The Ford Taunus 12 M is a small family car that was produced by Ford Germany between September 1962 and August 1966.
The Taunus 12M name had been used for the car’s predecessor and it would apply also to subsequent Ford models which is why the 12M introduced in 1962 is usually identified, in retrospect, as the Ford Taunus P4. It was the fourth newly designed German Ford to be launched after the war and for this reason it was from inception known within the company as Ford Project 4 (P4) or the Ford Taunus P4.
More unusually, the car was originally designed not for production in Germany but to be produced in North America and sold as the Ford Cardinal, a home-grown competitor for the Volkswagen. A last minute change of strategy saw the US production plans cancelled, and in 1960 Ford of Germany received a fully developed modern new design which they adapted for German conditions in order to replace their own by now badly outdated Ford Taunus P1.
North American design
The 1952 Ford Taunus had received a stylish new body, but its engine was little changed from the (originally British designed) unit fitted in 1935 to the Ford Eifel and other underpinnings, including its rear axle and suspension, were little changed from those of the 1939 Ford Taunus G93A. By contrast, the P4, originally designed for large scale manufacture in North America, was technically innovative, featuring a newly developed compact V4 engine which would provide the basis for engines designed and produced by Ford of Germany for twenty years. The Taunus P4 was also a front-wheel drive design at a time when most other West German auto-makers except Auto-Union / DKW were still avoiding what was then seen as an unnecessarily complicated lay-out.
The decision, taken only after the new model had been prepared for production, not to build the Ford Cardinal in North America was the result of a review of “marketing opportunities” in the US market. In 1960 a prototype was delivered to Ford in Cologne. The form of the model that emerged from the production line at Köln-Niehl two years later would be unchanged. The single all-red rear light cluster was seen as a tell-tale sign of the car’s US provenance at a time when independent (from brake lights) amber direction indicators were increasingly common on European cars. The dished steering wheel was another feature not normally found in European designs of the time.
Market launch
The Taunus P4 came to market in September 1962: it enjoyed a reasonably positive reception. It was obviously a modern car. Its North American designers had come up with a car that was far larger and more spacious than the standard set by the Volkswagen which by now dominated the small sedan class in Germany. Unfortunately P4s suffered from numerous different teething troubles, however, suggesting that adaptation of the car to German conditions may have been a somewhat rushed exercise. Over its four-year model life the Taunus 12M was produced at an averaged rate of more than 150,000 per year which made a useful contribution to the sales figures, but did very little to trouble the market dominance in the small car sector of the Volkswagen Beetle which at this time was held back chiefly by shortage of production capacity.
Engine and running gear
The new V4 engine was mounted in the longitudinal, "overhung" configuration driving the front wheels as was first pioneered by Auto Union/DKW (and still used by Audi to the present day), meaning the engine was mounted far to the front of the car. It incorporated a balance shaft in order to try to compensate for some of the imbalance resulting from the unconventional positioning of the four crank pins in relation to the three bearings for the crankshaft. At this stage commentators nevertheless found the V4 unit "rougher" and noisier than comparable in-line units. The water pump and thermostat were housed in a sealed unit permanently protected by anti-freeze. The fan was thermostatically controlled which was still an unusual feature at this time. An eye catching feature introduced under the bonnet/hood in 1964 was color-coding on the rocker cover according to the engine type. engines were coded green, blue and red. (The version was replaced in the same year by the more powerful unit.)
The modern compact V4 engine placed Ford of Germany in the hitherto unfamiliar position of setting the pace, and the company was able to sell the unit to other smaller European manufacturers. This was the engine that Saab later used for their V4 models after they abandoned their commitment to Saab two-stroke power. Ford's compact V4 engine also found its way into the Matra 530 sports car.