(Originally published 11/17/2012; updated with new content December 2015) What is the measure of success for any given car? Sales figures? Word-of-mouth praise? The status accorded to it by the authors, contributors and commentariat at CC? Or some other factor beyond even those? The latter certainly is true in the case of the Ford Taurus, which was cast in some very prominent roles in American films; after all, the choice of a car for a particular scene undeniably reflects the historical zeitgeist of the day.
That said, where to start? Because chronological order fits my narrative, I’ll use it (albeit loosely, so feel free to offer your own insights or rebuttals as comments). I must also issue a spoiler alert to those of you who haven’t seen any or all of the movies cited, some of which are admittedly pretty old. Anyway, enough with the rambling. Let’s get started, shall we?
Robocop (1987): This classic, set in the fictional dystopian future of Detroit, prominently featured a Taurus. As the human within the cyborg struggled with his new identity, at least he could rely on his go-to vehicle, a Taurus, in his war against the destitute city’s gangs and corporate criminals. At the time, the design of the Taurus was radical enough to be believable as as a futuristic police cruiser. I think Ford offered a police package for production Tauruses, but whether it was Robocop-inspired or not I don’t know. In any case, I guarantee that more than a few moviegoers visited their Ford dealer after seeing the Taurus in action.
The Taurus was also used in Robocop 2. From here it looks like they just spray-painted some GL models and stuck on a less-realistic light bar, possibly due to budget issues. I’ve not yet seen the film; should I?
Apparently there was a Robocop 3 as well.
Next up is 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I may be a bit biased here, since this movie is always playing when I’m wrapping my presents, usually on Christmas Eve. Nevertheless, it’s funny, and the opening scenes feature a Taurus wagon…or is it the Family Truckster II? That’s never made clear in the film, but let’s just assume it is: Visually, it evokes the same ugliness as the first Griswold wagon from the earlier National Lampoon’s Vacation even if the attempt looks pretty half-assed. Let’s examine this particular scene:
What compelled Clark Griswold to block the guys in the pickup from passing him, given that his stubbornness culminates in the Taurus taking flight? Was it some kind of vehicular class difference? After all, Taurus ownership was likely a source of pride for many families (or chauvinistic fathers) considering the car’s then-sterling reputation. Or maybe having Beverely D’Angelo as your wife triggers your Alpha- male instincts in certain situations. I can’t say I’d blame him if that were the case.
Last Action Hero (1993) is a meta take on modern action movies, and a parody of Schwarzenegger movie tropes. Arnold plays fictional cop Jack Slater, a totally fictional movie character that gets magically transported into the real world by lonely movie buff Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien). In this chase scene, Slater attempts to use a 1989 Mercury Sable to stop the villain and bring him back to the fictional world in which they both reside. It has a standard driver side airbag!
And here is the zenith of the Sable in popular culture, aside from its later use as an effective zombie-fighting tool. Coneheads (1993) was another cherished childhood movie. In a nutshell, an extra-solar family ekes out a living as they unsuccessfully scout Earth for a future invasion, therefore literally becoming illegal aliens. Did Beldar pick the second-gen Sable to symbolize attaining the American Dream, or more because it reflected the advanced technology on his home planet of Remulak?
After evading the Feds for so many years, the Coneheads find themselves surrounded by immigration agents. How will they escape now?
In true Hollywood (or Saturday Night Live) fashion, the alien ship arrives just in time to whisk the Conehead family back to Remulak!
And what gifts does Bendar bring to his leader after spending all those years on Earth? Well, pretty much whatever was in the car, including a tire iron and the owner’s manual you see here. Then, in reference to the car, come Beldar’s immortal words:
“Ford Lincoln Mercury Sable? A personal conveyance named after its inventor, an assassinated ruler, a character from Greco-Roman myth, and a small furry mammal.”
All these films treated the Sable and Taurus as the icons they were. So when did the fatigue set in?
The first indication is the fantastic black comedy Flirting With Disaster (1996), which combines the typical Jewish neuroticism of a Ben Stiller flick with quotable lines about the status of the Taurus vis-a-vis the contemporary cultural zeitgeist:
Nancy Coplin: “Does anybody even actually own a white Taurus, or are they all just rentals?”
Mel Coplin: “Are you kidding me? This is the most reliable mid-size in America, according to all the big reports.”
Next up: Another great film, The Truman Show (1998), which provided Americans a true caveat about the coming era of reality TV. Again, a Taurus is the vehicle of choice for upwardly-mobile Americans–but is upward mobility what Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) really wants?
Of course not, and he uses the Taurus in an unsuccessful attempted escape from the idyllic community.
A first-gen Taurus is featured in the frat comedy Road Trip (2000) and boy, does the bull get no respect. It’s nerdy-loser owner, one of the few car-owning individuals on campus, is invited to join the cool guys on a road trip to Texas, where one of them intends to intercept an illicit video that might compromise his relationship with his girlfriend. Naturally, the nerd is ridiculed just for owning a Taurus.
In the pre-GPS/smartphone era it was easy to get lost, and when our group encounters a ruined bridge in the middle of nowhere, what do they decide to do? Lets’s see:
Their broad jump succeeds, but the Taurus dies a violent death. Not terribly concerned with the massive property damage they just caused, our frat boys simply search for alternate transportation.
Meet The Parents (2000) is another Ben Stiller movie with Ben Stiller sensibilities. Might he have had an affinity for these cars? This picture features a green, fourth-gen example as a rental, which his character uses, among other things, to search for the family’s cherished cat after it escaped.
“Drives a bit better than your Taurus, eh Focker?” No, the car didn’t get much respect here, either.
Okay, either Stiller just likes Tauruses or the writers were just looking for continuity. Meet The Fockers (2004) also features a Taurus rental car that still doesn’t get much respect. This one takes actual damage for the sake of a cheap joke (always get the rental insurance, folks).
Better to not get any respect than to be put down directly, right? In the dark comedy Broken Flowers (2005), a Taurus–once more a protagonist’s rental car–shuttles Don Johnston (Bill Murray) to his encounters with past loves as he seeks out the mother of their child of whom he was previously unaware.
Don Johnston: “Winston, couldn’t you have rented the kind of car I’d normally drive? I’m a stalker in a Taurus.”
Clearly, that bespeaks a new low in Taurus appreciation in American culture. Where to go from here?
The Taurus name was resurrected from the scrap heap by none other than Conan O’ Brien, who featured his 1992 SHO several times over the years. During this segment on The Tonight Show, he compared the 2010 model to his trusty old bull…but let’s be honest, that’s not a true Taurus up there, now is it?
As the eighties recess further into the past, more films and TV shows have set their sights on the decade. HBO’s Show Me A Hero (2015) based on the book of the same name, follows politician Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Issac) as he and others navigate the tense atmosphere in Yonkers, New York after a federal mandate requires the city government to construct public housing developments in predominantly white, middle class neighborhoods. The show stays partially true to real life, as Wasicsko did in fact own a first generation Taurus, just not with plates bearing his namesake (they were on his second car).
On to the discussion, folks. Did I miss anything? Do you think that contemporary films accurately reflected our zeitgeist through the Taurus and Sable? Am I completely bonkers for even writing this article? Let me know in the comments below.
(Like Tom, I’d be remiss not to mention the Website imcdb.org, which was an immensely helpful resource in providing the numerous screen captures used in this post.)
I really enjoyed this article, especially the film clips. Thank you for taking the time to write it.
I think a couple of things happened: Ford grew complacent with the Taurus, especially after the Explorer came out. And this car was probably just a victim of popular culture fatigue and changing tastes. The Taurus was like Elvis; it started out cool and eventually became a joke. Nothing whether car, celebrity, etc. can stay cool forever (well except James Dean).
dastanley,
I pretty much agree with you on all points, and maybe I’ll do a CC on a fourth gen Taurus in the future…
Or Steve McQueen……
“…Nothing whether car, celebrity, etc. can stay cool forever (well except James Dean).”
And he had to die early to pull it off.
“Ford Lincoln Mercury Sable? A personal conveyance named after its inventor, an assassinated ruler, a character from Greco-Roman myth, and a small furry mammal.”
That was the best line from an otherwise great series of SNL sketchs made into a forgettable feature length movie. I’ve only ever seen it on TBS after a night of drinking and can’t find anything else on TV to fall asleep to…
I’m not a huge movie fan, so I’d forgotten a lot of these movies (I’ve seen most of them) had Taurii in them. You’re correct about Robocop, when the movie came out, the Taurus was still so new and ahead of it’s time, it seemed like it would have been the cop car of the future. Sadly, it turns out Henry’s Bull was the rent-a-cop car of the future.
“During this segment on The Tonight Show, he compares the new one to his trusty old bull…but let’s be honest, that’s not a true Taurus up there, now is it?”
No! That’s not Henry’s Bull! That’s the 21st century’s Galaxie! Ford screwed up royally by not taking advantage (of that anonymous mash up of Volvo car parts and Audi styling cues formerly known as the 500) to reboot the large Ford as Galaxie. Even if the Crown Vic was the alleged top of the line, we all knew by the time the neu-Taurus came to be that it was on the downhill glide.
I’m not that much of a Ford fan any longer, but really, we should petition Mulally or Fields or someone over there to get the naming convention fixed. This is just goofy.
OK, end rant. Otherwise, great article!
geozinger,
While doing research for the article, I actually ended up re-watching Coneheads in its entirety. I highly recommend it; its held up extremely well and was quite entertaining the whole way through.
As for the Taurus death/rebirth debacle, I honestly think they should have never gone with the Fusion and just called it Taurus. They could have even kept the Atlanta plant going for another couple of years to spit out rental Taurii and simply called it “Taurus Classic,” which is something that Chevy did with the Malibu several times. I really think sales of the Fusion would be better if it was called the Taurus, even if it has gained a solid reputation since its inception.
I’ve had the chance to catch Coneheads again twice this year, first time I’ve seen it again since it was in theatres, and….I have to disagree….
I was a huge fan of the original SNL back in the 70’s, but I can’t deny someone’s favorite movie even if it doesn’t ring a bell with me. No worries.
I’m guessing Ford management thought the Taurus nameplate damaged goods at the time of the Fusion launch, which kind of explains the later re-boot of the Taurus name under Mulally’s reign. Many folks rake GM’s management through the coals for items like the Malibu “Classic”, but it seems to me that the “Classics” pay the freight to keep the factories running and allow the new models to find their own audience. It seems to me that each successive launch of the new Malibu model has found higher volume and higher transaction amounts since the “Classic” style of rehashing the previous model has been used.
Two trains of thought, I really don’t know which is correct… In the long run, it may not matter. FWIW, I’d buy a “Classic” if it made sense financially, but I tend to hold on to my cars for a long time. Now, if I could get an AMC Classic, that would be cool!
Didn’t Ford do this when the new 2004 F-150 came out? I seem to recall you could still get the old version as the F-150 Heritage Edition for at least part of the 2004 model year. I don’t remember if it was merely to keep a particular factory going a little longer, or a hedge against the new one being a flop.
They also did it when the Focus replaced the Escort; the wagon made a clean break; the Escort sedan became fleet-only and the ZX2 coupe remained on retail sale but was deemphasized in favor of the Focus ZX3 hatch.
Ford also did it with the 1997 F-150 as of Jan 1996 you could buy either a 1996 F150 which was a continuation of the 1995 or a 1997 which was the new truck.
I think there were multiple reasons behind offering the 96/97 and 04/04 Heritage.
For the 96/97 I think hedging their bets was a big part of it. Since it was a new truck and the 250/350 was scheduled to stay in production for another year they were able to cheaply keep the old truck in production. I think part of the plan was also to increase the initial transaction price of the new truck and maintain overall volume. That way they could produce more of the higher level trucks and let the fleets and bargain shoppers buy the old trucks.
For the 04 I think the primary reason was now to keep the transaction prices up and to separate the change over of the plants and allow them to focus on getting one plant running right and apply those lessons to the other plant in the future.
They did that somewhat with the 15 by switching over one plant first while letting the other one keep producing the old truck as long as they could without having to call it a 15. Then once the new truck was nearing full capacity on the first line they shut down the other for re-tooling. They also did not produce the fleet trucks until the second plant was on line.
I think it was a matter of it being such a massive change when Ford does a major rework of the F-150 that in this case they decided on a staggered switchover. Interestingly, that didn’t happen on the latest cycle.
It’s not uncommon when a model is replaced for different body styles and series to be replaced at different times so that, for example, the new coupe and convertible arrives a half a year or a year later. (I think even BMW has done that a couple of times.)
For the most part, I don’t think it’s a hedge so much as a way to spread out the capital expense. Tooling is enormously expensive, particularly for big-volume models produced in multiple plants, so it may be tempting to retool in stages, if only so that you don’t incur the whole expense in a single fiscal/financial year. Of course, that’s only possible if you can get the existing model to meet the latest regulatory standards, which is why it doesn’t happen more often than it does.
An interesting perspective. I guess that the movies have sort of preserved the Taurus during its arc from American sedan-of-the-future to a bland rental. An enjoyable read.
I always felt that they stuck Clark in a Taurus because of John Hughes’ Chicago connection. (Not as recognized as ATL but they did crank Taurii and Sables out there too)
Bonkers? Maybe.. But in the Chicago burbs in the late 80s if you didn’t have a minivan to haul the kids you probably had a Taurus or Sable.
Gosh, I need to watch that movie tonight.
“Fixed the newel post!”
This was interesting. I’m sitting here trying to think of other nameplates that have had the broad range of perceptions attached to it. Caprice? Fury? Crown Victoria? DeVille? For some reason, to me, if they compare its of a lesser magnitude despite all having their own, unique descent.
Great writeup. Bet you could find a bunch of movies that had a Model T in a prominent role. Same with Model A.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm green Taurus DOHC with tan interior… That’s the one that I want.
I had a white 93. It was probably the most fun car I have owned, if not pain free. I always liked the dark green ones, too. I had an Audi with that color scheme.
Having driven a fleet spec 2005 Vulcan motored Taurus while working for the school district and having driven it up to two hours in a sitting I will say that it certainly handled much better than the Detroit bashers would have you belive. It was also comfortable and quiet and easy to maintain 85 mph in it.
The car I remember from Robocop was an ugly fictional sedan called the “6000 SUX.” There were ads for it mixed in with the dumb TV shows. It was bodged together from other cars, couldn’t really tell what was underneath.
It was a Colonnade A-body. A Cutlass, I believe.
An American Tradition 8.2 MPG!
Head to your nearest GM Dealer and Purchase One! You have 20 seconds to comply.
And I want a car! Something with reclining leather seats, that goes really fast, and gets really sh!tty gas mileage!
We’ll even throw in a Blaupunkt.
I think this is an appropriate place to post this. It’s from a few years ago when the economy was really bad:
Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus
http://www.theonion.com/video/ford-unveils-new-car-for-cashstrapped-buyers-the-1,14381/
In Delores Claiborne Selena (Jennifer Jason Leigh) drives a blue 2nd generation Taurus as a rental.
What Timing. Today I’m headed off to Sacramento to sell my late mothers 2003 SES.
Ian,
My condolences.
I think Robocop 2 is worth seeing. it was pretty much the last gasp for stop-motion animation before everything went to the (over)use of CGI.
Edward, I always knew where the line was drawn. And you just stepped over it, buddy-boy. You’ve insulted me. And you’ve insulted this blog with that bastard post of yours…
Well written and researched! Robocop 1 was a classic, 2 was barely adequate, and 3 was a cinematic abortion.
For the longest time after National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation came out, I looked for wood paneled Taurus wagons on the road. I’m kinda surprised they didn’t actually make one. Chrysler sold a ton of faux-wood vans in this era.
Actually, I think Christmas Vacation is one of the first signs that the bloom was off the rose. The Taurus was a suburban everyman’s car and Clark Griswold was a spectacularly bumbling, clueless suburban everyman. It’s parody.
It’s also a sign of its success. There were always worse family cars than the Taurus – usually from GM. But most people don’t remember also-rans like the Lumina, they are less-effective cinematic props. Everybody remembers the Taurus.
Great point – with as many fake convertible roofs as got applied to Town Cars, I am surprised that nobody did an aftermarket woodie kit for a Taurus. I would figure that a few dealers in various parts of the country would have been able to sell a few of them.
To be fair, I think this was just supposed to be the Family Truckster 2. The first movie had a Ford wagon as their joke, so the second one needed it too, and the Taurus fit that role.
Its funny that by 1997’s Vegas Vacation Clark, like many of his suburban counterparts, had progessed to a a real “truckster”, a full size SUV, again, another Ford, an Expedition this time.
Most of the begining credits of this movie show Clark dodging around other Ford products in his neighborhood, so I imagine there was some Ford involvement.
I’ll throw in a minor guest apearance of a 88 or so Taurus sedan in Jackie Brown
Don’t forget the X-Files. Invariably a Taurus rented from Lariat Rent-a-Car.
Good call – it was ALWAYS a Taurus or Cutlass Ciera!
Great story! I never would have thought that the Taurus had such a cinematic legacy. Though I don’t think I’ve seen any of these movies. But if the Robocop A-Body was called 6000SUX, could it have been a Pontiac 6000 rather than a Cutlass?
This is what I’ve just gleaned in the trivia section for Robocop on Imdb.com:
“The police cars were modified Ford Tauruses. One of the main competitors of the Taurus at the time was the Pontiac 6000. The car the villains use is the 6000 SUX, a not-so-subtle jab at the Pontiac 6000.”
“The 6000 SUX was built from the body of a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass four-door sedan (note front end).”
I recall reading somewhere that the guys that did the 6000 SUX also cobbled up a pseudo futuristic police car to for the movie too, but it was rejected.
Found this photo linked on the imcdb page that pretty clearly shows the 70’s A-body base of the 6000 SUX. From the photostream of Flickr user “howard gribble”:
I’m thinking “Willie Loman” specials, especially the white ones…Apologies to all in advance!
Until the Taurus came along, the Audi 5000 was the only car on the road with the aero look, so it’s hard to overstate how fresh and new the Taurus looked compared to what else was on the road at that time. It was an obvious choice for a movie set in the future.
If those were the criteria, a few years earlier and they would have used the AMC Pacer; a few years later and it could have been a Pontiac Aztek.
@C5karl
The Tempo/Topaz and Thunderbird/Cougar were there first. The Taurus/Sable had a good opening act.
Every time I saw a 2000 model Taurus in Tropic Green, I always referred to it as the “Ben Stiller Edition” Taurus…
Great writeup!!!
Rachel Dawes had a 2nd gen Taurus in Batman Begins; I can’t figure out what that means, but that’s what she drove.
The Griswold Taurus also made a pretty cool Christmas ornament.
Every time there is a Taurus article on here I think of the opening scene from Christmas Vacation (the funniest of the National Lampoon’s movies, IMO).
The Taurus went downhill starting with the misshapen 1996 model. Anybody with an interest in Taurii should read Mary Walton’s excellent book “Car: A Drama of the American Workplace” and try to figure out how so many people working so hard created something so awful.
Nextwhat,
I think its a bit more complicated than what you described. For reference, see my first article on Curbside Classic about the third gen models.
I too, have read that book, and its an excellent read. On the merits, Ford actually produced a very good car, but misjudged the market entirely, which Honda and Toyota did not. Plus, this was the absolute height of the SUV craze, and as Walton suggests, people flocked to Explorers and Expeditions instead of the Taurus. I think the true downfall was the fourth gen.
It also didn’t help that Team DN101 only had about four years to put the car together, contrast that to the team that created the original Taurus, which had about six, and the full support of the top brass.
The switch to the Explorer was already well under way before the ovoid Tauruii hit the showrooms and had already taken the place as the best selling “car” in the US from the Taurus in 1995. Explorer 395K vs Taurus 366K
Sales actually increased with the release of the 2000 despite less discounting and fleet dumping like occurred in the ovoid years. It was the bubble that burst the Taurus bubble and permanently tarnished the name plate.
Fantastic write up. Coincidentally, I happened across one of my favorite movies last night, Uncle Buck, which featured the Taurus/Sable wagon in the beginning when the Russells leave and again at the end when they return. They never show the front, and since the rear of both cars look identical from a distance, I never could figure out which one it was……until yesterday. In the scene when they return and the wagon pulls up in front of the house, I think I saw the familiar Mercury logo in the center of the hubcap. Can anybody else confirm?
Uncle Buck had two other FoMoCo cars featured. Buck’s 1976 (1975?) Mercury Marquis and Chanise Kobolosky’s Bronco II.
At the bowling alley, Pal also says he has “a brand new Bronco out in the parking lot….red.”
Uncle Buck’s Marquis was one of my favorite movie cars, ever. I don’t think there was anything that the crew could have done with it to improve the effect.
+2
Love Uncle Buck, but it is even funnier when you have a relative who strives to be a real world Uncle Buck (w/out the stench of tobacco products thankfully)!
My boys were watching a movie that featured fourth generation Tauri as police cars. Now, I can’t remember if it was TMNT, or one of the recent Marvel superhero releases.
I know you are mainly focusing on the 1986-2007 Taurus; but Men In Black featured the 2010 Taurus SHO. There is also a TV series that featured this Taurus; need to ask my son which one it was. It also appeared with it’s badges covered over in a commercial for one of the big box hardware stores.
There was an episode of Burn Notice in which a fourth gen was used as a getaway vehicle and then caught on fire to be disposed of evidence..
One of the funniest scenes in Office Space…
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_16519-Ford-Taurus-1996.html
I have people skills!
Me myself and Irene featured a silver 3rd Gen FWIR and some Arnold Schwarzenegger movie had one too, it was a 2nd Gen Sable and he crashed it head on into a a car in an alley, can’t remember which movie. The horn was constantly honking after the crash, indicating the “driver” was unconscious with his head against the steering wheel…there’s more that I remember, just need to actually remember lol
Also The Santa Clause with Tim allen featured a 1st Gen silver SHO as the main characters vehicle…I know there’s more, I’m drinking wine right now lol
Ah, that’s right. Always thought it was pretty cool that he drove an SHO, given that he was supposed to be a successful executive.
The pageant director in Little Miss Sunshine drove a white Gen 1. Being clean, a not-unfashionable color and a Taurus, it was a fully depreciated 15-20 year old car that didn’t look it to the point I was surprised it made it through unscathed!
The fifth-generation (2008-09) Taurus featured prominently as Jason Bateman’s rental car in the (in my opinion, vastly underrated) movie, Identity Thief. It gets smashed up and is involved in a chase on the highway. It finally ends up being totalled by a semi.
Also, the Taurus seems to be on the path back to respectability as Phil Dunphy in Modern Family, a realtor with a nice house in the ‘burbs, trades his Cadillac CTS in for a 2013 Ford Taurus Limited.
Kinda stunning because the most of the characters drive Toyotas on the show–I think Jay had an Audi but being in the closet business is lucrative.
I believe Bill Murray drove a Taurus rental in “Broken Flowers”.
Don’t know if animations count, but a Gen 2 Taurus made an appearance as a driver’s ed vehicle in Beavis and Butthead…
Whoa, his brain fell out!. I have that episode.
I had a ’92 SHO 5-spd and a ’93 SHO automatic, both with the Yahama-designed engine. The ’92 was fun to drive and surprised a few Bimmers.
I drove Taurii and Sables from day one often, and I never understood, and still don’t, why they were so popular. I thought the first gen ones were super dull looking, and the second gen just dull. The 3rd Gens were just weird for weird sake. A friend of my mother’s last car was a Sable and the dash layout was bad in so many ways.
Short lived TV Show ‘Resurrection’ had a 4th generation Taurus.
We need to a breakdown for this with the XC90. I swear, the number of times the last-gen XC90 played the ‘respectable, upwardly-mobile, white family’s car’ is incredible.
Neat article.
Gary and Val Ewing had an ’87 [or so] Mercury Sable wagon, in late 80’s on “Knots Landing” TV soap. Was wrecked in one scene during 1990.
Stunned that the Conan Obrien SHO was left out of this list.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj8tld_conan-sells-his-car_fun