In this series, we take a look at the 25 stocks on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) that have turned in the worst performance during the past decade -- what went wrong, and what happens next.

Though it's possible that sentimentality may have influenced the vote, an expert panel assembled by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation named Ford Motor Company's (NYSE: F) Model T as "Car of the Century" in 1999.

Viewed from a glass-half-full perspective, this was an honor. From a less rosy viewpoint, the award also spoke to the relative lack of success enjoyed by Ford's automobile offerings in the hundred years that have passed since the Model T's introduction.

What went wrong? At No. 8 on our list of SPX underperformers, F lost 85% of its value during the 10-year period that concluded on June 30, 2008. In April 1999, Ford seemed ready to retake its 1994 peak at $40. However, the shares climbed only as high as $38.72 before embarking on a long-term descent.

The newly created Do-Over and Do-Again (or Do-Do) Award was recently bestowed on the Ford Motor Company's (NYSE: F) Taurus sedan and Taurus X wagon. Christopher Jensen, who reviews cars for The New York Times, invented the not-quite-complimentary award just for the Taurus, in recognition of Ford's effort to recover from the missteps the company made introducing the Ford 500 in 2005. According to Jensen, "The Do-Do recognizes the automaker who tries the hardest to compensate for not having taken full advantage of the opportunity when originally introducing a vehicle."

Jensen has some nice things to say about the new Taurus, which is really a revised 500. It's roomy, comfortable, handles nicely and has lots of storage space. The problem is that Ford did not offer the current version of the car right off the bat. Jensen argues that if the 2008 Taurus had been the 2005 500, it might have been a great and popular car. But Ford blew it, rushing an inferior version to market, then paying the price with lackluster sales and now this confusing new/old name. In the meantime, competitors including Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM), Honda Motor Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) and General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) have produced new generation sedans that are at least as good if not better.

As Michael Fowlkes noted earlier this week, Ford saw a 21% decline in U.S. sales in September. The Taurus did even worse, selling 30% fewer cars than the 500 did a year ago. This is a shame, since by all reports the new Taurus is a solid car. The engineers did a good job designing it, and the auto workers do good work building it. The problem, I suspect, lies in poor planning at the corporate level. Years of neglecting cars in favor of SUVs is still hurting the American automakers, and perhaps Ford worst of all.

It's not often that a company is able to create a product that winds up being an American icon, but Ford Motor (NYSE: F) did just that back in 1985 when they started pumping out the Taurus. The love affair with the Taurus came to a sad end back on October 27 when the final Taurus rolled off the assembly line at the company's Atlanta assembly plant.

Well, it appears that the company has had a change of heart. According to one company official, the Taurus name will be coming back to life! While it has not been officially announced by the company, it looks like Ford is going to start using the Taurus name on their Five Hundred model in hopes of ramping up consumer support.

I think that this is a great idea for the struggling auto maker. While sales of the Taurus had been dwindling over the last few years it is still a household name, and one that the car manufacturer should try to take advantage of if possible.

When Taurus was first introduced in 1985 the car was an immediate hit with buyers and helped lift the fortunes of the car maker, which had been losing billions in the early 80's. Perhaps the company is hoping some of that Taurus magic will return and help lift fortunes once again. Ford which lost $12.7 billion last year could definitely use a little of magic to help turn things around.

Look for an official announcement to come from Ford later this week at the Chicago Auto Show.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

You would have had to have lived in a cave over the last two decades not to be familiar with one of Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE: F) most successful lines of automobiles: the Taurus. Well today the last of a long line of Taurus's rolled off the assembly line at the company's Atlanta assembly plant.

Yes, after 21 years and seven million sales, the Taurus is now a thing of the past as Ford continues its reorganization. As part of the company's turn-around plan, the Atlanta assembly plant and its 1,950 employees have ceased operations. The company decided to end production at the Atlanta plant back in January as part of its desperate scramble to win back market share. This week Ford announced its third quarter financial results which showed a $5.8 billion loss, its largest single quarter loss in 14 years.

As Ford tries to adjust to better meet customer demands, the Taurus was destined to see the end of its days. Once selling in excess of 400,000 vehicles a year, recently the auto maker has watched the sales of the sedan drop to under 150,000 annually. The last of the cars was sold to Truett Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain who plans to put the car in the auto museum of his chain's corporate headquarters in Atlanta.