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.

2005 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 2005 SE model is painted in Arizona Beige Metallic with a Medium Dark Pebble Cloth Interior.

It was originally purchased by a major rental car company with a 1-year lease.

I purchased this car from Vancouver Ford in November 2005.

Standard equipment included a 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, 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 16” 5-spoke painted-aluminum wheels, 60/40 split-folding rear seat, and the 6-way power driver’s seat with lumbar support.

It also featured an optional AM/FM stereo with a single-CD player and digital clock.

Another included option was the 5-passenger cloth seating with front bucket seats and floor-mounted shifter and console.

Lobby Displays at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show

These assorted vehicles were displayed in the lobby of the Oregon Convention Center during the 2006 Portland International Auto Show in Portland, Oregon. 

This pair of Chevrolet Camaros were representing the Portland Police Bureau. The unmarked one in the background even had standard-issue Oregon license plates for extra stealth.

Here is a customized version of Chrysler's Hemi-powered, rear-wheel drive sedan, the 300, made to resemble a Bentley. It was even placed with the Bentleys out in the lobby. Pretty convincing.

Here is another customized Daimler-Chrysler product from the lobby, a Dodge Magnum.

This Lotus Elise was representing Dream Cars Northwest, Inc., a Portland company that rents luxury and exotic cars.

This customized Willys Jeep was in the lobby and may have been the oldest vehicle in the show. Its exact year is hard to determine, both due to the customizing and the fact that Jeeps do not change much from year to year, but it appears to be a CJ-3B.

This model of Jeep was introduced in 1953 and was built into the late 1960s.

Also on display in the lobby was this preview of NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett's next #88 car: a Ford Fusion, replacing the Taurus.

Carrera Panamericana 1953 Ford

Frank McKinnon's 1953 Ford at the 2006 Portland International Auto Show spent much of its life as a show car. About five years earlier Car & Driver magazine converted it to run in the modern version of the Carrera Panamericana Mexican Road Race. The race restoration was performed with an eye to keeping the car period correct, using parts that were available when the Ford was factory fresh.

2006 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Convertible

The release of the all-new Mustang was big news when it came out, but even bigger was the Shelby Cobra GT500, which was the most powerful Mustang ever released from the factory. The new GT500 was powered by a 450-horsepower supercharged 5.4-liter V8.

2006 Ford GT

Ford entered the supercar market in 2006 with the GT, inspired by Ford's GT-40 Le Mans race cars from the 1960s. The GT is powered by a 550-horsepower 5.4-liter supercharged V8, and can go from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds.

1936 Ford Tudor Sedan

I have a soft spot for cars on signs. This 1936 Ford Tudor Sedan at the Chinese Village Restaurant & Lounge in Longview, Washington, was placed here in the 1970s when the restaurant was called Bonnie and Clyde's, which closed in the late 1980s. Chinese Village closed in September 2009. The car was practically a Longview landmark until it was removed from the sign on February 27, 2010, and subsequently donated to the local Unique Tin Car Club. The club plans to restore the car.

Related Links:
Classic Ford lowered from perch along Ocean Beach Highway from The Daily News
Unique Tin to restore Bonnie & Clyde's Car from The Daily News

1985 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Wagon

Photo by Cliff West

My parents purchased this 1985 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Wagon in Sand Beige with a Clove Brown interior from Columbia Ford in Longview Washington, on August 19, 1992, with 72,577 miles on the odometer for $3,999.00, trading in their 1985 Mercury Marquis for $1,500.00. 

Photo by Cliff West

It is powered by a standard 140-horsepower electronically fuel-injected 5.0-liter V8 engine producing 250 ft-lbs of torque with Electronic Engine Control IV and a 4-speed Automatic Overdrive Transmission. 

Photo by Cliff West

Ford had introduced the new LTD on the brand-new Panther platform in 1979, and introduced the LTD Crown Victoria 2-door and 4-door sedans in 1980 as a top-of-the-line trim featuring a brushed aluminum trim band over the B-pillars. 

Photo by Cliff West

With the 1983 introduction of a smaller LTD on the Fox platform, all the Panther platform models became LTD Crown Victorias, including the wagons which never had the B-pillar trim. 

Photo by Cliff West

Wagons with woodtone exterior paneling were called Country Squire, but those without were simple LTD Crown Victoria Wagons. 

Photo by Cliff West

Just 4 inches longer than the sedans, LTD Crown Victoria Wagons feature 89.5 cubic feet of cargo area with the rear seats folded down, plus a 2 cubic foot lockable side storage compartment, and another lockable storage compartment under the rear load floor that measures 9.9 cubic feet in a car without the dual facing rear seats like this one.

Photo by Cliff West

The LTD Crown Victoria Wagon also features a 3-way doorgate, which opens like a door with its power window up or down, or lowers like a tailgate. 

Photo by Cliff West

Standard equipment included power steering, power front disc & rear drum brakes, concealed windshield wipers with fluidic washer system, power ventilation system, conventional spare tire, Super Luxury sound insulation, quad rectangular halogen headlamps, front and rear bumper guards, left-hand remote-control mirror, vinyl insert bodyside moldings, bright wheelslip moldings, rocker panel moldings, hood & bodyside accent stripes, courtesy lights in glove box, front ashtray & cargo area, day/night rearview mirror, fold-down rear seat, and removable color-keyed load floor carpet. 

Photo by Cliff West

New for 1985 were a redesigned dashboard and steering wheel and gas-pressurized shock absorbers. 

Photo by Cliff West

This well-equipped example also features an electronic AM/FM stereo search radio with cassette tape player including Dolby® Noise Reduction, auto-reverse and program search features, leather-wrapped steering wheel, air conditioning, pivoting vent front windows, rear window defroster, Tripminder® computer, cornering lamps, illuminated entry system, speed control, tilt steering wheel, right-hand remote convex mirror, interval windshield wipers, deluxe luggage rack, heavy-duty trailer towing package, 6-way power driver seat adjustment, bumper rub strips, cast aluminum wheels, power side windows, the Power Lock Group with power door locks and doorgate lock, the Interior Luxury Group including reclining split bench seats with seat back map pockets, optional leather upholstery with special sew style, luxury door panels with assist straps, full length armrest and power side window controls, 18-ounce cut-pile floor carpeting, additional woodtone appliques on instrument panel, electronic digital clock, trip odometer, low oil level and low fuel warning lights, dual illuminated visor mirrors, automatic parking brake, and the Light Group including dual beam map light, headlamps-on warning chime, engine compartment light, and dual instrument panel courtesy lights.

Photo by Cliff West

For 1986, the Interior Luxury Group would become its own trim line: the LTD Crown Victoria LX. 

Photo by Cliff West

The LTD Crown Victoria would receive a facelift for 1988, with slightly more aerodynamic styling.

Photo by Cliff West

This generation of LTD Crown Victoria would continue through 1991. A new aerodynamic 4-door sedan would emerge for 1992, though no 2-door or wagon would be offered. With the Fox-platform LTD having been discontinued after 1986 in favor of the new Taurus, the LTD name was dropped entirely in 1992 and Ford's full-size sedan was simply called the Crown Victoria until it was finally discontinued in 2012.

Video by Cliff West

Here is a video my dad made about this car in 2010.