Ford Taunus 17 M Type P2 in original colour by aRi F. Huber

How the "little road cruiser from Cologne" became a "flying carpet".
Prosperity for all up-and-comers, that was the new Ford 17 M P2 and one of the first cars that was even advertised on TV (see also under YouTube "Ford Taunus 17M P2b commercial"). And with this little road cruiser from Cologne, Ford Germany has finally arrived at the sophisticated mid-size cars, while across the pond Ford in Dearborn landed one of the biggest flops with its Ford Edsel. A US cruiser in small format built according to the wishes of the clientele and advertised in America with the slogan "It's German-Made!

Niehler Naked Ass a Flying Carpet?
"Flying carpet" because this Taunus P2 was the first German car to be equipped with MacPherson struts at the front and ironed away almost all road bumps. And from these spring struts came the smooth glide and soft sway, at that time the absolute non plus ultra, which only many years later became standard in the BMW 1800 and 2000 models.
Not to forget the mocking name "Niehler Nacktarsch" for the basic version without much chrome decoration in contrast to the de Luxe version. Apart from that, the Taunus P2 looked more like a cut of the Simca Vedette, which at that time already belonged to Ford, or the Ford Fairlane (1954-1961).

Nevertheless, Ford Germany could rightly celebrate the tripling of its annual export figures with "The world chose the Taunus 17 M!" in large-format advertisements, because the German middle class loved its Baroque Taunus.
But then, in the autumn of 1960, the "Line of Reason", completely new and developed in-house in Cologne, finally came into its own. Streamlined design was the order of the day and the Gelsenkirchen Baroque suddenly became a shelf warmer, the bathtub celebrated its brilliant debut in the form of the Ford Taunus 17 M P3!
So after only three years and just under 240,000 units, it was over.