Yamaha Screamer in a Taurus? The Forgotten Ford SHO Legend

While exotic brands regularly build one-off engines for their six-figure supercars, it's pretty rare to see mainstream manufacturers do the same. That's what makes the Ford Taurus SHO's Yamaha-built V6 such an interesting automotive footnote.

Back in the late '80s, Ford decided their family-friendly Taurus needed a performance variant that could hang with European sports sedans. The result? A collaboration with Yamaha that produced a screaming 3.0-liter V6 making 220 horsepower - serious muscle for a family sedan in 1989.

This wasn't just some tweaked version of an existing engine. The SHO V6 was a purpose-built powerplant with 24 valves and direct-overhead cams that looked as good as it sounded. Fire one up today and that distinctive exhaust note still turns heads.

Performance-wise, the Taurus SHO was legitimately quick for its era. Zero to sixty happened in 6.7 seconds - just half a second behind the Mustang GT of the same vintage. Not bad for something with four doors and room for the kids.

The first-gen SHO (1989-1991) only came with a five-speed manual transmission borrowed from Mazda, making it even more of an enthusiast's special. Ford built about 32,000 of these first-gen models, with the highest production numbers in the debut year.

The best part? These unique performance sedans remain relatively affordable time capsules. While the average beater might go for under $1,500, clean examples with reasonable mileage regularly sell for $10,000-$13,000 at auction - a small price to pay for such an interesting piece of American performance history.

For anyone hunting for a project car with a story to tell, the Taurus SHO represents a quirky sweet spot - unusual enough to turn heads at car meets, practical enough to use daily, and still affordable enough that average enthusiasts can get their hands on one. Just look for examples under 100,000 miles, preferably with as few previous owners as possible.