2011 Ford Taurus.

2011 Ford Taurus.

When Alan Mulally took over as CEO of Ford, one of the first things he did was rename the Five Hundred full-size sedan Taurus to take advantage of the nameplate's strong mindshare. The second thing he did was order a complete redesign of the car.

2011 Ford Taurus

Mulally promised the new Taurus would be "the one we should have made originally." At the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the automaker finally took the wraps off of the new model.

2011 Ford Taurus

Ford has repositioned the Taurus as more of a personal luxury sedan, the likes of which have not been seen wearing a Ford badge in many, many years. Ford has decided to combine elements of its "Bold American" and European "Kinetic" design language.

2011 Ford Taurus

The new Taurus is powered by the automaker's 3.5-liter V6 Duratec engine, mated to one of two available six-speed automatic transmissions, including SelectShift with shift paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel. As was the case with the previous model, all-wheel-drive is optional.

2011 Ford Taurus

The V6 motor delivers an estimated 263 horsepower and 249 foot-pounds of torque. It earns a ULEV-II emissions certification and comes paired with a choice of two new six-speed automatic transmissions. The regular car is offered in SE and SEL trim levels. Ford also launched performance-oriented SHO EcoBoost model.

2011 Ford Taurus

Critically, the new Taurus starts at $25,170 -- which is surprisingly slightly less than the prior model. The more uplevel SEL starts at $27,370 and the top-end Limited sets buyers back $31,770.

2011 Ford Taurus

"Lightning can strike twice," said Peter Horbury, Ford's North American design director. "Like the 1986 original, the new Taurus differentiates by combining style with substance."
Taurus features a long list of high-tech features, including: Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning, Intelligent Access with Push Button Start, MyKey parental programmability, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with Cross Traffic Alert, Rain-Sensing Wipers, EasyFuel capless refueling, Ford SYNC and Voice-Activated Navigation with SIRIUS Travel Link.

2011 Ford Taurus

2011 Ford Taurus