Ford (Taunus) 12M (1968) – Into the Wild

We thank AutoWeek forum member Johan82 for sharing these photos in the ‘What did you see today’ topic. It is, of course, far from self-evident that a car that was once commonplace is still there at the age of 54. This Ford 12M is just parked on the side of the road and it seems that it is still regularly driven. The current owner has only been doing this for four years. Before that, the 12M changed hands quite regularly in a short time, but now seems to have ended up in a nest where it can stay a little longer.

Understandable, because it’s a really nice thing, isn’t it? Really a 12M as you could encounter a lot at the time, with its nice typical beige color and modest wheels. It is also the two-door sedan, a body shape that was still quite popular in the 60s. Truly a moving time capsule in that respect, although it has undoubtedly once been restored. It’s not completely spotless, by the way, we spot some surface rust on the wheels, but it really shouldn’t have a name.

The Ford 12M was one of the last models in the Taunus range that was not simply called Taunus. Taunus only became the only model name with the TC1 that appeared in 1970, for which Ford used an even more complicated nomenclature. For example, since the late 1940s, a number and an M were noted after the name Taunus, indicating the size of the basic engine. With the Taunus P6, the generation we have here in front of us, the Taunus name was even left out for a while. That is why this copy is officially simply called Ford 12M, although popularly it is of course just a Taunus.

As mentioned, the ’12M’ indicates that a 1.2 was the base engine. However, this one has a 1.3 in the nose, a new option in the Taunus range at the time. Like the other engines that were available, this was a V4. Yes, a four-cylinder in V-configuration. Quite unusual and therefore really a typical feature of the 60s Taunussen. The Capri, Consul and Transit were also delivered with such a V4. Even the Ford Mustang I (the 1962 concept car that heralded the famous muscle car) got one. Saab also used Ford’s V4 for a while in the 95, 96 and Sonett, Matra screwed it into a sporty two-seater, the M530. Incidentally, not only was the V4 of the Taunus unconventional, it was also unusual at the time for a mid-sized car to have front-wheel drive.

You also had the 15M of the Taunus P6 and it had, as you can see from the name, a 1.5 V4 as base engine. That was not the only difference with the 12M, however. The 15M also had more modern square headlights and especially more contemporary, rectangular taillights. The basics were otherwise the same. The 17M, 20M and 26M available at the same time were larger and higher in the market. Where the 12M and 15M were succeeded by the Taunus TC1, the Granada took over from the 17M, 20M and 26M.