Andy

You are right, there was something wrong with the date.
Your date, you show us as example, we can see also on the advertisement picture, the situation in 1962. (See picture 1 red square)

I did write about one year earlier, 1961, because also then Ed already did win this Invitational of Detroit with his contest Taurus and that has to be the date 9 and 10 September for 1961 and not 16 and 17, thanks.
(In the Netherlands we would have say the week OF Labor Day or the weekend after Labor Day).

Andy, about your last post.

As you show us with your race boat competition, we know also a contest plane is in development for a period and of course the first prototype is different from a later kitted plane .
For a kit a recognizable name is important for advertisement and also of course the victories, see also picture 1.

Normally the names of cars we use to drive in are protected for this reason and these names used for long times.

“simply to maintain continuity in the buying public's mind” what you write.

When we read the article Mr. K goes to Africa, we see Ed did call the Oldest Taurus on Earth, his contest Taurus on that moment, “light Taurus”.
Why did he call this ”light Taurus”?
Because the tail is shorter , the fuselage slimmer.
So the plane would have been (difficult language?) remarkable lighter with his K & B than the other Taurus with VECO engine and the other Taurusses, scratch build from the drawings of Karl Myers that already fly in the USA.

So what you write:

What if Ed, hoping that Taurus would be the Next Big Thing, used the same name for his prototype as well as the contest winner? HE would know the difference, and the early photos show they aren't the same thing as what we all recognize as "Taurus."

Isn’t the complete description for me.

I would say, Ed and Top Flite were hoping the Taurus would be the Next Big Thing after the Orion.
Top Flite did pay the trip to Africa after seeing the (light) contest Taurus of Ed in 1961 and paid later for Advertizing to sell as much as kits as possible.

The advertisement has often the result the development steps are deliberately ignored and so forgotten by the people. The pilots are often forced only to show (and fly?) there “kitted or kitted look” plane. You have to read the advertisement of Top Flite very carefully (picture 1) to see that these taurusses of 1962 were all scratch build.
That’s also the reason you have to look very carefully to the pictures of that period and “snap shots” are better.

Thanks for comment Andy,

Cees