Hooniverse Asks- Who is History's Coolest Car Company Exec?

Robert Emslie

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enzo-ferrari

It’s a funny thing, usually being good in one field means that you’re likely to be atrocious in another. That’s why the best doctors often times run the worst practices because while they’re all about the compassionate care and keeping up on their CME points, they just can’t get a handle on the P&L or managing the staff.

Car companies are usually run by the bean counters, those who have a passion for profits instead of pounding pistons. That’s not always the case, and in fact from il Commendatore himself to pencil mustachioed Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, some C-level car execs really have had high-test in their veins.

But which one is history’s coolest? And of course by cool we mean the producer of the most-hep product and whose life you find to have been the most enviable. What do you think? 

Image source: telegraph.uk

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Robert Emslie

Robert Emslie

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47 responses to “Hooniverse Asks- Who is History's Coolest Car Company Exec?”

  1. Pete_Gaines Avatar
    Pete_Gaines

    Bob Lutz – Fighter Pilot
    <img src="http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/bob_lutz_business_card_01.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
    1. Irishzombieman☆ Avatar
      Irishzombieman☆

      Swagger. He gots it.
      <img src="http://www.automobiliac.com/storage/500x_bob_lutz_rollover_opel.jpg"&gt;

      Reply
  2. Vavon Avatar
    Vavon

    Engineer, Explorer and Entrepreneur (sadly this word has no French equivalent).
    <img src="http://www.lesreceptionstendances.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/communication-%C3%A9v%C3%A8nementielle-andr%C3%A9-citr%C3%B6en-1.jpg&quot; width="400/">

    Reply
    1. skitter Avatar
      skitter

      entrepreneur (n.) (Online Etymology Dictionary)
      1828, "manager or promoter of a theatrical production," reborrowing of French entrepreneur "one who undertakes or manages," agent noun from Old French entreprendre "undertake" (see enterprise). The word first crossed the Channel late 15c. but did not stay. Meaning "business manager" is from 1852.

      Reply
      1. Vavon Avatar
        Vavon

        "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur."
        (George W. Bush whilst discussing the decline of French economy with British Prime Minister Tony Blair)

        Reply
        1. mac350 Avatar
          mac350

          "The French don't care what they do, actually, as long as they pronounce it properly." Attributed to George B. Shaw.

          Reply
  3. $kaycog Avatar
    $kaycog

    RIP, Carroll Shelby.
    <img src="http://www.stangnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/shelby-passing.jpg"width="500"/&gt;

    Reply
  4. JayP2112 Avatar
    JayP2112

    SuperSoul!
    I mean Ralph Gilles. I am a fan of his- because he used to drive a minivan at track events to b-slap the Camaro-Mustang guys.
    <img src="http://image.automobilemag.com/f/features/news/9769633+w968/0805_04z%2B2008_dodge_challenger_vanishing_point%2Bdodge_challenger_-SRT8_ralph_gilles_and_erich_heuschele.jpg&quot; width="600">

    Reply
  5. C³-Cool Cadillac Cat Avatar
    C³-Cool Cadillac Cat

    These are the top three, IMO.
    Bob Lutz, John DeLorean, and Bruce McLaren. I cannot put them in order without working for them, however.

    Reply
  6. Josh_Howard Avatar
    Josh_Howard

    Why, Alan Mullaly of course…. In all seriousness though (not that he's bad, I just find him boring from a personal standpoint), I'm not sure. There have been plenty of cool CEOs that are interesting.
    I'll show a little of my Nissan Fanboism by saying Carlos Ghosn as my first choice.
    <img src="http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/nissan-carlos-ghosn-t0y3.jpg"&gt;
    A close runner up that I don't like but damn if I don't respect him is Elon Musk.
    <img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/f2b9b9146069134aaa0aeb00/teslas-elon-musk-i-ran-out-of-cash.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
    1. desolit Avatar
      desolit

      THey need to be separate for voting purposes. VOTE HERE FOR MULLALY

      Reply
    2. desolit Avatar
      desolit

      VOTE HERE FOR MUSK

      Reply
  7. nanoop Avatar
    nanoop

    Mr. DeLorean, by the looks AND the story.
    <img src="http://ateupwithmotor.com/images/stories/cars/John_DeLorean_GMMA.jpg"&gt;.
    Edit: don't know why this image won't embed reliably, here's the link: http://ateupwithmotor.com/images/stories/cars/Joh…
    Story here (also source of the photo): http://ateupwithmotor.com/sports-cars-and-muscle-…

    Reply
  8. Maxichamp Avatar
    Maxichamp

    Come on. No Ferdinand Piech love?

    Reply
    1. Bryce Womeldurf Avatar
      Bryce Womeldurf

      I was thinking the same.

      Reply
    2. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      He became german car manager of the century (1999), I'm not sure that qualifies for cool. The century before it was Bertha Benz, I think.

      Reply
    3. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      Ferdinand Piech sort of reminds me of a Bond villain, with the ego and the quest for world domination. That's pretty cool.

      Reply
  9. OA5599 Avatar
    OA5599

    Lutz and DeLorean are already taken, so I'll go with Harley Earl,
    <img src="http://strumors.automobilemag.com/files/2013/05/1938-Buick-Y-Job-with-Harley-Earl.jpg&quot; width=500>

    Reply
    1. Josh_Howard Avatar
      Josh_Howard

      The supposed father of the modern design process. GREAT choice.

      Reply
  10. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    Peter Morgan and his dad HFS Morgan.
    <img src="http://www.morganwest.net/peter.jpg"width=500&gt; Peter
    <img src="http://www.laberezina.com/images/2011/009/HFS_Morgan.jpg"width=300&gt;
    HFS

    Reply
  11. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    <img src="http://www.leblogauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/Joest_Jonathan_Ouaknine/Soichiro_Honda_F1_prototype.jpg"&gt;
    Respect!

    Reply
    1. Josh_Howard Avatar
      Josh_Howard

      Oh man.. how can we forget? (face palm)

      Reply
    2. krazykarguy Avatar
      krazykarguy

      Soichiro is THE answer to this question.

      Reply
  12. Irishzombieman☆ Avatar
    Irishzombieman☆

    "What the– No love for me? Screw you guys. "
    <img src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17is6ougqz1tnjpg/ku-large.jpg&quot; width="350/">

    Reply
  13. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    <img src="http://www.therichest.org/cdn/590/400/75/c/wp-content/uploads/ferruccio_lamborghini.jpg"&gt;
    Gotta respect anyone who starts up a completely mad car company purely out of spite.

    Reply
    1. rovingardener Avatar
      rovingardener

      Exactly what I came here for. You are correct!
      He also made Ferrari actually make good cars, so that is pretty nifty.

      Reply
    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      This is a hard one, so many good suggestions. But I think you win.

      Reply
  14. ˏ♂ˊ mzs zsm msz esq Avatar
    ˏ♂ˊ mzs zsm msz esq

    <img src="http://www.gatsbyonline.com/Users/8/Images/GatsbyAutomobileMuntz/MuntzJet_23.jpg&quot; width="660"> I don't know how much of it was a persona and how much real, but Earl Madman Muntz has to be up there somewhere.

    Reply
    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      Wow! I'd forgotten about him. I saw a Muntz at a museum in Sarasota Florida, but up 'till then I didn't know Madman Muntz from Madman Mundt, the serial killer in Barton Fink

      Reply
  15. Tomsk Avatar
    Tomsk

    <img src="http://kyleecob.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/colin_chapman_lotus_esprit_s21.jpg&quot; width="600" />

    Reply
  16. BlackIce_GTS Avatar
    BlackIce_GTS

    <img src="http://www.saabhistory.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/christian.jpg"&gt;
    The first shot of /drive's excelent series on his company is a box cutter with a carbon fiber handle. It's that kind of operation.

    Reply
    1. Devin Avatar
      Devin

      I'm not entirely convinced he's not a Bond villain.

      Reply
      1. JayP2112 Avatar
        JayP2112

        Touch his monkey.

        Reply
        1. mac350 Avatar
          mac350

          Not now, Moneypenny.

          Reply
  17. john365 Avatar
    john365

    <img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/969682_10151699446169073_659606433_n.jpg&quot; width="600">
    Horacio Pagani.

    Reply
    1. Irishzombieman☆ Avatar
      Irishzombieman☆

      I see your CEO, and raise you a vice president.
      <img src="http://www.theonion.com/images/4/4183/original/600.jpg&quot; width=500>
      /anyexcusetopostthispicture

      Reply
  18. mac350 Avatar
    mac350

    It has to be Mr. Jaguar, Sir William Lyons, without whom there would be no XK-120, XK-140, XK-150, C-type, D-type , E-type (the iconic hep car from the swinging '60's) and wins at Le Mans in '51, '53, '55, '56 and '57.

    Reply
  19. Frere P. Avatar
    Frere P.

    Mr. Bristol–Tony Crook seems an interesting guy. WW2 RAF pilot, race driver, and long-time chief at Bristol
    <img src="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00124/83341804_Car_124967c.jpg&quot; width="600">

    Reply
    1. stigshift Avatar
      stigshift

      If only Bristols weren't so damnably ugly.

      Reply
      1. Vairship Avatar
        Vairship

        I don't find this ugly: <img src="http://www.carpages.co.uk/bristol/bristol-images/bristol_fighter_t_08_11_06.jpg&quot; width="600"> Source: <a href="http://www.carpages.co.uk/bristol/bristol-fighter-t-08-11-06.asp” target=”_blank”>http://www.carpages.co.uk/bristol/bristol-fighter-t-08-11-06.asp

        Reply
  20. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    "Cool" in the sense of rational, elegant and strong?
    <img src="http://sverigesradio.se/diverse/appdata/isidor/images/news_images/503/800220_366_253.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
  21. Van_Sarockin Avatar
    Van_Sarockin

    Let's see:
    W O Bentley
    Ettore Bugatti
    E L Cord
    Soichiro Honda
    That Bristol guy
    since a few others were mentioned above…

    Reply
  22. Frere P. Avatar
    Frere P.

    Giotto Bizzarrini–250 GTO swb through ATS and the Lambo V12 to the 5300 GT. Not a great businessman–ATS failed and Societa Prototipo Bizzarrini did too, but not until they produced some amazing vehicles. He was responsible for both of the cars in the picture. The one in the foreground when he was in his 70's. A cool auto exec with maybe one of the coolest CVs ever.
    <img src="http://www.leblogauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/Sebastien/Bizzarrini_6.jpg&quot; width="600">

    Reply
  23. lilpoindexter Avatar
    lilpoindexter

    ENZO…MF'ers

    Reply
    1. desolit Avatar
      desolit

      He's in the lead picture. I assumed that we werent supposed to call him out when hes named by the original poster

      Reply
  24. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    I didn't have an answer for this yesterday, but I do now:
    Hiram Percy Maxim 1869 – 1836; Head Engineer of Pope Manufacturing's Motor Vehicle Department
    Son of Sir Hiram S. Maxim, inventor of the Maxim Machine Gun. Inventor of a firearm silencer and an automobile silencer, among other automotive patents. Creator of the American Radio Relay League, still the national standard for Ham radio. Founder of the Amateur Cinema League of New York. Author of "Horseless Carriage Days" and "Life's Place In The Cosmos" (which allowed there might be extraterrestrial life). Father of Percy Maxim, who presided over the League of Women Voters and the Consumer Advocacy Council; and who told Senator Joseph McCarthy just exactly where he could shove his little witch hunt.
    People whose lives span the post Civil War era up to the WWII era just fascinate me. Frank Lloyd Wright and Nicola Tesla are other ones. Tophats to Fedoras. Wood stoves and outdoor plumbing to IBM. Nutty. This guy didn't grow up wanting to be an automobile executive, that was just one of the weird things that happened to you in those days between the end of slavery and the beginning of universal suffrage.

    Reply
  25. Vairship Avatar
    Vairship

    Sir Henry Royce: "Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble" <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/TNA_INF3-4_Sir_Henry_Royce_1939-1946.jpg/476px-TNA_INF3-4_Sir_Henry_Royce_1939-1946.jpg&quot; width="500"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Henry_Royce” target=”_blank”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Henry_Royce

    Reply