In 1980, after years of struggles dealing with foreign competition, recessions, the energy crises, etc… Chrysler was in jeopardy of falling into bankruptcy. Lee Iacocca stepped in as CEO in 1979 and began a streamlining process that ended with $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees, which at the time was the largest rescue package ever granted by the U.S. government to an American corporation. Lee Iacocca saved Chrysler, in what Bloomberg News said may have been his crowning achievement. 

Lee Iacocca, who passed away July 2, 2019 at age 94, lived a life full of crowning achievements. His life has filled books. In this brief memoriam, I hope to pass on a few facts and memories to pay tribute an American business giant.

Lee Iacocca was born Lido Anthony Iacocca in Allentown, Pennsylvania on October 15, 1924 (Incidentally, Allentown has been home to such legends as Mario Andretti, Larry Holmes, Matt Millen, Larry Sieple (that one’s for me), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Jayne Mansfield). His parents, Nicola and Antoinette, immigrated to The United States from Italy and supported their kids by helping run a family business called Yocco’s Hot Dogs. Lee Iacocca excelled in school, graduating with honors from Allentown High School in 1942. From there he stayed local and attended Lehigh University and earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. After finishing his studies with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University, Mr. Iacocca went to work at Ford Motor Company as an engineering trainee in 1946.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that he wanted to pursue a different course at Ford so he went into sales and marketing. This is where he distinguished himself and soared to the top. The star was born in 1956 where, as an assistant manager of the Philadelphia district, he created the “56 for 56” plan. Under this marketing campaign, consumers would pay 20% down and then pay $56 a month for three years for a ’56 Ford. Customers loved it. The campaign was so successful that Iacocca’s Philadelphia district rocketed from last place to first place in the nation in number of units sold. He wrote in his autobiography that at that point he became an overnight success.

The campaign was so successful that Iacocca’s Philadelphia district rocketed from last place to first place in the nation in number of units sold. 

By 1960, Iacocca was named a vice president and was selected as general manager of Ford Division. Evidence of Iacocca’s drive is the fact that he was disappointed he hadn’t made vice president until 18 days after 36th birthday; he thought he would achieve that distinction by age 35, as noted on the timeline kept by his bedside.

Iacocca’s career at Ford spanned 32 years and saw him named president in 1970. While at Ford, he was instrumental in the development of two cars that people will remember forever for vastly different reasons: the Mustang and the Pinto. In each case, Iacocca envisioned a car to satisfy a perceived consumer need.

With the Mustang, he wanted a car that could seat a family of four, but that was sportier than the successful Ford Falcon. He wanted it to weigh less than 2,500 pounds and cost less than $2,500. The Ford Mustang was introduced in 1964 and sold over 400,000 units in its first year. The Mustang was a game-changer. Iacocca ended up, along with the Mustang, on the cover of both Time and Newsweek in the same week.

The Pinto (Ford’s answer to the VW Beetle) was rushed into production in 1971 to be Ford’s offering for a subcompact that could be purchased for under $2,000. It too was a huge success in its first year, selling over 400,000 units. The Pinto, however, did not follow the Mustang’s path to legendary status. Design problems, fires, deaths and lawsuits derailed the Pinto. Iacocca was fired in 1978, one month after a lawsuit with the State of Indiana where Ford was charged, and acquitted, of reckless homicide.

Mr. Iacocca wasn’t out of work for long. In 1978 he was named president of Chrysler Corporation. By 1979 he was the CEO and, as mentioned earlier, rescued Chrysler from bankruptcy in 1980 by securing a $1.5 billion, federally guaranteed loan, without needing to be bailed out by United States citizen’s tax dollars. In 1983, still under Iacocca’s leadership, Chrysler repaid the 10-year debt, seven years early while the company was earning record market share and profits.

Chrysler repaid the 10-year debt, seven years early while the company was earning record market share and profits. 

Oh, by the way, he created an entire new industry niche by spearheading development of the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager. In 1983, the minivan debuted America. Is it any wonder Portfolio has him two spots ahead of Oprah Winfrey and two behind Warren Buffett as the 18th greatest CEO ever? Lee Iacocca retired as president, CEO and chairman of Chrysler in 1992.

As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I had no idea how influential Lee Iacocca had been on cars or culture. I was thinking about it and decided to apply the game “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” to Lee Iacocca. This is a game in which you pick a movie star, link him/her to a co-star in their given movie, then link the 2nd co-star to a 3rd co-star from a different movie, and so on and so on, until you have a link from your initial movie star to Kevin Bacon. They say you can link any actor to Kevin Bacon in 6 names or less. In my Mr. Iacocca version, I linked him to me in one degree. Three separate times!

Example 1: My parents had a 1965 Mustang and I vividly remember us driving at night, before I was seven years old, me sitting in the back seat putting my hand over the circular interior lights, iluminating the back seats. I thought it was so cool that I could see the silhouettes of the bones in my hand from the bright light. Thank you, Mr. Iacocca.

Example 2: Now I’m in my 1st job out of college. I’m a sales rep for a food company. The job came with a company car. I inherited the car driven by the person who had the position before me. I found out it was a Dodge Caravan. I was dreading having to get behind the wheel of a “minivan”. The dread lasted about 0 seconds. As soon as I sat in the seat, it was love. My back felt great, I was seated up high, the sound system handled my loud music perfectly. I loved it so much that I decided to embark on a solo road trip to visit my sister in Oregon. I planned to leave Southern California on a Thursday morning and had to be back Sunday. My sister and brother-in-law had previously made the trip, straight through, in roughly 16 hours. I humbly thought I’d go for their record. I was only going to stop for gas and one other type of pit stop. I loaded up with Doritos and Mountain Dew and hit the road. When I was out on the long, empty stretches of Interstate 5, I would have my hard rock BLASTING, cruise control keeping my pace almost legal, with my feet stretched out on the passenger side (there was no console to restrict my legs). I rocked-and-rolled my way to what I remember being a family-record-setting (approximately) 1,000-mile trip in 14 hours and 45 minutes. I loved that car so much that when it came time to get my new company car, I got a fire-engine red Caravan. Thank you again, Mr. Iacocca.

Example 3: I checked with my friends, and what they also remember was Lee Iacocca pitching Chrysler cars on TV – his pitch line, “If you can find a better car, buy it” ranks right up there with the “Where’s the beef?” Wendy’s lady, and singing-dancing California Raisins as the most memorable commercials of the 80s. He’s the 1st celebrity CEO that I recall.

I was looking over a few of Mr. Iacocca’s quotes. A couple of them stood out to me as showing a different side of this titan of American industry:

“In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.” -Lee Iacocca

“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?” -Lee Iacocca

Years ago, I read a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson that has always stuck with me. My goal is to have it apply to me when all is said and done. Lee Iacocca’s life seems to check off a lot of the boxes:

What Is Success?

To laugh often and much. To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children. To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty. To find the best in others. To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition. To know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.

“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?”
-Lee Iacocca

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