# Lee Iacocca **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543 "2019-07-03T01:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/1 "2019-07-03T01:36:22Z")
He died today. A story in the Washington Post carried that and no more. I guess we’ll find out more tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![mperry\_153483](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@mperry\_153483](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mperry_153483)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/2 "2019-07-03T01:44:28Z")
Thanks. Lots of news reports, now. 94 years old. He brought us some interesting cars over the years. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/3 "2019-07-03T03:32:48Z")
Another car guru died recently, the owner of the Haynes repair manuals. I think the Haynes guy got started in the repair manual business b/c he couldn’t find a good one for his own needed car repair, so he wrote down how he did it, and added some line drawings. And with that the start of a successful business. Iacocca and Haynes maybe comparing notes now … ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/4 "2019-07-03T03:44:55Z")
He was a very interesting guy. When I was on the road I’d check out books on tape. One of the best was a bio of Iacocoa. I think it was about 20 tapes in all but very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![wolyrobb](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wolyrobb/32/45497_2.png) [@wolyrobb](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wolyrobb)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/5 "2019-07-03T06:35:43Z")
From what I’ve read so far it was complications of parkinson’s disease. According to his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 12:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/6 "2019-07-03T12:07:48Z")
Here is an article about him: > **[Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca has died at age 94](https://www.nj.com/news/2019/07/former-chrysler-ceo-lee-iacocca-has-died-at-age-94.html)** > > Iacocca became a corporate folk hero when he resurrected Chrysler in the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/7 "2019-07-03T13:17:50Z")
Love him or hate him, Lee Iacocca was in the thick of the auto business excitement for decades. This is a guy that made a lasting impression most everywhere he worked. Suggested Ford buy Ferrari, from that came the Ford GT40 Lemans winning cars. Gave birth to the Mustang - creating the “Pony” car, a smaller lighter version of the Musclecar. Fought Ford to create the Mini-van, failed, and created it at Chrysler. Saved Chrysler’s bacon, twice! ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/8 "2019-07-03T15:15:07Z")
All that from a marketing guy. He had an industrial engineering degree, but decided not to make engineering his career. ---
**Author:** ![gmallan55\_149168](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@gmallan55\_149168](https://community.cartalk.com/u/gmallan55_149168)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/9 "2019-07-03T15:22:00Z")
He was an industry Titan. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/10 "2019-07-03T18:12:03Z")
Having been responsible for both the Mustang and the Pinto, Iacocca is either famous or infamous, depending who you ask. I haven’t read my father’s copy of “Unsafe at Any Speed” yet, but I don’t think it helped Iacocca’s reputation to point out the blood on Iacocca’s hands considering how unsafe the Pinto and the early Mustangs were. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/11 "2019-07-03T19:26:45Z")
> [@Whitey](#): > > Having been responsible for both the Mustang and the Pinto, Iacocca is either famous or infamous, depending who you ask. Wasn’t the vision behind t he Mini-Van, but he did put it high on the list when he went to Chrco. Ford turned down the mini-van idea when Lee was at Ford. He also implemented FWD vehicles as their mainstay sedans. I always had a lot of respect for him. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/12 "2019-07-03T20:34:37Z")
> [@Whitey](#): > > I haven’t read my father’s copy of “Unsafe at Any Speed” yet, but I don’t think it helped Iacocca’s reputation to point out the blood on Iacocca’s hands considering how unsafe the Pinto and the early Mustangs were. That book was published 6 years before the Pinto was first sold, and my recollection of the book is that the new Mustang wasn’t mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/13 "2019-07-03T20:53:55Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > That book was published 6 years before the Pinto was first sold, and my recollection of the book is that the new Mustang wasn’t mentioned. Good to know. Iacocca’s Wikipedia page\* credits him with developing the Pinto, and I was profoundly shocked when this story aired in 1998: [Public Eye Archives - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/public-eye-archives-18694/) \*[Lee Iacocca - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Iacocca) ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/14 "2019-07-03T20:59:18Z")
> [@Whitey](#): > > I was profoundly shocked when this story aired in 1998: [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/public-eye-archives-18694](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/public-eye-archives-18694/) Well, the Mustang was essentially a lowered, well-disguised Falcon, and since the Falcon also suffered from that designed-in gas tank hazard, it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Mustang had the same design hazard. ---
**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/15 "2019-07-03T21:47:07Z")
> [@Whitey](#): > > “Unsafe at Any Speed” Corvair was the target car of that book. ‘“If you can find a better car, buy it,” the blunt Mr. Iacocca challenged the public. “I’m not asking you to buy any car on faith. I want you to compare.”’ > **[Lee Iacocca, Visionary Automaker Who Led Both Ford and Chrysler, Is Dead at...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/obituaries/lee-iacocca-dead.html)** > > Mr. Iacocca helped create the Ford Mustang, brought out the minivan saved the failing Chrysler Corporation and came to personify the American auto industry. Anybody here do that and choose Chrysler? ---
**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/16 "2019-07-03T23:33:02Z")
I chose Chrysler pretty much every three years until the Fiat merger. They no longer produce a car that meets my needs. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/17 "2019-07-04T00:09:45Z")
Yeah I’d love to buy one but just can’t get by the made in Italy issue. I believe he was agin’ both mergers. I’m trying to search the memory banks for a merger that really was a good deal. ---
**Author:** ![CapitalTruck](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/capitaltruck/32/16592_2.png) [@CapitalTruck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/CapitalTruck)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/18 "2019-07-04T03:14:52Z")
My dad read that and really liked it. ---
**Author:** ![mperry\_153483](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@mperry\_153483](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mperry_153483)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 5:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/19 "2019-07-04T05:58:57Z")
> [@old\_mopar\_guy](#): > > I chose Chrysler pretty much every three years until the Fiat merger. They no longer produce a car that meets my needs. Me, too… except usually Dodge… starting when he joined the company. When I retired, I bought a Fiat from Dodge, but that’s another story. Yeah, all 3 “American” companies are that way. If you don’t want a Truck/SUV, you have to go elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![mperry\_153483](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@mperry\_153483](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mperry_153483)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 5:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543/20 "2019-07-04T05:59:52Z")
> [@bing](#): > > just can’t get by the made in Italy issue You are in luck. They are made in Mexico. lol I don’t know what Jeep dudes are going to think if the company goes thru with its Fiat/Renault merger. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/lee-iacocca/143543.md?page=2)