on 30 april 1939 ford cologne began to manufacture the taunus, a mid-size car intended to slot into the range between the little ford eifel and the company's big v8 models. the car was presented to the public in june 1939. although the structure of the car did not follow the revolutionary monocoque structure heralded by the opel olympia, the taunus did have its body welded to the chassis rather than having the two elements simply bolted together. essentially, the platform was a stretched floorpan and frame inherited from its predecessor eifel. the advertised price at launch was 2870 marks, but customers had the option of paying an extra 22 marks for a shatterproof windscreen.