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He will always be known as father of the Mustang, but he was a heck of an executive and sales and marketing guy too, turning around Chyrsler decades ago, introducing the minivan to the world... many things.
Always laughed at one note about him... he or someone said his last name Iacocca actually stood for “I Am Chairman Of Chrysler Corporation of America”
RIP Lee...
Last edited by bitkahuna; Jul 3, 2019 at 02:54 PM.
Thanks or posting, bit.....yes, this is significant news in the auto world. RIP.
Lee (Lido) Iacocca was one of the most brilliant auto marketers that ever lived. Probably the two dumbest things Henry Ford II did was when he fired Lido and Hal Sperlich simply out of spite....that was two of Fords' greatest losses, and Chrysler, of course, benefitted. I still have a copy of Lido's autobiography in my automotive library.
Having said that, though, Lido was not only a brilliant marketer, but a classic smooth-talker as well. His TV ads in the early 1980s extolling a "new" Chrysler Corporation emphasizing "quality" (which, if the truth was known, quality-control was still a major Chrysler weakness) and railing against Japanese imports even while his own company was selling Mitsubishi-sourced products......those ads are classics.
He was probably the most brilliant auto-marketer since Henry Ford and the Model T. He could sell ice to an Eskimo. But, unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that, despite his smooth-talking TV commercials, Chrysler, in the 1980s, made essentially junk, and was one of the main reasons why, at the time, I gave up on them and switched to Japanese products. He will always be remembered for four things.....the original 1964 Ford Mustang, the 1984 Chrysler minivans (both of which were revolutionary products at the time), securing a Federal loan for the company (that took a lot of hard work and sacrifice on his part) and smooth-talking TV commercials that were just that......smooth-talk, and not much else.
Originally Posted by bitkahuna
Always laughed at one note about him... he or someone said his last name Iacocca
Fixed it for you, bit.
Last edited by mmarshall; Jul 3, 2019 at 07:49 AM.
He was probably the most brilliant auto-marketer since Henry Ford and the Model T. He could sell ice to an Eskimo. But, unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that, despite his smooth-talking TV commercials, Chrysler, in the 1980s, made essentially junk, and was one of the main reasons why, at the time, I gave up on them and switched to Japanese products. He will always be remembered for four things.....the original 1964 Ford Mustang, the 1984 Chrysler minivans (both of which were revolutionary products at the time), securing a Federal loan for the company (that took a lot of hard work and sacrifice on his part) and smooth-talking TV commercials that were just that......smooth-talk, and not much else.
Fixed it for you, bit.
If you ever played the board game "Life" you can tell where the design inspiration for the Chrysler "K" cars came from.
If you ever played the board game "Life" you can tell where the design inspiration for the Chrysler "K" cars came from.
Yep, I played it many times, as a kid.
The K cars were a good idea on paper, but they were excessively cost-compromised (perhaps because of the company's impending bankruptcy), used a lot of flimsy parts, and, despite the smooth-talking TV ads, had extremely poor quality control. Quality gremlins have plagued Chrysler for decades, and, to some extent, remain even today.
Iacocca also used the Omni/Horizon and K-platforms for most of the new domestic-sourced introductions that Chrysler made during the 80s and early 90s. Mitsubishi, in general, came up with the rest. And it worked....Iaccoca's actions as CEO, together with the bailout, did prevent bankruptcy....until 2008, when GM also went under with them.
Clearly an icon in the American automotive industry. Growing up in the 1980s, I wasn't a fan, though. Doonesbury summed it up well.
Originally Posted by mmarshall
He was probably the most brilliant auto-marketer since Henry Ford and the Model T. He could sell ice to an Eskimo. But, unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that, despite his smooth-talking TV commercials, Chrysler, in the 1980s, made essentially junk, and was one of the main reasons why, at the time, I gave up on them and switched to Japanese products. He will always be remembered for four things.....the original 1964 Ford Mustang, the 1984 Chrysler minivans (both of which were revolutionary products at the time), securing a Federal loan for the company (that took a lot of hard work and sacrifice on his part) and smooth-talking TV commercials that were just that......smooth-talk, and not much else.
You call it smooth talk; I call it BS. No matter--people bought it, hook, line and sinker, and it sold a ton of cars.
You call it smooth talk; I call it BS. No matter--people bought it, hook, line and sinker, and it sold a ton of cars.
That was part of it....but, remember, back then, the auto industry, especially for domestic brands, was a lot more loyal among its buyers than it is today. You had Ford families, Chevy/GM families,and Chrysler families, that were often repeat-buyers for many years. Some people were going to continue to buy Chrysler products whether Lido smooth-talked his way through commercials or not. It was only when people finally got burned enough times (like me LOL) that they finally gave up, said screw it, and converted to Toyotas and Hondas. The fierce loyalty among full-size American pickup trucks, though, continues to this day.....though there are some signs of even that changing. The new Ram, for instance, has edged out the Silverado to take second place behind the F-150.
I wonder where he will be buried. He was originally from Allentown, PA, but, of course, spent most of his career in Detroit.
Speaking of Chrysler quality, in 1974 a Dodge came down the assembly & a automotive journalist was going to drive it off the line for testing. When it was driven off the line the journalist saw a big dent in the passenger side door. This soon lead to the creation of the 1st auto press fleet management company A&M Specialists.
Speaking of Chrysler quality, in 1974 a Dodge came down the assembly & a automotive journalist was going to drive it off the line for testing. When it was driven off the line the journalist saw a big dent in the passenger side door.
......and it took a considerably more force to put a dent into 70s-grade sheet metal than it does for today's paper-thin stuff.
Probably the funnest defects out of the Chrysler assembly plants were the cars that had Dodge logos on one side and Plymouth on the other LOL.
Lee Iococca - automotive icon, passes at 94
He was originally from Allentown, PA, but, of course, spent most of his career in Detroit.
