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1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly

TheSketchMonkey has done hundreds of redesign videos, but the most popular ones are usually about cars that are considered very ugly, such as the Fiat Multipla. This week, he looked for another ugly duckling to turn into a YouTube star and landed on the Ford Taurus.
1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly 8 photos
Photo: TheSketchMonkey/YouTube screenshot
1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly1996 Ford Taurus Gets Modern Redesign, Still Looks Pretty Ugly
While researching his next rendering, the artist finds one article which says the 1996 Ford Taurus is as big a disaster as 9/11 or the death of Princess Diana. Naturally, TheSketchMonkey doesn't think it's as bad as all that, as he usually finds something interesting in every car.

According to him, the Taurus belongs to the 1990s, an era where a lot of cars were designed around elliptical shapes. Maybe this was a reaction to all the boxy Fox Body Mustangs or simply a trademark of that period. Whatever the case, the Taurus sedan went overboard, as everything from the headlights to the dashboard looks circular.

To modernize this piece of "melted cheese," the YouTuber decides to get rid of some of the roundness. The bodywork is brought a little lower, making this look like a NASCAR version of the Taurus. Also, the roof is made a little more square, while features like the door handles and wheels are brought into the modern era. We still wouldn't say it looks like a 2021 car, maybe just a 2001 one.

Nearly every controversial design change is seen as bad at first, but people are now falling in love with boxy 1980s American ponies. So who's to say that the Taurus won't be cool in another ten years? It's already happening with other rounded oddities like the Chevrolet SSR and HHR.

The 1996 Ford Taurus was the best-selling car in America at the time. You see it a lot in old movies and many people owned one. However, about half of all sales were to rental fleets. What's your experience with the 3rd-gen? Tell us in the comments.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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