He was a big hero of mine when I was younger. He was a good man.
In reply to Woody :
I'm a child of the 90's.. i grew up road tripping in a minivan and gawking at the gen 1 Viper.
yeah, he was quite a guy.
Without him bringing about the Mustang, we probably wouldn't have the Camaro/Firebird, Challenger, Cuda, and many other cars. The Omni GLH etc. brought turbo charging to the masses.
Heard a story about him talking to someone at Chrysler in the late 60's regarding a slow selling intermediate size car. He suggested stripping it down and adding a bigger motor. The Roadrunner was born....
His autobiography is a good read.
Really shines a light on how dysfunctional the auto industry was in the 1970s.
Great car guy.
Fo shizzle Icazizzle
We owe this man a lot.
The Iacocca of almond Roca.
I recall reading his auto-B when I was in high school. I've admired him ever since. He wasn't perfect- but you learn at least as much from other people's mistakes as you do from their successes.
I'd say "Rest in Peace", but I've a feeling Mr. Iacocca wouldn't really want that. "Rest in the Thunderous Exhaust Note of a Small Block Ford V8" seems more fitting.
An absolute titan of the industry who changed it incalculably. He belongs on the Mount Rushmore of auto execs with Henry Ford, Alfred Sloan, and Ferdinand Porsche.
It made me very sad to see his passing. I got to meet him 4-5 years ago and he is such a nice man and very humble.
I feel like I owe a ton to this guy...
My grandfather became an engineer at Chrysler in the early to mid 60's and survived the bail out. He had so much pride in the company under Iacocca that despite being eligible to retire and collect a generous pension for around 5 years, he kept working until Iacocca stepped down. Under Iacocca's tenure, my grandpa would buy the big new thing from Chrysler as soon as they were released, starting with an Omni, then a K car, then a minivan, then the longer minivan, then a Concorde and finally an LH New Yorker.
Because of his employment and retirement from Chrysler, I grew up in a pretty dedicated "Chrysler family". For my entire childhood I was transported exclusively in cars directly influenced by Iacocca, or that could trace their lineage back to his tenure at Chrysler. My Mom has driven NOTHING but a string of Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler minivans since January of 1990, and other new Chryslers driven by my parents included a Daytona, Lebaron GTS, Dynasty and a couple of Grand Cherokees.
I had such an affinity for Chrysler products at a young age, that when I was preparing to start driving and get my first car I was dead set on a turbo Mopar... specifically the Omni GLH. By age 14/15, I had developed an unhealthy addiction to Dempsey Bowling's Shelby/Turbo Mopar website and turbododge.com, where I became inspired to not only own/drive turbo 4 banger E36 M3boxes, but tinker with them as well. Unfortunately my Dad wouldn't allow an Omni GLH in his driveway because he thought they too E36 M3ty (I mean, he wasn't wrong...), so we tried to seek out a decent local K based turbo car but had no luck. We ended up settling on another turbo 4 cylinder Iacocca Chrylser and bought a pair of AWD 1G Eagle Talons.
I've now owned both DSM's for over 16 years and have since added two other Iacocca cars to the stable in a 1st gen Dakota and a Spirit R/T. The Spirit doesn't come out much, but I think I'll get it out tonight and let it torque steer in his honor (since the DSM's are broken...).
RIP.
Tom's post on him is really well written.
What an interesting man, and what great skill in what he did.
Twice in his career he created a new vehicle category that has shaped the lives of got to be near 100 million people by the time the sales and re-sales of Mustangs and Chrysler Minivans are counted, never mind the copy cats and their sales and re-sales.
One icon of the automotive world would be an incredible accomplishment, and he's got two.
Wow.
In reply to OldGray320i :
I think the Pinto could be largely attributed to him as well, so that makes 3 icons....one of which is perhaps remembered not so much for how great it was...
Definitely a guy who knew how to read a market and who wasn't afraid to take a risk.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Eh, not quite. Small cars coming in from Japan, Europe, etc, so a dud, but not the same league as the creation of an entire car category - twice.
That said, Pintos with early bumpers look not bad, and the motor could be tuned up a bit...
I feel like I shouldn't admit that....
OldGray320i said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Eh, not quite. Small cars coming in from Japan, Europe, etc, so a dud, but not the same league as the creation of an entire car category - twice.
That said, Pintos with early bumpers look not bad, and the motor could be tuned up a bit...
I feel like I shouldn't admit that....
It's OK, you're among friends here.
Although there's always this option instead of tuning up the stock motor:
MadScientistMatt said:OldGray320i said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Eh, not quite. Small cars coming in from Japan, Europe, etc, so a dud, but not the same league as the creation of an entire car category - twice.
That said, Pintos with early bumpers look not bad, and the motor could be tuned up a bit...
I feel like I shouldn't admit that....
It's OK, you're among friends here.
Although there's always this option instead of tuning up the stock motor:
Oh that is cool.
Thank you for freeing me, I owe you.
I mean, old Lee wasn't perfect. He was one of the folks who decided that the Mustang needed a Landau roof, after all..... 
I hope the saloons in the hereafter never close, because when Ol' Shel hears that his legendary co-conspirator is back in town there's going to be a party.
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