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History of the SHO By SHO Club SHO Twistory
was made from a four piece fiberglass kit which included front and rear bumper extensions and lower door and quarter panel skirts. There was no drilling involved in the installation, no nuts, bolts, or rivets. The pieces were bonded to the body with Marine Tex or Fibergel boat adhesive and the seams filled with plastic and then painted the same color as the car along with the door handles and the mirrors. The rear wing and the fog lights were optional along with interior upgrades that included real wood to cover the faux wood in the Taurus. JMX also experimented with suspension modifications using springs from Suspension Techniques to lower the front 1.25" and the rear 1.5". They also quickened the turn in but the results coupled with the stock Taurus struts compromised the ride quality. The main reason for the suspension package was to lower the car over the 50s series tires as shown in the photo but JMX recommended 60s series tires to keep the tires from rubbing the inner fenders. Completing the package are Bottger aftermarket alloy wheels designed for the Mercedes and redrilled for the Taurus. No price was given for the wheels or the options. At press time in December 1986 500 examples had been built and sold east of the Mississippi River. JMX had also signed up 35 distributors and Ford dealers were snapping up the cars as fast as they could be built. The distributors were trained by JMX in how to install the kit then shipped the ready to install components to them. This way the cars could be modified locally and the Ford dealer could sell them. The car was billed as a Pontiac Grand Am SE fighter. Does anyone have anymore information on JMX Aerostyling? Has anyone ever seen one of these cars? When I first saw the cover I could not believe the similarity between this car and the 1989 SHO. What is interesting to me is that at the time this car was being built designers at Ford were working on the design of the 1989 Taurus line which included the SHO. Were the designers influenced by this car? It sure looks like it to me. Well I hope you enjoyed this little bit of SHO Twistory until the next time Bill Strobel Special thanks to member John Hrinson for providing the
impetus for this article. John on a long ago post on Tech SHO provided a
list of SHO related articles in various magazines. One of those mentioned
was the 22 Dec 1986 Auto Week with the picture of a customized Taurus that
looked like the SHO. My curiosity was peeked and I searched out the magazine
and finally found it. I thought I would share the information with the club. As a follow up, here is an e-mail I received from another SHO fan that remembers another almost forgotten car that we will have a feature on soon --Ed.: Hi Don, You will remember this was the 4 cylinder Taurus built for the first 3 or 4 years. The visual cues were identical to the car you show in your article except the wheels were not the same and the tires were standard. When I first saw the car through the dealers window it took my breath away. I was so excited to finally see a Ford family sedan that looked racy. I test drove the car and at first was all caught up in the fact it was a stick and the trick body looked so cool. Then I decided to try a test drive in the V-6. No comparison! The 4-cyclinder was such a dog, I just couldn't make myself go for it, even with the way cool body work. I bought the 87 with the V-6, had a sunroof installed, plus purchased the same wheels they had put on the MT-5 and had a unique Taurus that lasted the family 15 years finally given to charity with over 230,000 miles. The SHO had not yet been released when I bought my 87 and then, I was sick to be stuck with my underpowered car, but reality kept me in check. Finally I saved and bought a New 93 5-sp and have never regretted my choice. Thanks to Performance Plus the car has much improved horsepower and still performs like brand new, actually better. It is still a thrill to drive the car which I reserve for spring thru fall and then put away for the salt season. I enjoyed your poll about what to purchase next. I currently also own a 2,000 Taurus with the 24V engine, and it is a decent car, but not the SHO. Can't imagine buying the new 500 as it is only slated to have the same Duratec engine, and that will not be enough for me. Seriously considering the Hemi-300 although if Ford would just build the 427, I know I would go that direction. Hope this is helpful, and thanks as always.
By the way, I still enjoy the terrific "Road Less Driven" T-shirt, and the
SHO jacket is top quality. I wear it with pride. Thanks Lane! look for something on the MT-5 in the near future, here on SHOclub.com. If anyone has anything to add, please contact me at the link below. Don Mallinson
SHO Club.com |
What
you are looking at is not a picture of a prototype for the 1989 SHO, but a
Taurus you could buy from your Ford dealer in 1986. Surprised? I was too and
here is the story behind this unique car. In 1986 ground effects were all
the rage and the AMG Mercedes with its monochrome color scheme was popular
but very expensive. Enter JMX Aerostyling from Houston Texas and they came
up with car pictured on the left. The car was based on looks only and
contained no performance upgrades. The price out the door from the Ford
dealer was under $20,000 and that included the price of the 14,600 Taurus
LX, less than half of the price of the AMG Mercedes. The JMX Taurus