He was one of the few to lead more than one car manufacturing corporation, and was instrumental in the creation of the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan.
For a really good biography: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/obituaries/lee-iacocca-dead.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/business/lee-iacocca-obituary/index.html
He was also the project engineer on the Ford Pinto.
ReplyDeleteI'll take this opportunity to point out that when talking about people that just died, bringing up their embarrassing failures, shortcomings, or mistakes, is the one thing that civil, courteous, normal polite people do not do.
DeleteJust let the moment pass until you feel charitable. Don't dwell on the things they screwed up, the marriages they sunk, people they let down, businesses they bankrupted, or whatever dirt you know of.
Just walk on by, and don't step in the pile of shit on the street in full view of everyone.
That only gets shit on your shoe, and makes you stink.
http://www.perishablepundit.com/docs/The_Myth_of_the_Ford_Pinto_Case.pdf
DeleteThe Pinto was, far and away, the best built of all the Ford cars. At that time, Ford produced some real junk. From new cars having to be pushed off of the delivery truck, to squeaks, rattles, drivetrain vibrations, and even very poorly designed front suspensions. Compared to competitors, like the Vega, the Pinto was a much better car. The only real problems were camshaft oiling problems on the early 2.3 engines and an occasional door pull breaking. It was Bob Eidschun who designed the Pinto, in the Ford studio though it was the Iacocca,Knudsen and Bordinat era at Ford.
Deletethe Pintos were'nt that bad,
ReplyDeleteand at that time there were no safety regs other that seat belts
and the commandment from Ford leadership was tat the car weigh less than 2000 lbs, and cost less than $2000 dollars, they didnt achieve it, but that was the goal,
the Pinto was probably a better car than the Gremlin that my mom drove.