Filed under: Garage, Crossovers/CUVs, Ford, Driving Click on the Taurus X for a high-res gallery of the latest Ford CUV var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/design/2008_Ford_Taurus_X_reviewed_n_not_your_daddy_s_rental_car'; Before the Honda Accord and then the Toyota Camry took over the top of the sales charts, the Ford Taurus was the number one selling car in the United States. During the final years of its lifetime the Taurus became the darling of daily rental fleets, with the bulk of its still-prodigious sales going there rather than to retail customers like its competition. This also meant in part that residual values for Taurus were the lowest in its class. As the Taurus era came to an end, Ford decided to make a clean break and split the previous sedan/wagon lineup into three distinct vehicles with new names. Thus was born the smaller, lower-cost Fusion sedan, the larger Five Hundred sedan and the Freestyle crossover wagon. The latter two never made much impact on the market thanks in large part to bland styling and underpowered engines. Shortly after launch it became known that the Five Hundred and Freestyle would be quickly restyled with the new three bar Ford grille and a bigger engine. Just before their debut at the Chicago Auto Show in February, new CEO Alan Mullaly made the decision to revive the Taurus nameplate for the revamped models and the Freestyle became the new Taurus X. Just a week after production launched at the Chicago assembly plant, Taurus X serial number 70, a Limited AWD model with the new 3.5L V-6 and six-speed automatic was turned over to Autoblog for a week of evaluation. Find out what it's like to live with the Taurus X after the jump Gallery: Autoblog Garage: 2008 Ford Taurus X Continue reading In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Ford Taurus X Limited Permalink | Email this | Comments More...
