With the news that Grand Touring Concepts has captured a rare beast in the form of a 1989 SHO powertrain, I feel inspired to prattle on about the history of the SHO.

In 1984 Apple launched the Macintosh personal computer, Columbia released Ghostbusters, and Galileo was formally forgiven by the Vatican for making ridiculous claims about the earth orbiting the sun 368 years prior; seriously! Meanwhile in Dearborn Michigan Ford executives started a contract with Yamaha Motor Corporation to design, produce and supply a high performance V6. Although the original patents filed by Ford show the engine being fitted in a transverse configuration in a sedan, there is some debate about what Ford had originally intended to use the engine for.

One possibility was the “GN34”, a mid-engine, rear drive, two seat sports car under development by Ford to compete with the Pontiac Fiero and (to a lesser extent) the Toyota MR2; except the GN34 was designed to have the engine mounted longitudinally instead of transverse. The development was initiated by Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations team (SVO). There were three known prototypes for the GN34, one designed in house by Ford, another designed by Giugiaro/Ital Design, and a third designed by Ghia.

In order: Ford’s design (my favourite), Giugiaro/Ital Design, and Ghia’s winning design on the bottom.

The Ghia design was favored the most by Ford execs at the time (very 80s). A couple of test mules were built by Roush one with a Vulcan V6  and another with a 351ci V8.The SVO team ideally wanted to use a V8 in the GN34 but didn’t wish to use the “dated” 5.0L pushrod engine. Currently under development was the modular V8, this was the preferred power plant, but a dual cam version was not yet in the works. The SVO team contacted Yamaha around 1986 to find out how big they could possibly make the SHO V6 that they were already developing. Yamaha figured they could make a 3.6L 280hp version without having to re-engineer the design; and that settled that. So the plan was to make a 3.6L SHO powered mid-engine car that would be built in France. It was approximately the size of a Ferrari Testerossa but lighter. Ultimately Ford scrapped the GN34 plan as the demand for sports cars was dwindling; Ford even considered making the Mustang a FWD compact coupe (see Probe) until Mustang enthusiasts threatened Ford with torches and pitchforks. Fiero sales, for example had fallen from 136,840 in 1984 to 26,402 by 1988. The demand for a 4-door Bronco shifted Ford’s focus to creating the Explorer.The 3.0L SHO engine found its way into the Ford Taurus sedan, which itself, launched in 1986, had turned out to be a life saver for Ford. This is apparently what Ford had intended to do all along with the SHO engine. There were very few cars available in North America in 1989 that fit the description of “high performance sedan”. BMW wouldn’t have a North American M5 until 1991 and likewise Mercedes with their 500E. All of General Motors front drive cars shared a common platform and GM was lagging behind with their dated and anaemic V6s. Everything that Chrysler made was based on the “K” platform, so no real competition there either. Ford had intended for the Taurus SHO to be a low production, short run vehicle to test North America’s appetite for sporty sedans, they didn’t expect it to be a hit. 15,519 SHOs were sold in 1989 which is a decent amount for just a top tier trim package on a common car. Ford ordered many more Yamaha built engines to satisfy the demand.The Yamaha designed SHO engine was better than Ford expected. It had, for 1989, many high tech features such as multi-port electronic fuel injection, dual overhead cams, and the crowning jewel variable length intake manifold; which could switch between long and short intake runners as the RPM climbed. Also worth noting is that the SHO engine can easily be fitted longitudinally if the intake manifold is rotated 180°, without any new parts required. Yamaha built the motor to rev happily to 8500RPM! Unfortunately the Ford accessories (power steering, alternator, air-conditioning pump) tended to fail at 8000rpm. Ultimately Ford decided to draw the redline at 7000RPM and have the fuel cutoff at 7300rpm. It’s too bad that more suitable accessories weren’t fitted; I would love to hear a SHO V6 at 8000+RPM! 220hp doesn’t sound like a lot of power from a N/A 3.0L V6 by today’s standards but in 1989 it was unheard of, the 1989 Mustang GT 5.0 made a paltry 225hp. The Taurus SHO could do 0-100km/h in 6.6s, finish a ¼ mile in 15 seconds and also hit a top speed of 230km/h. The car itself had speed sensitive power steering and 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS. An absolute sweetheart of motor magazines, all other manufacturers quickly took notice.

I have long been a fan of the first and second generation Taurus SHOs; my parents had a 1988 Taurus wagon when I was a kid, I wished it could have had a SHO V6, I’m sure my dad did too! Those Taurus’ still look somewhat modern today, it was such a forward design in the otherwise boxy 80s.

As of writing there are currently no plans for Grand Touring Concept’s SHO powertrain, except for the plan to make a plan. When this thing finds a home, it will be awesome, rest assured! My personal vote is to combine the power plant with another somewhat obscure Ford product, like say a Merkur XR4ti….

Thanks for reading!