Conan O’Brien has featured some slightly attention-grabbing vehicles, starting from a rickety outdated Trabant to a BMW i8 on the autobahn, to not point out the Bugatti Veyron Mouse. However maybe his most well-known journey is his 1992 Ford Taurus SHO, which he purchased new and nonetheless owns at the moment. On a current episode of his podcast, “Conan O’Brien Wants a Good friend,” he talked about his need to “get it rehabbed and produce it again.”
O’Brien’s Taurus has change into one in every of his operating jokes through the years. “It might come up quite a lot of occasions with celebrities the place they’d say, ‘I simply received a brand new Ferrari or one thing, what do you drive, Conan?’ and I say, ‘1992 Ford Taurus SHO, Tremendous Excessive Output!’ and it could get amusing. And it could be like, ‘No, I am being trustworthy, that is what I actually have.” The SHO differed from different… Tauruses? Taurus? Taurii? Anyway, it had a novel 220-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 from Yamaha below the hood, mated to a five-speed handbook transmission in early fashions like O’Brien’s. That is a really Jalop journey if I’ve ever seen one.
The Taurus SHO made common appearances through the years, with O’Brien leaning exhausting into it being a cool automobile that basically is not (though it truly is). He tried to impress Lisa Kudrow with it, and completely failed. In a single section, he tried to get it insured as one in every of his most prized possessions. In one other, he joked about giving it to Brad Pitt, who proceeded to peel out and, in response to the podcast, tousled his clutch within the course of. “Brad Pitt f***ed up my Ford Taurus. And who can say that?”
Years of neglect
Other than Brad Pitt, O’Brien’s Taurus SHO has been sadly uncared for for years. This “60 Minutes” section from 2010 reveals it lined in mud so thick that folks have written messages in it. (O’Brien says it is higher than window tint as a result of it is free.) It nonetheless had its unique Massachusetts inspection sticker from 1992 when he purchased it. Not seen within the clip are the holes left by squibs that simulated a shootout for a “Tonight Present” section, as O’Brien explains on the podcast.
It appears he misplaced monitor of the Taurus through the years, however he nonetheless owns it and lately discovered it in a Warner Bros. parking storage. He was stunned it hadn’t been towed away. Now, he’d wish to get the automobile again and restore it to its former glory. Leno’s Regulation might not have handed, however the Taurus SHO is a considerably uncommon traditional now that would slot in completely at Radwood. I personally hope he can preserve the 1992 Massachusetts inspection sticker, and never simply because it is a part of the automobile’s heritage. My first automobile additionally had a 1992 Massachusetts inspection sticker, and I would wish to suppose that somebody like Conan O’Brien and I’ve not less than one factor in frequent.
