REVIEW: 2010 Ford Taurus, A True Flagship

Nothing lasts forever.

Whether by bad luck, bad design or the stars just stop aligning; every good (and bad) thing passes. But that doesn't mean it can't come back: Cinderella may have cleaned a lot of fireplaces, but even she got hitched.

The Ford Taurus arrived three decades ago with a youthful vigor that would propel it to become the No. 1 sedan in America. It was a winner, a juggernaut, the San Francisco 49ers of the '80s with Joe Montana in the driver's seat.

But Montana split for the Kansas City Chiefs and the neglected Taurus became a regular rental. Neither ever really recovered. The malaise of this century hurt the Taurus so much it sputtered on life support. Ford Motor Co. finally pulled its plug, hoping to replace it with the Ford Five Hundred, which then needed more than 500 changes to it after the first model year. It was a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions.

Welcome to Act III: The 2010 Ford Taurus, a car worthy of the original Taurus name and deserving of the title "flagship."