It’s hard to imagine the FunkMaster Flex Taurus.
Not to pick on the Taurus, that icon to the company sales force and rental fleets across the land, but…it’s just hard to see a two-tone whatcha-ma-callit paint job on the Taurus, and don’t even think about Ostrich feathers inside.

Funny thing, though: The Ford Fusion, the supposed Taurus replacement, looks quite at home as a FunkMaster Flex Fusion. And if Dearborn’s darlings never sell another Fusion, that simple, single fact makes it a hit. In conjunction with the launch at SEMA of a new Ford marketing campaign to the African-American community, the FunkMaster Flex Fusion sports a two-tone red paint scheme with black pinstripe, alloy three-piece black chrome wheels -- 19-inch in the front and 20-inch in the rear –- and two-tone dash, door panels and steering wheel. Funkmaster Flex, a rap star and car customizer, also chose Ostrich leather, a navigation system, TV monitors in the rear headrests and an innovative side-mirror camera system.

By Brian Chee