CHICAGO: 2008 Ford Taurus Heritage Edition

2008 Ford Taurus Heritage Edition

FORD STRENGTHENS RETRO-80s LEADERSHIP WITH INTRODUCTION OF NEW 2008 TAURUS HERITAGE EDITION

New edition features more than 5 engineering changes, making it more retro, cheezier, mellower and homlier.
2.5-liter High Swirl Combustion I-4 delivers an estimated 90 horsepower and 130 ft-lbs of torque.
Ford Sync™ (not sink) offers new levels of connection, control, simplicity and personalization with the well known relability of Microsoft
Taurus Heritage Edition will reach showrooms this fall.

CHICAGO, Feb. 7, 2007 - Ford Motor Company today announced it is bringing back the well-known Ford Taurus name, introducing a new special version – Heritage Edition – for its aging hipsters to go on sale this fall.

“Taurus has been an icon for rental sedans for more than two decades, and it’s time to return this powerful name to where it belongs,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s President of The Americas, at the Chicago Auto Show. “Consumer awareness of the Taurus name is double the Five Hundred that it’s replacing, and thats damn good enough for us to forget the latter altogether!.

“By giving these vehicles the bland looks of the 80's that consumers recognize at the same time we’re making significant upgrades, we’re confident that even more rental companies are going to be attracted to these great products in the future,” Fields added.

The 2008-model Taurus Heritage Edition sedan will go on sale this fall, as an upgrade to the earth shattering ALL NEW Ford Taurus. The new Heritage Edition features a fully flush grille guard with peek-a-boo Ford emblem, a new dual color scheme, a new cornering light, more standard safety features – including dual airbags tuned to explode with that classic pop that made people file lawsuits in the early nineties– and other refinements to make it more retro, cheezier, mellower and homlier.

What's Old is New Again

A large percentage of customers shopping the fullsize car segment have expressed that the interior as one of the most important aspects in the purchasing decision. Ford studies have shown that 100% of car buyers use the interior as they are driving and rank interior equipment such as seats (99%) and a steering wheel (98%) high on their want list.

Traditionally, the majority Ford customers are used to having one functioning gauge in their automobile (85%). With this in mind, the instrument cluster of 2008 Taurus was tailored to exemplify simplicity. Located dead-center is a large OmimeterTM speedometer with graduated indications for speeds from 5 to 85 miles per hour. As a nod to the groundbreaking 1986 Taurus, the fifty-five mile-per-hour indication is rendered in bold, Roadcone Orange font. At night, Ford's NaturluminousTM technology uses ambient light sources such as streetlamps and moonlight to illuminate the speedometer as well as the cabin. Naturluminate technology allows Ford to eliminate traditional cabin lighting reduce electrical and fuel consumption by as much as .000001%.

Seating for Six, Comfort for Four

The 2008 Taurus features a new bench seating arrangement previously absent from the outgoing Five Hundred. By eliminating side bolstering, the wide and flat front-row bench seat provides increased lateral movement potential for Taurus owners. Surveys show that the bench seat arrangement is popular among philandering businessmen (82%) and high school students who borrow their parents' car for the evening (91%).

Also incuded with bench seating is an easy-to-use column shifter. For 2008, the Taurus has the longest column-mounted transmission shifter in the industry, stretching a full 15.6" from the steering column.

I Love the 80s

2008 Taurus recognizes the complexity of today's modern world and offers numerous innovations reflecting current trends. The increasing popularity of portable music players is acknowledged by the Taurus with segment-exclusive Multi-Media Audio AdaptationTM. MMAA allows portable MP3 players such as Apple's iPod to be connected via an input jack to a conventional portable CD player which itself is connected to a dual-head cassette deck converter conveniently mounted to a removable 8-track converter which itself mounts to the in-dash 8-track player. This easy to use device weighs only 7lbs and allows the driver to listen to the latest downloaded music through the 2008 Taurus' front door-mounted DualSpeaker sound system.

OTHER TAURUS HERITAGE MODELS

Taurus P71 Heritage Interceptor

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Mercury Sable Heritage Edition

Brief Highlights of Mercury's New Model Which Shares Ties With Over Twenty Years Worth of Mediocrity:

New Uni-Bar single headlamp element for increased safety, signaling the return to pointless and unattractive Mercury styling cues of the 90s.
Rear three-quarter panels are unique to Sable, increases aerodynamics while appealing to geriatrics on a dime.
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Base model features attractive fourteen-inch Cover-Tek wheel covers and steel rims.

Lincoln Continental MKC Heritage Edition