60k miles. One of the nicest Gen 1 survivors on the planet. NO RESERVE !!

Description for Ford Taurus 1990

It's back again for the third time! I thought I had this baby sold twice already. but the the first time the buyer couldn't come up with the cash and the second time a bidder rescinded a bid shortly before the end of the auction causing it to drop below reserve. Ah. ebay. So I'm giving this one more shot before she just goes back under the car cover. Hi. I'm Dennis Gage. the handlebar mustachioed host of the TV show "My Classic Car". and this is one of my personal cars. I am a big fan of the Taurus SHO and have owned four of them. I believe these cars are future classics and definitely collectible. On top of that. they're an absolute blast to drive! Hemmings just did a nice piece on these cars and you can read it on their website. If you're looking at this listing. you're probably familiar with these cars. but if you aren't. here's a brief background. This is the original American performance sedan. designed to compete with (and usually win against) the Beemers and Audis from Europe. The SHO was launched in 1989. and the First Generation cars span 1989 - 1991. The engine is magnificent to behold and even looks scary. It's a 3. 0L Yamaha-designed engine with aluminum heads. It's a 24-valve dual overhead cam set up that pumps out 220 hp and is coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. The car is unbelievably quick with a top speed near 140 mph. It is capable of 20 mpg around town and 27 mpg on the highway. even when averaging 80 mph. The engine is very civilized at low rpms. but at 4000 rpms it turns into a monster! These engines are also virtually bullet proof and routinely go for over 200. 00 miles. I bought this car 7 years ago thru a broker from its original owner with 58. 00 miles on it. The owner was a Captain in the Army and took meticulous care of the car. The black all-leather interior is in impeccable condition. Even the drivers seat is near perfect. and the passenger and rear seats look like they were seldom. if ever. sat in. The louvered sunroof shade is perfect and shows no water damage from sunroof leaks that these cars were notorious for. The dash is also perfect. I have never seen a Gen 1 SHO with a better interior. The exterior is equally amazing. There is no rust in this car nor are there any door dings or chips. When you sight down the sides of this car. it is as clean and straight as the day it rolled off the line. The paint is in outstanding condition and looks as new. There a couple poorly touched up rock chips on the hood which I chose to leave alone. The car came with a "LeBra" brand custom front end cover which I suspect the owner bought to both protect against further rock chips and also cover up his touch-up work. These touch-ups could easily be corrected. but if you wanted to car to be flawless. you would probably want to have the hood repainted altho this would effect it's originality. Right after I bought the car I took it to SHO Guru. Doug Lewis. at Ford Performance Specialists in Mableton. GA and had $2. 00 of work done. Doug was blown away by the condition of the car. The first thing he did was bend down and look at the front fascia of the car. He straighten up and said to one of his co-workers. "It's there. I can't believe it!". He was referring to the lower most bar running across the fascia (which can be seen in the pictures) and is one of the first things to be broken off of these Gen 1 cars by an unfortunate encounter with a parking lot berm or curb. Doug did a full 60k mile service which involved replacing the timing & drive belts. as well as the cam and front crank seals. adjusting the valves. installing new plugs and wires. and replacing the thermostat & temp sensor. He also installed a new heater core and blend door actuator. The original heater core and blend door actuators are weak points on these cars. and cost around $1000 to replace because the entire dash has to be removed to get at them. Once replaced with modern upgraded parts tho. they are usually good for the life of the car. I drove the car back from Georgia. and from that point on it has largely sat in a climate controlled building under a car cover. However. I am thinning the herd and it is time for this car to have a new home. These Gen 1 SHO's have become extremely rare. and this is one of the nicest ones out there. The car has a good set of Yokohama tires with very few miles on them. and the stock radio was upgraded by the previous owner to an Alpine system with a CD player. The original owner also added a teal painted pinstripe at the belt line that really sets the car off. He also applied the vinyl "SHO" letters to the windshield. They just peel off but I thought they looked kind of cool so I just left them. The only thing on this car that is not working as new is the AC. however I have a new reman compressor and clutch ($350) that comes with the car to affect this repair. This is a fairly simple parts swap but I could arrange to have my mechanic do it if the purchaser would like. You can fly into Evansville and drive this car anywhere. I have this car listed locally and reserve the right to end the auction early if it sells. If you have any questions. feel free to email me at dgage@MyClassicCar. com .