2006 Ford Taurus SE

The fourth-generation Ford Taurus was introduced for the 2000 model year and received a facelift for 2004. This was the final generation to be derived from the original Ford Taurus of 1986. The Taurus would be discontinued after the 2007 model year. 

This 2006 SE model was a rental car and is painted in Silver Frost Metallic with a Medium Dark Flint Cloth Interior.

Standard equipment included the 155-horsepower 3.0-liter overhead valve 12-valve V6 Vulcan engine with 185 foot-pounds of torque, a 4-speed electronic automatic transmission with overdrive lockout, power rack-and-pinion steering with variable assist, 4-wheel power front disc-rear drum brakes, 16-inch steel wheels with full locking wheel covers, 6-passenger cloth seating with flip-down center seating console and column-mounted shifter, power windows with one-touch down driver’s-side feature, power door locks, power sideview mirrors, tilt steering column, speed control with steering-wheel-mounted illuminated controls and air conditioning. This example included the optional AM/FM stereo with a single-CD player and digital clock.

This car was equipped with the standard 16-inch steel wheels with wheel covers.

With the standard front split bench beat for 6-passenger seating, this car was equipped with a column-mounted shifter.

This car had the Standard Taurus SE instrument cluster.

This car had a standard automatic transmission and parking brake pedal.

This car has the standard manually adjustable driver seat.

This car was equipped with two 12-volt power sockets and an ash tray but had no cigarette lighter.

With the standard front split bench seat for 6-passenger seating, this car was equipped with the standard flip-down center seating console.

When opened, the standard flip-down center seating console revealed front cupholders and storage for coins and music.

This car featured the standard rear seat, without the optional 60/40 fold-down seat backs.

This car featured the standard rear cupholders in the flip-down center seating console, shown here in the closed position. 

The standard rear cupholders in the flip-down center seating console in the open position. 

This car had a spacious trunk with a flat floor concealing the spare tire.

The car had a spare tire and jack under the floor of the trunk.

2006 Ferrari F430 Coupe

Here is the 2006 Ferrari F430 Coupe, virtually unchanged from the 2005 model, powered by a 483-horsepower 4.3-liter V8 engine. It was displayed at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show courtesy of Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo.

2006 Maserati Quattroporte

The only sedan in the Exotic Gallery at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show was the 2006 Maserati Quattroporte. "Quattroporte" literally means "four-door" in Italian.

It was powered by a 395-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine with a 6-speed automatic transmission. It was available in Portland from Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo with prices starting at over $100,000.00.

2006 Maserati GranSport

Here is the 2006 Maserati Gran Sport Coupe. It is powered by a 400-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine with a 6-speed automatic transmission. It was available in Portland from Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo, starting at around $100,000.00.

The 2006 Maserati Gran Sport was also available in a convertible form known as the Gran Sport Spyder. It was also available from Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo in Portland. The Gran Sport Spyder cost about $1,000.00 more than a similarly equipped Gran Sport Coupe.

2006 Nissan Titan

Nissan showed off its full-size 2006 Titan pickup with Bayliner's 27-foot Model 265 on a trailer hitched to it in the exhibit hall. The Titan was powered by an aluminum 305-horsepower 5.6-liter double overhead cam V8 engine, and with a towing capacity of up to 9,500 pounds when properly equipped, the Titan was able to tow the 6,000 pound Bayliner.

2006 Lincoln Mark LT

Lincoln revived the idea of the luxury pickup once again in 2006. They tried this idea before in 2002 with the short-lived, limited-production Blackwood. Now they were trying again, with the non-limited-production Mark LT. There was no denying what this truck was: a Ford F150 with all the options and Lincoln trim, powered by the F150's top engine, the 300-horsepower 5.4-liter Triton V8.

The Mark LT was actually not even as unique as the Blackwood, but that would just make it more accessible to the same people who had been buying the vehicle the Mark LT was obviously intended to compete with: the Cadillac Escalade EXT.

2006 Chevrolet Aveo

The Chevrolet Aveo replaced the Chevrolet Metro (formerly the Geo Metro) as the small car in the Chevrolet lineup, starting at under $10,000 and available as either a 5-door hatchback as shown, or as a 4-door sedan.

2006 Cadillac XLR-V

The even bigger new for 2006 was Cadillac's new high-performance version of the XLR: the XLR-V.

Still a few months from being available to the public, the XLR-V was powered by a 443-horsepower supercharged 4.4-liter Northstar V8 engine with a 6-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, mounted in the rear to keep the car balanced, and could accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.6 seconds.

2006 Cadillac XLR Roadster

Cadillac's big news in 2006 was, of course, the XLR roadster, powered by a 320-horsepower 4.6-liter Northstar V8 engine with a 5-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. It was not brand new on the market, but it was still pretty cool.

The XLR featured a retractable hardtop, pushbutton start, GPS-guided DVD navigation, adaptive cruise control and voice recognition.

2006 Pontiac GTO

Pontiac revived the great name GTO from 2004 to 2006 in a sleek rear-wheel drive coupe powered by a 400-horsepower 6.0-liter LS2 aluminum V8 engine and with either a 4-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission.

2006 Chevrolet Cobalt SS

For 2006, Chevrolet expanded the Cobalt's line with the naturally-aspirated Cobalt SS. All Cobalts were powered by double overhead cam inline 4-cylinder engines, but the SS sedan (shown) and coupe were powered by a 171-horsepower 2.4-liter, an upgrade over the standard 140-horsepower 2.2-liter. The SS coupe was also available with a supercharged 205-horsepower 2.0-liter.

2006 Buick Rainier CXL

I have a soft spot for the 2006 Buick Rainier, as it shares the name of my hometown: Rainier, Oregon. Alas, in a couple years the Rainier, and its companion, the slightly smaller Rendezvous, would both be replaced by the Enclave, in 2006 still a concept car that apparently the Portland International Auto Show was not worthy of.

For 2006, the Rainier soldiered on, powered by a 195-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 or an optional 242-horsepower 3.6-liter double overhead cam V6 offering not only more power but also better gas mileage than the smaller engine. Front-wheel drive was standard; all-wheel drive was optional.

2006 Buick Lucerne CXL

The brand-new 2006 Buick Lucerne CXL: the car named after a brand of milk! How exciting! Yeah, I wasn't crazy about the name. The CXL was the mid-level trim. The standard engine was a 197-horsepower 3.8-liter V6. A 275-horsepower 4.6-liter Northstar double overhead cam V8 was optional in the CXL and standard in the CXS. This Lucerne had four portholes on its flanks, indicating it was equipped with the V8.

2006 Hummer H3

 

Behold the latest vehicle that diluted the reputation of the Hummer name in 2006: the H3, with less size, less power and less off-road ability than the existing H2, which already had very little to do with the massive military-based trucks these SUVs tried to live up to. Conspicuously, no real Hummers (now called the H1) were present at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show.

2006 Toyota Avalon Limited

Toyota's flagship sedan in 2006, the Avalon, was an impressive sight, especially on the inside, where the dashboard and center console featured doors to cover most of the car's controls to give a clean-looking interior.

The Avalon was powered by a 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V6. Standard features included automatic headlights, steering wheel-mounted audio & climate controls & dual zone automatic climate control. Available features included rain-sensing windshield wipers, dynamic laser cruise control and a voice-activated DVD navigation system.

2006 Audi A6

 

Though smaller than Audi's flagship A8, the A6 had won several awards, including World Car of the Year and Motorweek's Driver's Choice Award for Best Luxury Sedan. The 2006 A6 was offered with either a 335-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 engine with a 6-speed Tiptronic® automatic transmission and quattro® all-wheel drive or a 255-horsepower 3.2-liter V6 engine with FSI® Direct Injection and either the 6-speed Tiptronic® with all-wheel drive or a Multitronic™ Continuously Variable Transmission and FrontTrack® front-wheel drive. The A6 could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds with the V8 or 7.1 seconds with the V6. Top speed was limited to 130 miles per hour. A station wagon version called the A6 Avant was also available with only the V6 and 6-speed automatic, giving the Avant a 0-60 time of 7.3 seconds.

2006 BMW 550i

The 5-series is the mid-range entry of the BMW line. The 2006 525i and 530i offered the same 215-horsepower and 255-horsepower 3.0-liter double overhead cam in-line six-cylinder engine choices as the smaller 3-series, but the 550i features a 360-horsepower 4.8-liter double overhead cam 32-valve V8. In addition to the standard 6-speed manual and optional 6-speed StepTronic automatic transmissions of the 3-series, the 530i and 550i also offered a 6-speed manual sequential gearbox.

2006 BMW 325i

The "base" model of BMW is the 3-series. Shown here is the then-new 3-series sedan, Automobile Magazine's 2006 Automobile of the Year. The 3-series was powered by a 3.0-liter double overhead cam in-line six-cylinder engine rated at either 215 horsepower in the 325i or 255 horsepower in the 330i; both were capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 7 seconds. The 3-series featured a standard 6-speed manual transmission or an optional 6-speed StepTronic automatic transmission, standard run-flat tires, and available all-wheel drive.