Why the Ford Taunus TC got such a huge nose

Semon ‘Bunkie’ Knudsen’s career at Ford lasted less than two years, but his name will forever be associated with the 1970 Ford Taunus.

Ford of Europe invented

Autumn 1966. Chaos reigns in Ford’s Cologne offices. Ford UK and Ford Köln cease to exist, because ‘the Americans’ invented Ford of Europe. Suddenly they meddle with everything. New European Fords have to be developed jointly, but nobody tells you how. But when: in 1970 – in three years’ time – the successor to the Ford Taunus should be ready.

Fall 1967. Angry, Bunkie Knudsen kicks a trash can through his office. How can this happen! He pulled Pontiac out of the doldrums. He ran Chevrolet. Twenty-nine years of loyal service to General Motors, and now that #sshole of an Ed Cole has become its next president. Unpalatable! Then the phone rings. It’s Henry Ford II, in person: whether Knudsen might be interested in becoming Ford’s next president…

Autumn 1968. Knudsen is doing well at Ford. Not only is he fond of managing, he also likes to stick his nose – literally – into other matters. Preferably in design. Armed with a stack of Polaroids from the GM archive, Knudsen travels to the design studios, where he has new models fitted with a Pontiac-inspired nose piece. That nose is a big case, the size a toucan would say ‘you’ to. The first victim is the Ford Thunderbird and it does not take long before Knudsen also reports in Cologne. The consequence can be guessed.

Taunus TC: over a million sales

Autumn 1970. The brand new Ford Taunus makes a deep impression. It is long, low and wide, completely different from the practical biscuit tins that formed the middle class until then. Critics take some getting used to the chrome bay window that Knudsen has screwed onto the Taunus’ frontage, but the public can’t get enough of it. The imposing nose is exactly the kind of show that the increasingly wealthy European needs. The Taunus TC is a great success. Ford sells more than a million of these until 1976.

Knudsen is meanwhile a little less so. Ford management is tired of his meddling. The case escalates and Henry Ford II intervenes. After just 19 months, Knudsen can pack his bags.

Knudsen Taunus in Germany

Little consolation: the Taunus TC is a beloved classic in Germany, which is still known as ‘Knudsen-Taunus’.