Growing prosperity in postwar Germany encouraged Ford to offer a line of bigger and more expensive cars.
The Ford Taunus 17M of 1957 was as long as (though significantly narrower than) the British Consul Mk2, but a different car.
It presented a style similar to American 1955 Fords, featuring substantial (at least by European standards) tailfins.
The transatlantic flamboyance of the car's styling gained it the sobriquet "Baroque Taunus", showing styling influences from the North American Mercury Monterey of the same time period.
Unusually for middle class German cars of this period, it was available with either two or four doors.
The competition noticed, and from 1959 it would become possible to buy an Opel Rekord with four doors.

The P2 used an ohv engine with 1698 cc and 60 hp (44 kW).
A maximum speed of 128 km/h (80 mph) was quoted.
A road test of the time commended the smoothness of the three speed all-synchromesh manual transmission system.
Growing prosperity in postwar Germany encouraged Ford to offer a line of bigger and more expensive cars. The Ford Taunus 17M of 1957 was as long as (though significantly narrower than) the British Consul Mk2, but a different car. It presented a style similar to American 1955 Fords, featuring substantial (at least by European standards) tailfins. The transatlantic flamboyance of the car's styling gained it the sobriquet "Baroque Taunus", showing styling influences from the North American Mercury Monterey of the same time period. Unusually for middle class German cars of this period, it was available with either two or four doors. The competition noticed, and from 1959 it would become possible to buy an Opel Rekord with four doors.
The P2 used an ohv engine with 1698 cc and 60 hp (44 kW). A maximum speed of 128 km/h (80 mph) was quoted. A road test of the time commended the smoothness of the three speed all-synchromesh manual transmission system.
Ford Taunus