Description
While some people went for the minivan segment when they needed roomier vehicles, others just went for the old-fashioned station wagons, and the Taurus Wagon was a good choice.
Ford introduced the third generation of the Taurus in 1995 in both shapes: sedan and station wagon. Neither of them was appreciated for their design since the front fascia looked, to say at least, sad. The carmaker tried to keep its crown of the best-selling mid-size sedan in the U.S., and it managed to do that for 1996 but slipped on the third place in 1997 behind the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Ford reacted as fast as it could, but it introduced the fourth generation only in 1999.
The entire design was based on curved surfaces. Ford tried to make the best bio-design-looking vehicle, but the result was not very pleasing for its customers. The round, individual headlamps for the high and low beams and for the turn-signals didn't catch its customers' attention. In the back, instead of the oval-shaped windscreen installed on the sedan version, the hatchback featured a more conventional look but with shaved corners.
Inside Ford continued the "keep-it-rounded" theme on the instrument cluster. Somehow it resembled the interior found in the Focus range, mixed with some Contour/Mondeo inspiration for the center stack. On the plus side, it offered plenty of room for five adult passengers and a trunk to match the station-wagon status. With all seats in place, the Taurus Wagon provided 38 cu-ft (1,076 liters), while with the rear seats folded, it reached up to 81 cu-ft (2,293 liters).
The Taurus Wagon kept the 3.0-liter V-6 engine available on the sedan version paired to a four-speed automatic under the hood.
