My SHO sighting - in Switzerland

[DrivingEnthusiast]

29 years ago today I'm on a business trip to Switzerland, on my way to my hotel about 60 miles outside of Berne to give a presentation on my company's software - and then fly home again the next day (such was the nature of the budget then that it would allow a ridiculous expense such as this).
I got off the plane and discovered that it was heavily raining and foggy. I picked up my rental car and entered the highway for my drive. Terrible visibility! A while into it I see some headlights pulling up FAST behind me, so I pull over a lane and watch. It's a dark green American Taurus SHO, going about 90 MPH. Well driven, overcoming the conditions.
What a strange glimpse of home, so far away. Especially given that my own Taurus SHO (1st gen and very early production) was waiting for me back home in the airport parking garage (probably frozen solid).
I'd heard that a couple dozen SHOs were exported... and from my own experiences I know that they are a great choice for high-speed and long distance driving. And why not? If you like fast Fords, but can't afford a Sierra RS Cosworth, then the SHO was a good choice.

 

[Zpak]

You waited 16 years to tell this story!?

 

[Irish Pride]

You waited 16 years to tell this story!?

No, he waited 29 years like the first sentence of his story states....

Nice story no matter how long it took to hear. Lol

-Chad

 

[Zpak]

For sure, I was just referring to the “new member” from 2006.

 

[Zpak]

I remember being super excited about a SHO swapped Mazda... what was it B9000 or something (ranger) I saw in Hawaii in 2002.

 

[luigisho]

I remember being super excited about a SHO swapped Mazda... what was it B9000 or something (ranger) I saw in Hawaii in 2002.

You waited 20 years to tell this story?

 

[SM105K]

That is amazing. Good stuff.

 

[Zpak]

You waited 20 years to tell this story?

No five. I joined in 2017.

 

[DrivingEnthusiast]

"You waited 20 years to get an SHO?"
I don't know why this site marks me as a "new member" when I've been here so long. I haven't posted much because I haven't owned a SHO since my original 1st and 3rd gen cars. I'm here for nostalgia, since I enjoyed them so much... and to watch what's happening with interest in SHOs over all these years.
My 1st-gen was built over a month before they originally went on sale. It remains one of my favorite cars ever. My 3rd gen was bought off the lot a few months after they went on sale.
And I posted this story because I found it in my Facebook this morning under Memories. Obviously there wasn't any Facebook back then, but I back-dated it when I posted it several years ago.
Another SHO story, sort of. That same company, and I'm travelling all over the United States and Canada visiting customers. This is a Dilbert-esque story and was actually the subject of one of his cartoons once. This company always sent a pile of people out to every customer visit... there'd be 6-8 people and maybe 1 or 2 of us who knew what we were talking about and that the customer would respect. The others were all "suits" or "skirts" - not of any value to the customer. This company used Hertz for it's rental cars. We'd fly in town, each person woud stop by Hertz to pick up their car and inevitably it'd be a Taurus SLO. I've probably driven at least a hundred of them. So when you drove to the customer site you'd find the entire visitor's parking area in front of the customer's building full of SLOs. Then you knew you were in the right place!
My favorite city to visit: Dallas because Hertz at DFW Airport had some Thunderbird Super Coupes to upgrade to. Remember those? Another great Ford from that era.

 

[Zpak]

"You waited 20 years to get an SHO?"

You got me there. But, I was drooling over the first one I saw on the showroom floor in 1989... I was 8.

My friend had a silver ‘89 in high school and I was so jealous. Mostly because my first car was also an ‘89... Mercury Sable.

My aunt had one of those anniversary super coupes, ‘90 maybe, can’t remember the year. Black with silver and the blue pinstripe. Awesome car!

 

[PaulTAutoX]

"You waited 20 years to get an SHO?"
I don't know why this site marks me as a "new member" when I've been here so long. I haven't posted much because I haven't owned a SHO since my original 1st and 3rd gen cars. I'm here for nostalgia, since I enjoyed them so much... and to watch what's happening with interest in SHOs over all these years.
My 1st-gen was built over a month before they originally went on sale. It remains one of my favorite cars ever. My 3rd gen was bought off the lot a few months after they went on sale.
And I posted this story because I found it in my Facebook this morning under Memories. Obviously there wasn't any Facebook back then, but I back-dated it when I posted it several years ago.
Another SHO story, sort of. That same company, and I'm travelling all over the United States and Canada visiting customers. This is a Dilbert-esque story and was actually the subject of one of his cartoons once. This company always sent a pile of people out to every customer visit... there'd be 6-8 people and maybe 1 or 2 of us who knew what we were talking about and that the customer would respect. The others were all "suits" or "skirts" - not of any value to the customer. This company used Hertz for it's rental cars. We'd fly in town, each person woud stop by Hertz to pick up their car and inevitably it'd be a Taurus SLO. I've probably driven at least a hundred of them. So when you drove to the customer site you'd find the entire visitor's parking area in front of the customer's building full of SLOs. Then you knew you were in the right place!
My favorite city to visit: Dallas because Hertz at DFW Airport had some Thunderbird Super Coupes to upgrade to. Remember those? Another great Ford from that era.

The Super Coupe was a fairly close second for me when I bought my '92, but I had been so impressed with the SHO when I took the Bondurant school that I stuck to my first choice. They could fit a full cage and conveniently add three students, as an instructor car. There was a guy at work who had the SC and he talked a good talk about taking them both out and racing some time, then he lost his license for a while so that was off.

FWIW I probably see about as many Gen 1+2+3 SHOs as I do Gen 4+.

 

[DrivingEnthusiast]

Yes, I got the ride at the Bondurant school SHO too - what an animal. Incredible! As to the Super Coupe... that was one nice car but it had problems. The worst of which was the motorized belts... which ruined it until they spent the money on the air bags at last. If only Ford had gone ahead with it's plans to use it as a platform for a truly world-class Mustang!
I had two SHOs, but never a Super Coupe. I still look at them very closely...