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Taurus Ghia entered in Aussie All Ford Day!

6K views 44 replies 15 participants last post by  DLC360 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,
I haven't posted much recently but still lurk from time to time when I get the chance.
The reason for this thread is that in two days time, this coming Sunday Feb 17, it is the All Ford Day for the state of Victoria where I live in Australia. Of all the All Ford Days down under, the Victorian one is the biggest. Over 1200 Fords of all kinds will be on display.
Anyway, I have entered my 1996 Taurus Ghia this year! The organisers of the event have informed me that this will be the very first time anybody has brought along a Taurus. As you may or may not be aware, the Taurus was not a popular car here, sold only from March 1996 to October 1998 when imports were stopped because of poor sales. In the end, 4200 of what for you guys is essentially the Gen3 were sold here.
I will be posting pics of the event, pics of my car and pics of other Fords in the days after Sunday. I'll try to include many Aussie Fords for you all to have a look at.
As the venue for this year is an hour and a half drive from where I live, I am going to drive down in convoy with two of my Ford loving friends. My mate Garry has a 1970 302 Boss Mustang fully restored and my other mate has the fastest production Ford ever produced in this country, a 2012 Falcon F6 310.
I said I was happy to drive down with them as long as they kept up with the Taurus!
I am very excited, I'm not particularly expecting to win any trophy as my car is a daily driver, however I can guarantee there isn't a Taurus in the country that is loved as much as I love mine.
I'm there to fly the flag for the Taurus!
Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!
Andy.
 
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#3 ·
Very cool man! definitely looking forward to the pictures, good luck!
 
#4 ·
^^^^^ +1

Take lots of pics!!!
 
#5 ·
Australia gets the cool cars. They still have the Holden Commodore. Plus they got this



The G8's death is still sad to me. Poor Pontiac...
 
#7 · (Edited)
Well it was a great day, I didn't win anything, but it was nice to be there with the Taurus. Got a few typically snide comments about it but also very nice, complimentary ones as well. As predicted, it was the only Taurus there.
The day was stinking hot, 35C (about 98F I think) so it was a long day and my battery ran out well before I had taken all the photos I wanted to, but here are a few of my T4URU5! She was really sparkling! I will post other pics when I am not so exhausted!
Hope you enjoy my Taurus Ghia pics and thank you for your kind words of encouragement. :)
The last pic is of the display sign I had made up listing only a very few of the mods, as listing all of them would have been wayyyyy too long and most people when looking at these signs at car shows tend to skim anyway so I thought shorter would be sweeter!







 
#8 · (Edited)
Odd but cool looking car! A Gen. 3 bull with Gen. 3 Sable headlights, RHD steering, wrap-around corner lights, console e-brake handle

and Ford needs to hurry up and bring some of those FPV cars stateside. They'd get a LOT of buyers over here!

Chevy already brought the Holden Monaro / Pontiac GTO and Holden Commodore / Pontiac G8 stateside, and are now getting ready to do the same thing AGAIN by importing the Holden Commodore SS as their new 2014 SS model:

2014 Chevrolet SS: Four-doors, rear-wheel drive and V8 power



RWD
6.2L LS3 V8
6-spd auto transmission (final drive ratio of 3.27)
415 hp / 415 ft-lb torque
0-60 in 5 seconds


Ford needs to get in step now, since they're the only one left from the Big 3 that doesn't offer a RWD sedan. Any one of these FPV vehicles would do just nicely...

Ford Performance Vehicles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
#15 ·
Odd but cool looking car! A Gen. 3 bull with Gen. 3 Sable headlights, RHD steering, wrap-around corner lights, console e-brake handle
Not sure what's odd-looking about it, looks like a Taurus to me. Although...I'm so familiar with the column and brake master cylinder/booster and all that being on the transmission side of the firewall - how did Ford make room for all that on the RH side of the engine bay? Must have re-routed the exhaust manifolds and pipes, and used a different steering rack.
 
#9 ·
Congratulations on your first show. Just taking a taurus to a show is reward enough. I took my wagon to a few shows before I learned the tricks of the show car world and then started winning awards. Your Ghia looks great and can have a future in the show arena. I would recomend that you try to find out how many of your year were imported and add that info to your sign. When people see it is actually a rare car down under, you may get a little more respect for such a nice example. Anytime that you want hints for shows, feel free to send off a PM and i'll try to help you with any tips & tricks I know of.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Nice wheels. That cockpit looks as cozy as that of an XK-D or XK-E, hope you don't need a shoehorn!
 
#12 ·
Looks great!!
 
#17 · (Edited)
Hi guys and gals,
Thanks for the very kind comments!
Ok, to answer a few questions...
The brake booster is on the same side of the engine bay as yours, exact same spot. What Ford did with the Ghia was build a special bracket piece that goes from the brake pedal under the dash and across to your driving position, so when I press the brake, it actuated this piece and applies pressure to the booster this way. It's quite a nice piece of engineering actually and it was cheaper to do this than to reposition the booster and move a whole lot of other stuff.
The reason we have the Sable headlights is because Australian design regulations of the time stipulated that we had to have a separate turn signal that was located below the headlights and not next to them for some unknown reason. So we got the indicators and the park lights below, then as an added bonus we got driving lights below them, which come on when high beams are turned on.
Well, actually we didn't get Sable headlights, we had Ghia headlights that didn't have a turn indicator in them, but were the same shape as Sable headlights. I have actually bought Sable headlights from the US and fitted them because the Ghia headlights are no longer available and it is extremely hard to find good ones at wreckers where the lens isn't completely fogged over to the point of no return as mine were when i bought the car. In fact the Tauruses at the wreckers here are becoming very scarce, I haven't seen one at my local wreckers for some months now. (Don I'm sorry, I literally have had no opportunity to get that front piece for you!)
A little more about the day and my judging category : my category was won by a 1964 Mercury Marauder MontClair. It was a LHD US car, the Montclair was a limited run that only got to 42 built before they pulled the plug on it, so it is now one of only NINE known in the world remaining. How was an unloved American import like mine going to go against something like that? My category stank. It was designated 'non category' and they throw in all the Fords that don't have a specific category...stuff like Sierras, Mondeo, Lasers, Meteor, Mercury, Cougars... So I was actually up against over twenty different models.. The car that got second in my category was a Ford Torino, 1970 I think. It was nice too, but both the cars that won my section were just completely original unmolested examples that were in stunning condition. The Mercury even wore its original cross ply tires! The lucky owners of these two cars both had big cheque books and bought them from the US and had them shipped over. Ah well, what can you do? I'm not angry or bitter because the cars that won were absolutely sublime and worthy winners, just of all the categories on the day everyone agreed mine was the toughest to compete in! Had they a Taurus category... ;)
I have included a pic of my engine bay I took just now, plus here are some other pics from the day.
If I have missed anything out please let me know or if there's anything about the Ghia you would like to know, ask away!



This is my friend Garry's 1970 302 Boss Mustang. He actually won his category of best 1967 to 1973 Mustang. He imported the car to Aus as a complete rusty wreck and has done all of the work himself over the last five years, so he was completely thrilled!

This is a 1972 LTD Landau coupe.

A 1965 XP Falcon coupe. It won best overall car at last years show.

And a few classic Aussie Muscle cars




This one is my other friend's car, the fastest production Ford made in this country, the 2012 Ford Performance Vehicle's F6 310 Falcon .


This is the 64 Merc Marauder.



I have lots more pics, if you would like to see some more let me know and when I get a bit more time I will upload them.
Thanks for having a look and thanks again for your comments. :)
 
#22 · (Edited)
Hi guys and gals,
Thanks for the very kind comments!
Ok, to answer a few questions...
The brake booster is on the same side of the engine bay as yours, exact same spot. What Ford did with the Ghia was build a special bracket piece that goes from the brake pedal under the dash and across to your driving position, so when I press the brake, it actuated this piece and applies pressure to the booster this way. It's quite a nice piece of engineering actually and it was cheaper to do this than to reposition the booster and move a whole lot of other stuff.
Love the slopers, post more photos. Got any utes while yer at it?

Over here that's called the driver-ed pedal. I remember a local Dodge dealer used to supply all the Springfield (Mass.)-area high schools and driving schools with Dodge Darts and Coronets in the 1970s, all equipped with the 170cu.in. slant six, TorqueFlite and double brake pedals. Mr. del Buono was quite fond of using that brake pedal.:angry::lol2: I guess that had to be the slowest drivetrain combination in existence!
 
#29 ·
Haha CLAYBAR! You gotta get rid of surface contaminants before any serious polishing and waxing can take place. If you haven't got a glass-like smooth surface to work with then the rest of the process won't come up as well. It's not a nice task but well worth the effort. Auto CLAYBAR with detailing spray. Macguires sell them, any good auto shop should sell clay bars and just follow the instructions. And PLENTY of microfiber towels! :lol2:
 
#19 · (Edited)
Lol. People with big money win at auto shows. That's just life.

Cool pics. Interesting about how Ford came up with the right hand drive system.

Have any AU Falcon's to show?

Edit to add: Amazing how big these cars make 18"s look. Shows you just how fat cars have gotten, now that 20"s look small on half of the cars on the road.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Well because of the Australian regulations at the time regarding light placement, for the Taurus Ghia, Ford had to design all new front indicator and parking light assembly in the front bumper, so that's what they came up with. The driving lights under those are unique to the Ghia, not even the Japanese imports had those, however they did have the same front end, just minus the driving lights.
Sadly for you guys, the Ghia was probably the most well equipped Gen3 of them all. Some inclusions on the Ghia that weren't on the US models include :
Parking brake in centre console
Locking fuel cap
Power folding rear view mirrors that self re-adjust after being knocked or tapped out of position
Halogen Driving lights.
Every other option in the US Taurus range was standard fare on the Ghia. The only option it came with here was the Luxury Pack which added leather seats and steering wheel, front seat power lumbar adjustment, rear trunk cargo netting and floor mats.
Actually, one thing we didn't get here that you guys did was the subwoofer, although all cars here got the premium sound package.

With a car being offered with all this kit, its even sadder to think how it wasn't embraced warmly here at all.

So I take it you have NO rear wheel drive Ford sedan over there? Staggering. However, the Falcon is just about done here, I think there is only one more minor facelift/update before it, too, disappears in rear wheel drive format. The Taurus could indeed have the last laugh here and reappear in some years time rebadged a Falcon when Ford's globalisation policy swings into full effect. Well that's what we're hearing down here at the moment.
Anyway, more photos. Here are a few AU Falcons as well as some utes, most of which are the XR6 or XR8. It was a bit of an unloved model with slight sloping lines almost reminiscent of the Taurus. It was designed in the US I think? Anyone know?







 
#21 ·
You and your friends have very good taste in cars, IMO!

That Boss 302 looks amazing. I'm not surprised it won!

If I had to live in Australia I would want a FPV FG F6 sedan like your friend. I would love to have a straight-6 RWD sedan here but they just don't have any!
 
#24 ·
I just was able to read the signage on that 1970 Falcon. 351 Cleveland with a 4spd in a Falcon? Holy Crapoli.
 
#35 ·
More pics

Oh my...I would love to see that in the driveway.

I kinda hope that as part of the re-brand Ford brings back RWD in one of the new Lincolns. They need something.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Also, if anyone is interested, I can do a write up of how to disassemble the centre control panel of a gen3.
Have any of you who have these noticed how smeary and almost blurry the numbers in the display panel are? What happens is that over the course of many years, the heat inside the car takes its toll and puts a smeary film of yuk over the inside of the display panels. I only know this because recently I had to remove mine to take the face plate only to the guy who did the woodgrain coating on it. So it was a bit of trial and error, but I successfully removed the face plate only, and found the insides coated with a thin film of almost oily residue. The job requires two different sized micro screwdrivers with the star pattern (see? It'll be a very layman oriented instruction!) a few other basic tools and a fair bit of patience (and maybe some superglue!:eek:) but it's not that difficult and you can do it, then clean the inside of your display panels until the readouts of both the clock/stereo section and the aircon section are both as clear as the day they left the factory back in the nineties!
Excusing the flash reflection, this is how the readout looks now, it's so clear!

So if anyone is interested in doing this, in a week or so I'll do a write up cos I'm not sure I've seen one on this subject.
Andy.
 
#32 ·
Yes, the only longitudinal RWD car we have left is the Mustang. Our mid- and full-size sedans (Fusion and Taurus) are FWD with optional AWD (transverse engine layout). Ford really likes their AWD system (they see AWD as the replacement for RWD), so I doubt we'll see any RWD cars in the future.

Also because of the above, the straight-6 is almost extinct in anything other than a German car. Another thing that's practically extinct here is a manual transmission (yes, too many lazy/dumb people here). Only about 3% of new cars sold here have a stick. In most cases you can only get a MT with the base model, so performance models (other than the Mustang) get—at best—a flappy-paddle automatic transmission (that wasn't ever designed with that in mind).

Just curious, do you know anyone over there that can't drive a stick? Are there very many automatic transmissions in cars?
 
#33 ·
Just curious, do you know anyone over there that can't drive a stick? Are there very many automatic transmissions in cars?
Well real drivers will always learn stick, but kids today are more worried about getting their licenses and go for them in autos cos they see it as being easier so they only receive an auto license. Everyone I know my age (40ish) can drive stick.

Yeah, even here I think autos are more common, sadly. :(
 
#34 ·
Yeah, as you said, 98SilverS, surely there would be a market if Ford brought over some of the FPV models. They are unbelievably nice cars. Well mannered around town, but just brutal when you want it to be. I nearly wet myself the first time my friend took me for a spin in his F6. The acceleration was staggering! I got back in the Taurus afterwards and was all "oh... :(" :lol2:
 
#37 ·
I love these photos! - although...this reminds me of the Star Trek episode where Kirk, Uhura and Spock are in a parallel universe. Everything is the same....ish....but not quite. I love the different front- and rear-end treatments on models that apparently continued in production after their USA counterparts were ended, and what's that K-car-lookalike with a blue oval in the grille? When I was in high school I (and many of my friends) would have killed to have a Falcon with a 351 Cleveland and 4spd. That has blown my mind for two days now. The big poop back then was the 260 and 4-on-the-floor if you bought the Futura version. Three-on-the-tree, otherwise.

I was just looking at Nick's '97 and now see why Gen3 owners are spooked seeing those headlamp units. TYTT, I like the Aussie design better.
 
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