Lee Iacocca dead at 94

[tres_taco_combo]

New York Times on 7/4 did a great write up on him. I read it twice since I was moved by Lee's history.

trail blazer for sure. 

[njflex]

P i p,
Paisan
In
Peace

[beakdoctor]

I do vaguely remember.  There for awhile you could only get gas 3 days a week and it went by the first letter of your last name.

Fuck...  you have better recollection than I. I remember being bored to tears in the back of my father's Galaxy waiting to get gas. Its insane to think about it now when gas prices fluctuate from week to week. Back then prices would rise in increments and it changed the way cars were made.

[Matt]

I do vaguely remember.  There for awhile you could only get gas 3 days a week and it went by the first letter of your last name.

Was that "The Arab Oil Embargo"?

There is an episode of Unsolved Mysteries related to that topic.

It's an 1989 episode about Liz Carmichael, and her car called the Dale.

[Humble Narcissist]

Was that "The Arab Oil Embargo"?

There is an episode of Unsolved Mysteries related to that topic.

It's an 1989 episode about Liz Carmichael, and her car called the Dale.

Yes.  You bought gas every other day.  I remember sitting in the car waiting in lines to get gas.  Must have sucked for someone driving across the country.

[Palumboism]

Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth Caravan/Town & Country/Voyager and K car plus about 100 different variants based off the K platform including the “Maserati” TC....this what he is really is known for in the industry.  The involvement with the Mustang sounds sexier, but LI’s most important achievement was pulling Chrysler out of a nosedive situation in the 80s.

I think you're mis-remembering what happened in the 70's and 80's.  Consumers wanted fuel efficient cars and he produced them.  I personally didn't like the K car or it's variants, but the whole industry was going front wheel drive for the fuel economy benefits.  The Citation came out in 1980, followed by the K car and Escort in 1981.  Front wheel drive was considered a huge selling point.  GM switched over to front wheel drive all throughout the 80's.

When Lee took over Chrysler in 1979 it was a mess.  Chrysler completely misread the market in the 70's.  As late as 1975 the most fuel efficient Chrysler was the Dodge dart.  Chrysler had to rush the Aspen out and it lead to many costly recalls and the eventual government bailout.  Lee wanted to distance Chrysler from the reputation of producing gas guzzlers and the company didn't have much funds, so he did what he had to.  He made as many variants of the front wheel drive platform they had.  One of those variants was the minivan, which was a smash hit.