Lee Iacocca, father of the Ford Mustang who later rescued Chrysler, dies at 94
Lee A. Iacocca, an ambitious immigrant's son and salesman extraordinaire whose blunt and swaggering persona dominated the automobile industry like nobody since Henry Ford, died Tuesday. He was 94.
Iacocca, who spent his last years living in Los Angeles, hacked out a spectacular career, punctuated by his role as father of the wildly popular Ford Mustang in 1964, his epic 1978 firing at the hands of Henry Ford II and his dramatic rescue of Chrysler in the early 1980s.
A powerful speaker with ego to spare, Iacocca became a heroic figure to millions of Americans. He also became a household name by starring in Chrysler's television commercials, where he pointed a finger at viewers and delivered a sales pitch that entered the lexicon: "If you can find a better car, buy it."
But Iacocca also attracted countless critics who considered him a hypocrite and self-promoter, and saw his downfall from the presidency of Ford Motor Co. as just deserts for what they viewed as his Machiavellian scheme to reach the top.
In a characteristic response, Iacocca snapped in a 1992 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "Machiavelli, my ass."
But few dispute his subsequent achievement at Chrysler. He took over a decrepit company that was moments from bankruptcy, persuaded Congress to guarantee $1.5 billion in loans to launch its new "K-car" and extracted big sacrifices from workers, dealers, bankers and suppliers. Chrysler regained its health and Iacocca triumphantly paid back the government loans seven years early.
Fiercely debated across the nation as Iacocca jawboned Congress into backing the company, the corporate bailout and TV ads gave him a visibility that was unprecedented for a businessman in modern times.
"He was easily one of the greatest figures in
