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Lee Iacocca Dies

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cosworth151:
American auto industry executive Lee Iacocca has died at the age of 94. He worked for Ford from 1946 to 1978. He was the father of the Mustang and the greatly underrated Pinto. He them moved to Chrysler. He is credited with saving that company while inflicting minivans & the K-Car on the world.

R.I.P., Mr Iacocca.

https://autoweek.com/article/car-news/lee-iacocca-father-ford-mustang-and-champion-minivan-1924-2019

Jericoke:
I never understood why people have problems with the mini-van.  It replaced the stationwagon as the family hauler, and is now being replaced by the CUV, which will have the same stigma as a family hauler.

Quite frankly, I think the minivan was a very good solution, a vehicle which can carry your kids, your luggage and go on vacation.  Or fold down to move things.  Or have your kids and their friends go to a party.  All that, but it uses far less gasoline than a full sized van. Parks easier, drives like a car (not very well, but still better than an RWD Econoline), what's not to love?

As for the Pinto, an example of how not to do PR.  The car was great (several members of my family drove them, my mom's was yellow with fake wood paneling.  My grandfather drove, and wrecked, several red ones.  Not even once did he die in a ball of fire.)

I can't say I was ever a fan of Iacocca, but he really was the sort of visionary car companies need at the top. 

Scott:
Though I never owned a Chrysler version, when the kids were young and responsible for a ton more gear even for a day trip, there simply wasn’t a more practical or economical vehicle out there I had 2 mini vans over the years.

And just a shout out to the K-car, growing up driving in Canada, when they brought FWD to the family sedan, as ugly as it was, there were many snowy days when I could get up a hill that RWD’s we’re stuck at the bottom of, just spinning their wheels...and again, the price.  Iacocca brought family cars to an economic group that previously could not afford one.

And nothing was more fun than pulling a “Rockford” in a K-car in the winter.  Who needs a 3 point turn?

cosworth151:
With only two or three exceptions, every FWD I've ever driven handled like a drunken hog on greased glass. Even my Econoline/E-Series van out handled them all. The old adage "Steer the front wheels with your hands & the rear wheels with your feet" still applies.

lkjohnson1950:
Having spent a lot of time in full sized vans and pick-ups and a bit less time in mini vans I can truthfully say I'd take the mini van as a daily driver. If you really need the hauling ability the big boys get the nod. The only suv/cuv I've driven was a Subaru Forester. The previous ones were not too impressive, but the 2018 I drove was at least acceptable. Unless I had a need for a lot of space, I'd stick to a good high performance sedan.

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