<p>Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy will receive the last Ford Taurus assembled at the company's Hapeville, Ga., plant, officials from the fast food chain said Saturday.</p><p>"He has already gotten a commitment from the plant to allow him" to receive the last Taurus on Friday, said Don Perry, Chick-fil-A spokesman.</p><p>In January, Ford Motor Co. announced it would idle the Hapeville plant, where the Taurus sedan is made, on Oct. 27.</p><p>The 85-year-old Cathy has had a longtime relationship with the plant, crediting the success of his first restaurant, The Dwarf Grill (now called the Dwarf House), to the Ford plant's workers. The restaurant is located across the street from the plant.</p><p>"The plant had a lot to do with the success of Chick-fil-A from the standpoint that it was the workers coming over to his restaurant that gave him the success that led to the success of his sandwich," Perry said.</p><p>A car enthusiast, Cathy will display the last Taurus with many of his his other collectible cars at his Atlanta headquarters and also at his restaurants. The last Taurus will not be repainted as a promotional vehicle for the restaurant chain, Perry said.</p><p>"It'll be a nice statement to say, 'Here's the last car from the Hapeville Ford plant and just put it on display at his restaurants and the headquarters and just to keep it in the community," Perry said.</p><p>Over a period of decades, Cathy has expressed his appreciation for Ford by driving Lincoln cars and displaying Ford collectibles inside his headquarters.</p><p>Each year, Cathy also presents restaurant operators who meet their sales goals (which vary from restaurant to restaurant) with their choice of Ford vehicles. Awarded operators get to use their Fords for the first year and are given the vehicle's title the next year if they maintain their sales goals, Perry said.</p><p>Cathy opened the grill in 1946 with his brother, Ben. In 1961, Cathy developed Chick-fil-A's trademark sandwich and received feedback from Ford plant diners on it. He opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant in 1967 in Atlanta.</p><p>After 21 years and sales of nearly 7 million cars, the Taurus will no longer be made. The car made its debut late in 1985, with 1979 gasoline shortages still fresh in consumers' minds and became an immediate hit, with buyers snapping up more than 263,000 in 1986, its first full year on the market.</p><p>It became the best-selling car in America in 1992 with sales of nearly 410,000, unseating the Honda Accord just as Japanese imports were starting to take hold in the U.S., and it held the top spot for five straight years until it was supplanted by the Toyota Camry in 1997. Even near death in September, it remained Ford's top-selling car.</p><p>Ford also sold another 2 million Mercury Sables, the Taurus' nearly identical twin.</p><p>But in the late 1990s, the car was left nearly unchanged for a decade with little advertising support. Its competitors meanwhile had copied the Taurus and refined their models, and the Taurus eventually became solely a rental car and fleet vehicle.</p><p>Chick-fil-A is the 25th largest restaurant chain in the U.S. with more than $1.975 billion in sales in 2005. This year is expected to be a major milestone for the company, as its officials estimate Chick-fil-A will cross $2 billion in yearly sales for the first time.</p><p>____</p><p>On the Net</p><p>HASH(0x1cdcc48)</p><p>HASH(0x1cdf1b4)</p>
