigger engine,not much like the previous taurus this has some volvo built into it
They should have called it Tempo or Torino