When it was first introduced in 1985, the Ford Taurus looked dramatically modern. The last one is rolling off the production line on Friday.

Date posted: 10-26-2006

ATLANTA — When the final Ford Taurus rolls off the assembly line in Atlanta on Friday, it will be bound for a local customer: Truett Cathy, owner of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain.

The restaurant owner told the Associated Press he plans to display the Taurus with his extensive car collection at his Atlanta headquarters and at his fast-food restaurants. The Ford Motor Co. confirmed on Monday that it will sell the last Taurus to Cathy because of his longtime relationship with the Atlanta-area plant that builds the sedan.

Cathy opened his first restaurant, the Dwarf Grill, in 1946. Later, he developed Chick-fil-A's signature chicken sandwich and tried it out on workers from the Ford plant in Hapeville, Georgia.

No word on how much Cathy will pay for the Taurus, because he is buying it from a local dealer, Gene Evans Ford in Union City, Georgia, instead of directly from the automaker.

The front-wheel-drive Taurus was introduced in 1985 as a 1986 model to replace the rear-wheel-drive Ford Fairmont. Through the years, it was powered by a range of engines, from a 2.5-liter inline-4 to a 3.0-liter V6. The Taurus was named by Lewis Veraldi, the "father" of the Taurus concept, and his chief planner, John Risk, each of whose wives were born under the astrological sign of the bull.

What this means to you: Raise your glass this weekend to the Taurus, which had a longer bestselling run than Ford's original Model T.

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=117285#2