Kelley Blue Book has named the Ford Taurus “2010 best redesigned vehicle,” an award that has some of us here scratching our heads. (See the press release.)

Don’t get us wrong. The Taurus is not a bad car, and in fact performs well enough in our testing to be a recommended model. But that doesn’t make it the best redesign of 2010 in our opinion. Especially if you like to see what’s around you. For starters, we don’t even consider this freshening to be a redesign.
 
The car it replaces was a perfectly good, if somewhat uninteresting to look at, sedan. The new one sacrifices interior room in the interest of styling, but that’s not the worst part. That arguably better-looking profile gives up a huge amount of visibility to its predecessor, and goes beyond being just annoying and impractical. So much so that the restyled Taurus has slipped some in our Ratings.
 
While the Taurus is stylish, nicely equipped and pleasant to drive, the most notable change is that Ford has found a way to make a large car feel small to passengers.
 
So much for progress. And "best redesign" awards.