Ford Taunus

Ford Taunus
Ford Taunus P4 (1962–1966)
Overview
Manufacturer	Ford Germany
Production	1939–1994
Body and chassis
Class	Mid-size car Full-size car
Chronology
Predecessor	Ford Eifel, Ford Köln (midsize) Ford Rheinland (full size)
Successor	Ford Sierra (midsize) Ford Granada (full size)

The Ford Taunus is a family car that was sold by Ford Germany throughout Europe. Models from 1970 onward were similar to the Ford Cortina in the United Kingdom. The model line was named after the Taunus mountain range in Germany and was first made in 1939 and continued through several versions until 1994.

The Ford Taunus G93A was a development of the Ford Eifel and used the same 1172 cc four cylinder engine but in a longer chassis and a streamlined body. It was the first German Ford to have hydraulic brakes. Due to the war, production was interrupted from 1942 to 1948. 74,128 were made including estate cars and light vans.

From 1952 to 1968 all German Fords were called the Taunus, using the model names 12M, 15M, 17M, 20M, and 26M (on some Scandinavian markets, for a short while the branding 10M was used on a slightly better equipped export version of the early Taunus which is said to be the precursor of later uses). The "M" is said to stand for "Meisterstück", in English "Masterpiece", but that word was found to be already registered by another German automaker. Taunus was also sometimes adopted as the brand-name in export markets, particularly where British and North American Fords were also available.

The 12, 15 and 17M models had a straight-4 which in the first 12M was a carryover of the sidevalve-engine from the first Taunus series, beginning with the 15M it was replaced by an overhead-valve design similar to the British Ford Consul engine. With the introduction of the new 12M line (internal code P4) for 1962 came the V4 engine, which starting in late 1964 with the larger 17/20M became the base engine for the Taunus M-series. The 20 and 26M models had the Ford Cologne V6 engine which is basically the same engine design with two extra cylinders added. The 12, 15, 17 etc. numbers refer to the engine displacement; 1200, 1500, 1700 cc etc. However,there was also a few exceptions from that rule such as 17M 1800 which was powered by the V6 in its smallest displacement of 1.8 litres and the 20M 2300S (in the later P7 series) which used a 2.3 litre version of the same engine.

From 1962 to 1970, the smaller models 12M (P4) and its successor 12M/15M (P6) had front wheel drive. All other models had rear wheel drive.