The Ford Taurus (and its essentially similar cousin, the Mercury Sable) is probably one of the two most significant American automobiles of the 1980s (the other is the Chrysler minivan). The exterior styling incorporated a number of emerging trends. The 1986 Taurus set the pace for the aerodynamic look of today.

Below are the Ford Taurus (left) and Ford's European Scorpio. Pictured between the automobiles are Louis R. Ross (left), Ford executive vice president of North American Operations and Robert A. Lutz, chairman of the board of Ford of Europe. Here they are celebrating the twin win in 1986, a first in Ford's history, when the Taurus was named "Car of the Year" by Motor Trend magazine in the United States and the Scorpio was named "European Car of the Year 1986" by an international jury of 56 motoring journalists representing media in 17 European countries.

Read more about the 1986 Ford Taurus on The Henry Ford website.