RIP Lee Iacocca
 

A visionary... RIP. He was a true enthusiast.

Among many other things, no Mustang w/o Lee.

RIP--lived a long, good life.

A man ahead of his time and also pragmatic. Remember the K cars? He steered Chrysler from bk at a very difficult time. RIP

One of the best or maybe THE BEST businessmen of our time. I remember when the government loaned him all the $ to save Chrysler. I thought what a waste they will never see a dime back. Not only did he pay it all back he paid it back early. I will admire him forever. RIP

Yep! And, as an added benefit, his last name spelled out what he did:

I
Am
Chairman
Of
Chrysler
Corporation
America

Lee was born right here in Allentown and went to Lehigh University. Yay!

I think his real genius came with giving the green light for the minivan. There was nothing like it at the time. The closest thing was a regular van. As a sports car guy I would never want to build something like that. But he had the vision that it was going to be successful and it was. It changed the auto industry.

The bailout was hugely controversial at the time. American auto companies were in deep trouble. Chrysler was probably the worst. Everyone was sure that money was going down the drain. But Lee honored that loan and paid it back. I liked his commercial ad too "The pride is back".

I absolutely can't stand minivans but Iacocca was quoted saying something to the effect of "minivans make Chrysler money like crazy" and some have said the minivan is one of the most profitable consumer products of all time, let alone just automobiles. Makes sense, the vehicles are literally a box a wheels - about the only thing to worry about was placing sufficient cup holders.

The guy had a knack, that's for sure and has been around so long that his passing makes more than a few of us feel older - another significant figure since childhood bites the dust.

-Mike

If you can find a better car, Buy it!
you can't forget the turbos in hatchbacks and miniVans! Mustangs, and the Grand Cherokee. a real legend