Black sedans, part 2

Well after the Marauder, i decided to continue in the same way by presenting sporty American sedan cars. Issued by Greenlight in the County Roads serie in 2010, the next subject will be the Ford Taurus SHO. The Taurus is a well-known car, even by us Canadians. But how many people knows about the SHO?

When the model was unveiled at Detroit in 2010.

The Taurus has originally been released in december 1985 to replace the good old LTD. It was a revolution for Ford, especially with the modern style the car introduced. Since then, the SHO was offered as the sporty version of the car. The original one had a Yamaha engine of 220 horsepower.

Even though the Taurus disappeared between 2004 and 2007 (Ford tried to replace it by the 500, but this car has been a miserable failure and Ford was forced to reintroduce a new Taurus), the name SHO didn't disappeared in the new generation.

The Greenlight one. What a wonderful diecast!

Unveiled in 2010, the new SHO is way more powerful than the original one, thanks to his 365 hp V6 engine. In fact, this car was designed to be introduced as the new Ford Police Interceptor, by replacing the aging Crown Victoria. Matchbox is supposed to introduce the SHO Police Interceptor as a 1:64 diecast later this year.

As said, Greenlight issued this one is the limited serie County Road. This diecast is very elusive and hard to find. I pre-bought it on Ebay, and had a chance to grab one directly when it went out. There's a lot of details, i must say it's an awesome casting. The interior is especially well-made, as well as the wheels. The only thing missing are the side mirrors, and with that it would have been perfect.

Enjoy the pics! Next article will be about the third American black car.... you guess :)

To finish, how about a few comparaison pics?

I personally prefer the SHO's style, but hey, that Marauder is still awesome.

A few details can make everything...

Everybody know what's a Mercury Grand Marquis. You know, that gooood ol' big american car, that you grandfather usually drives? Even though Mercurys almost've been Ford copies with a bit more style, that one i will talk about is interesting.

The real deal.

Marauder has been a name used by Mercury three times in the history, but let's talk about the most recent one. In 2000's, Mercury was about to disappear, and Ford decided to make an ultimate effort to sell Mercury cars by proposing a few limited models. Here comes the Marauder, introduced in 2003. This pimped up Grand Marquis was only available in black livery, and had a 302 hp V8 under the hood. With sporty rims, a special dual-exhaust system, this was a real sleeper. Ford only produced Marauders for 2 years, with a total production of abot 11000 units.

Let's talk about the diecast. Greenlight introduced the Marauder in its Black Bandit line, a line of only black cars and limited production. Only 3500 models were produced, and i was very lucky to found one in perfect condition last year (only problem is that the spoiler is moving a bit). I payed it about 10 dollars, but now they can reach up to 40$ on Ebay... That's one great piece with opening hood and rubber tires!

Enjoy the pics :)

Black background fits well, it makes it looking like a killer! Notice how the Greenlight version is two-tone.