Hooniverse Asks: What is your favorite Lee Iacocca car?

Jeff Glucker

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Automotive industry icon Lee Iacocca has passed away. He was 94 years old. Over the course of his life, Iacocca helped shape and mold the industry. He also helped bring many number of great vehicles to market. A short version of his accomplishments include bringing us the Ford Mustang, introducing minivans to the world (an important vehicles even if you personally don’t want one), scooping up AMC, and bringing back the Ram logo.

Lee made major strides at Ford before bumping up against a ceiling filled with Ford family members. He couldn’t climb higher there, so he jumped over to Chrysler. And that’s where he helped rescue the entire company.

Of the many vehicles in which Lee Iacocca had a hand, which one is your favorite? Do you have a favorite Iacocca story? Sound off in the comments below.

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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31 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What is your favorite Lee Iacocca car?”

  1. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    Definitely the Mustang

    Reply
  2. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    https://enthusiastnetwork.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/5/2008/11/11218419.jpeg.jpg?impolicy=entryimage

    When I first started driving, my parents had a Plymouth Sundance and a Dodge Grand Caravan, and shortly thereafter I bought a Chrysler Intrepid as my first car (all three which owe their lives to Mr Iaccoca), but if I had to pick just one (and I’m ignoring some of the turbo stuff, especially involving Shelby), it’s the original minivans. Rising from a company that was on death’s door just a few years earlier, and the platform of the humble car that saved that company, to end up with a segment-defining vehicle that still plays a big part in its fortunes 35 years later is a pretty great story. Plus, the OG minivans were everywhere when I was growing up, so there’s plenty of nostalgia for them as well.

    Reply
  3. Victor Avatar
    Victor

    I knew I was forgetting something , the fact that this was actually built . https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/704abb08591c50119fbe5c2d62fd9ca8ee98b6e0d954a32912c0042c32c1087d.png

    Reply
  4. Victor Avatar
    Victor

    As a Ford fan I have no favorite Chrysler , this however was a masterpiece. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e3d2225c2fa3e8790fa7383bf5f234d40a577553e3becf7046a696412be080de.jpg

    Reply
    1. neight428 Avatar
      neight428

      the 64-66 fastbacks have an eye-soothing shape to them, they are just pretty to look at.

      Reply
      1. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        I won’t deny that, but it’s the ’67s-’68s that get my attention.

        Reply
        1. neight428 Avatar
          neight428

          The 69-70’s are my personal favorite, but I thought Iaccoca left prior to that.

          Reply
          1. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            I don’t think Iacocca was fired until the late 70s, because he was there through the Pinto years.

            Oddly, I’m lately finding myself eyeing the Mustangs from ’71-’73. And not the just the fastback Bosses and Mach 1s, but the hardtop Grandes, of all things. I saw a base-model six for sale a few months back, and seriously considered calling about it. If I start liking Mustang IIs, I’m having myself committed.

      2. fede Avatar
        fede

        +1
        it may not be the sportier, or manlier, or more aggressive of the mustangs, but to my eyes it’s clearly the prettiest.

        Reply
    2. rbennet27 Avatar
      rbennet27

      This is so superb and sophisticated.

      Reply
  5. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    Is there really much to choose from, other than the first-gen Mustang? I mean, the Lincoln Mk III was ok, but other than that, it’s Pintos, minivans, and K cars. No disrespect to Iacocca, but from an enthusiast’s standpoint, Ford’s ponycar was his only home run.

    Reply
    1. neight428 Avatar
      neight428

      Tend to agree, he was a car businessman, not a car enthusiast. We’re on the fringes of his concerns. His tenure at Chrysler had one meaningful product, and even it aroused more ire than enthusiasm among performance car fans.

      Reply
    2. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      As GTXcellent posted, the turbo Mopars are neat little cult cars. Also, as much as Chrysler’s late 80’s Brougham-ification is blamed on him, he was still in charge when the seeds were laid for much of the 90’s renaissance product was in development (yes, more credit goes to Lutz, but he was there too), plus he’s the reason Chrysler has Jeep (and it could be argued that the current state of Jeep, good or bad, goes to in part to him). Plus, at the highest level possible, Lamborghini and Maserati were bought under his watch, so he’s got a part in their histories too. The boring mass market stuff just generated the funds to do some of the fun, weirder stuff.

      Reply
      1. neight428 Avatar
        neight428

        They’re definitely interesting, though the turbo cars seem to me to have been a begrudgingly permitted dalliance. They were almost as good in a couple of aspects as their competition at the time (all of which are terrible by today’s standards). Plus they had all of the drawbacks of their Thrifty Car Rental/governmental motor pool bound assembly line brethren. I didn’t feel like they were given much “enthusiast” marketing until arguably they brought the Daytona to the IROC series, which were just stickers on a Winston Cup car and the production version was a ground effects package on the K-car

        Reply
        1. Maymar Avatar
          Maymar

          Eh, even before IROC, Iaccoca brought Shelby in to help out. Plus, the rental car/motor pool roots aren’t the worst thing, or out of line with Chrysler’s performance history. The Road Runner started life as a Satellite coupe with a taxi interior and a big motor, in similar manner.

          Reply
          1. neight428 Avatar
            neight428

            At least regular folks actually bought Satellites back in the day, it took a government deal to get the K Car close to economic. I did forget about Shelby’s involvement, that’s a good point.

          2. Zentropy Avatar
            Zentropy

            Hardly a fair comparison. The Satellite was a higher-level trim of the Belvedere, itself a mainstream mid-sizer, and the smallest engine available was a 273 V8, which is hardly pathetic. You could option the fire-breathing 426 or 440 without buying the Road Runner or the GTX. The Omni was an econobox subcompact with an 85-hp boat anchor of a base engine. Turbo versions comprised a small fraction of production numbers.
            (Besides, I’d personally rather own a base Belvedere than a top-end GTX or Road Runner. I certainly can’t say that about an Omni vs GLHS.)

      2. Zentropy Avatar
        Zentropy

        Meh… I would credit Shelby, not Iacocca, for the turbo Mopars. Regardless, only the higher-end versions of those cars were notable, and they were made in pretty limited numbers (the one GTXcellent posted looks like an Omni GLHS, of which I think less than a thousand were built). I know some people are really into it, but front-drive performance doesn’t interest me in the slightest.
        All that is good about Jeep was developed by AMC. The Wrangler, Cherokee, Grand Cherokee… all AMC’s work, and until the recent Cherokee, none have evolved significantly beyond their origins. Chrysler just snatched up good product from a struggling company, which makes Iacocca a good businessman, but not a great “car guy”. As an AMC fan, I would have preferred that AMC had restructured independently– their Jeep products could have supported them if they could have gotten their sh!t together otherwise.
        As for Lamborghini, it simply needed funding– Iacocca didn’t have any influence on the cars themselves. Chrysler fixed the Italian’s balance sheets… and then promptly bailed on it a couple of years later. I don’t think Chrysler ever had controlling interest in Maserati, much less ownership. Maybe a J/V project or two.
        So… beyond his push for the original Mustang, I don’t view Iacocca as anything other than a businessman. I do credit him for saving Chrysler, though, but again, that was because of his business acumen, not automotive vision.

        Reply
        1. Vairship Avatar
          Vairship

          And to some extent, the OG Mustang was a Falcon (a McNamara product) in tight jeans and a muscle shirt. It sold better because it looked better, not because the car itself was improved.

          So again an example of Iacocca being great at marketing/sales, not somebody who was determined to make sporty/fun-to-drive cars.

          Reply
  6. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    https://i1.wp.com/dodgeforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/omni-glhs-burnout-600.jpg?ssl=1

    Reply
  7. mdharrell Avatar
    mdharrell

    About thirty years ago I had the use (not the ownership) of a ’65 Mustang for a year or so, but the only vehicle closely associated with Mr. Iacocca that I’ve ever owned is the one to which he prominently affixed his name: the EV Global Motors Mini-E-Bike. A decal of his signature appears just below the seat:

    https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/aMgAAOSw0-Fb6sxC/s-l1600.jpg

    I had already intended to take mine to the Lemons race at The Ridge in a couple of weeks for use as a judgemobile. I’m still intending to do so.

    Reply
    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      I assume you already left home, because it’ll take you a loooong time to get there on that thing. 😉

      Reply
  8. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    The stretch K-car, of course.

    https://d32c3oe4bky4k6.cloudfront.net/articles-videos/-/media/uscamediasite/images/story-images/2018/02/k-car-bob-marcks-limo-drawing.ashx?modified=20180214213125&mw=1000&hash=BE89B564F97433E325C3D58952E85ED4873A8461

    Reply
  9. Victor Avatar
    Victor

    I knew I was forgetting something , the fact that this was actually built . https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/704abb08591c50119fbe5c2d62fd9ca8ee98b6e0d954a32912c0042c32c1087d.png

    Reply
    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      The Prowler was the pet project of Tom Gale and Bob Lutz. Iacocca had nothing to do with it– he had retired before it was more than a drawing on a napkin.

      Reply
  10. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    My favorite that I would want to drive is the original Ford Mustang, sire of all pony cars. The one I admire but don’t want is the mini-van, second savior of Chrysler and progenitor of an entire market segment.

    Reply
    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      I admire and do actually want the real original minivan, the Stout Scarab.
      https://www.tflcar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/stout-scarab-1.jpg

      The Stout Scarab is the World’s First Minivan, and the First Car with a Mustache

      Reply
      1. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
        SlowJoeCrow

        That’s a cool thing to want.

        Reply
  11. crank_case Avatar
    crank_case

    Do Chrysler Euope Talbot/Rootes cars count?

    https://www.historics.co.uk/media/1598017/1982-talbot-subeam-lotus.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=1000

    Reply
  12. SoldierofaDifferentStripe Avatar
    SoldierofaDifferentStripe

    The Mustang.
    Have yet to see a Chrysler product worth my money.

    Reply
    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      Those Dodge M37s didn’t work out for you? 😉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_M37

      Reply