1999 Ford Taurus Wagon

No Reserve: 42k-Mile 1999 Ford Taurus SE Wagon for sale on BaT Auctions - ending October 10 | Bring a Trailer

 

Who remembers when the first jelly bean Taurus came out, and how revolutionary it seemed? Now, everyone seems to be driving CUVs (Cute Utility Vehicles) and SUVs that are mostly undistinguishable from each other. People call the '70s the "malaise era" for cars, but I'd call the current era even worse for car design. (Obviously, there are still some good car designs, but seeing acres of CUVs and SUVs in parking lots is depressing.)

Now, stepping off my little soapbox here, I will say this is a very nice looking Taurus.

 

(I'm not forgetting, of course, that the '70s were known as the "malaise era" because cars were so underpowered and hindered by emissions requirements.)

 

I believe that the '70s, especially the late '70s, were called the malaise era because of the stagnant economy. I don't think that there were very many cars in the era that were particularly underpowered, unless you are comparing them to the '60s/early '70s muscle cars. It was actually in the early '80s, just after the second gas crisis, that there were quite a number of cars that seemed underpowered, and this was less because of emission controls than due to fuel economy regulations. Remember 65 hp Escorts, 302 powered Country Squires/Colony Parks, and 307 Olds powered GM B body wagons. It is true that the base s engines in some of the late '70s cars (think 4-cylinder Fairmont wagons with automatic transmissions) were of questionable sufficiency, but at least you had options for larger engines in that period. Those options were lost for a great many cars in the '80s.

The "problem" with SUV/CUVs is the same as it was with "jellybean" cars and silver/grey cars. The real problem is not with the existence of SUVs or jellybean shaped cars or silver/grey ones, it's with the fact that there are so many vehicles of that type or shape or color. It seems that there is very little variety in the vehicles one sees these days.

 

Sold for $7,000 on 10/10/23