Free Willy

I was destined to be a car guy from birth.  My mom and dad - 21 and 22 years old respectively - brought me home from the hospital in their shiny new sports car: a 1985 Dodge Daytona Turbo.  Sadly, I don't remember that car.  Its place in the garage was given to an '88 Ford Taurus GL a couple years later, I assume because the Daytona wasn't what you might call a baby-friendly car.
The Taurus I remember quite vividly.  I grew up with that car.  I still remember the sound of the doors opening and closing.  I remember counting how many times the car shifted (subsequently, I remember that the car was a three-speed automatic.)  I remember the musty smell of the heater.  That car carried me to and from school every day for years.  It carried me safely through whiteout blizzards with my mom at the wheel.  I slept soundly in the back seat on vacations and late night trips back from Denver.
That car was my first automotive love.  Truthfully, it wasn't a bad first love either.  When Ford released the jelly-bean car in 1986, it changed the automotive landscape and created the template to which midsize cars today adhere.  Automotive styling soon followed Ford's lead and the boxy cars of the '80s gave way to smoother and more rounded shapes in the '90s.  Finally, America had made a car that was a proper competitor to Japanese cars which had been steadily permeating America's roadways. 
But then, Ford kind of forgot to revamp it for 20 years.  They added one gear to the transmission, a new optional engine (while the old Vulcan pushrod engine continued to live long and prosper as the base engine,) and they took the jelly bean design a bit too far.  So in 2007, sadly, there was no Taurus (though they did continue to sell the quintessential rental car to - uh - rental agencies.)
In '08, however, the Taurus returned.  In its hiatus, it grew a few sizes, and had much shinier teeth.  The really big news came in 2010, however. Its shiny teeth gave way to a trapezoidal Norelco shaver face, narrow headlights, and a lower, sportier stance.  The bloated Passat roofline was replaced with a flatter, more conventional roof.  The dowdy, AARP interior of the old Taurus was replaced with a console reminiscent of the control panels on the NCC-1701-D Enterprise.  The near 45 degree center stack and low roofline no doubt are cause for criticism that the car feels cramped.  That said, the wide range of seating adjustments and the tilt and telescoping wheel make it easy to find a comfortable seating position.
The best part of this car is the drive.  If you approach this car expecting a sports sedan, you will be disappointed.  If you approach it expecting what it is - a large, American, near luxury sedan - you will be treated with a surprisingly sporty, large, American, near luxury sedan.
The first thing you notice when getting behind the wheel, is how high up you feel.  You look out over the hood like in a small SUV.  Despite this, the car responds well to all inputs.  The throttle is neither as responsive or jumpy as the throttle in an Infiniti, but it is closer to Infiniti response than, say, Toyota.  The Duratec 35 has more than enough power to move this big bull with authority, and sounds good doing so.  Not thrashy at all.  Although the shift paddles are a bit awkward in execution, (pull on either paddle to upshift, push on either to downshift,) I soon found them to be second nature.  At one point, a near redline shift caused an upshift that felt like an old TH-350 with a shift kit.  I laughed out loud.  Ford has made a luxury car that has no problem being a hoodlum.  I love it.
The steering was the biggest surprise.  I was really expecting it to be worthless.  I was expecting Shamu to wallow and weave under hard turning loads and it just didn't.  It felt light and direct.  Again, willing to be a hoodlum. Ford found a great medium between ride and handling with this car.  It's truly a car I would drive every day.  I would love to drive it against its main front-drive competitors like the Avalon, Lacrosse, Azera, etc.  I've driven both Avalons and Azeras, and can say that the Taurus was an all-round better driver, but the Asians still have the edge in interior quality.  It's difficult to give a definitive verdict without driving the cars back to back, but I have a feeling that the Taurus would end up at the top of the class in most respects.
Finally, the once neglected Taurus has grown up.  It's ready for prime time.  It's still flawed, and isn't exactly a game changer, but if Ford continues to update the Taurus, it should have no problem fending off the new Azera, Impala, and Avalon when they come out later this year and early next year.  I'm glad cars like this still exist.  As a car guy, I would not be ashamed to park one of these in my garage.  It does a lot of things for American cars that the original Taurus did in 1986.  Ford is quickly gaining a better reputation, and cars like the Taurus are the reason.  Lets just hope it doesn't take them 20 years to update it this time.