Ford Taunus P3 chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and the grandson of the firm's founder, Henry Ford, were present. In addition to the latest Ford Taunus, they were celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of Ford's Cologne plant. It had been on 2 October 1930 that Henry Ford and the then mayor of nearby Cologne, Konrad Adenauer, had laid the foundation stone for the Cologne Ford Plant. The first post-war Taunus models had been designed in North America. The Taunus P3 was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, a German born designer who would dominate car design at Ford of Germany for nearly thirty years and whose subsequent designs
Ford Taunus TC could now specify one of the compact V6 units carried over from the top range P7 models, the six-cylinder engines offering a choice between 1999 cc and 2294 cc engine displacements. All the Taunus engines except the smallest 1.3 litre unit could be specified in combination with a Borg-Warner B35 three-speed automatic transmission in place of the standard four speed manual box. The Taunus TC received its only significant face-lift in September 1973. Through the 1960s rival manufacturer Opel had set the pace in terms of frequent model changes and face-lifts, reflecting North American practice and the deep pockets of