White the ute might be a common sight in Australia and other parts of the world, but it certainly is not something you see every day in the United States. Still, people yearn for sedan-based pickup trucks, so folks will take it upon themselves to build them. That seems to be exactly what happened with this custom 1994 Ford Taurus “SHO Truck.”
What we have here is the front end and drivetrain of a second-generation Taurus SHO. However, someone decided that instead of rear seats and a trunk, what it really needed was the bed from an early-’90s Ford Ranger Flareside — creating the “SHO Truck.” Oh, and as a cherry on top, it has a five-speed manual transmission. What more could you really need?
There are only a handful of pictures listed on Facebook Marketplace, but they show that the interior of the SHO is pretty damn clean (aside from the fact the rear portion of it is missing). Hell, even the car’s factory leather seats look good, as does the 3.0-liter Yamaha-built V6 motor. In its heyday, that motor put out 220 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque. The seller didn’t mention any upgrades or issues, so it’s safe to assume it’s still in good shape after the 139,000 miles it has driven.
Party in the front, business in the back
Really, the seller didn’t give too much information at all in his listing, only saying, “This is a one of a kind 94 Ford Taurus/Ranger. 5 speed manual. FWD. SHO 24 valve.” I suppose you let the pictures do the talking for a vehicle like this.
All in all, it looks like a fairly clean build. The front and rear portions of the car are color-matched to that awesome green color Ford was using in the 1990s. All four wheels also seem to be in decent shape, as does the underside of the truck. Of course, there’s only one picture of the underside, which shows leaf springs and a bunch of beams. I’d hazard a guess that the SHO Truck isn’t the corner carver the regular show was, but it’s probably fine. Who really cares when you’re driving something as cool as this?
If you’re in the Beloit, Kansas area (or you’re willing to travel) and have $5,000 on hand, please go buy the SHO Truck. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that it’ll be a particularly good driving experience, but it will be an interesting one, and that’s all you really need, isn’t it?
It would seem whoever built this is just continuing the trend of turning sedans into utes. In the past, we’ve shown you a Honda Civic EG, Chrysler PTCruiser, Subaru Impreza WRX STI and a regular Civic that had all been turned into utes. It’s a hot move right now, apparently.
