Yesterday (Monday) evening, a blurry picture was posted on the Taurus Car Club of America’s online forums. It was a small blurry cell-phone picture, but it still stirred quite a commotion online, as it claimed to depict the new 2010 Ford Taurus, without a piece of camouflage over its body. The picture is of low quality and shows only the front ¾ view, but it showed the important piece – the sexy body of the new Ford Taurus slotted to go on sale next year.

Ford’s vastly popular CEO Alan Mulally let himself be heard that Ford is moving the Taurus from its homely “Homer Simpson” looks to more attractive “Superman” looks. The main focus of the team was on design - inside and out. The current Taurus is considered one of the best sedans on the market with excellent reliability, fuel economy, safety, and price – but its uninspiring looks make thousands of buyers pass right by without giving it a single chance.

The new Taurus is out to change that. The front design is heavily inspired by the European Ford Mondeo and Australian Ford Falcon with wedge headlamps, trapezoid lower intake and detailed body sculpting. The grille itself is a little weaker than current North-American Fords, and the tree-bar grille is mostly gone, but the overall shape of the car and the nose is much more three-dimensional, modern, upscale, and elegant. The critics could call it a little too generic (and I may agree) but it is still a major step up from the current car.

The underpinnings of the new car will remain largely unchanged. The car will be powered by a transversely mounted V6 engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and powering front or all four wheels. There will be a boat-load of interior and cargo space, impressive safety features, and overall solid, grown up feel to everything. The platform will be heavily revised, however, as the new Taurus will ride on the MKS platform (which is a significantly updated version of the current Taurus platform). Some changes stemming from this updated platform include tilt-telescoping wheel, longer (and flexible) wheelbase length, and better proportions thanks to lower roof-line and wider stance. As mentioned numerous times before, the new car will include the 3.5l EcoBoost engine delivering about 350 horses without any mileage penalty.

When the picture initially surfaced, it was not immediately accepted as genuine. After all, the car on the picture (especially in the blur), could possibly be a Hyundai Azera, or another vehicle. However, Ford helped us confirm the authenticity when mid-day on Tuesday it started demanding the removal of all copies of the image. Ford would not be upset over a bogus image, would they?