Lee Iacocca, creator of the legendary Ford Mustang, has died at the age of 94.
Iacocca (full name Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca) was born on October 15, 1924 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. His parents were immigrants from Italy. The future creator of the Mustangs graduated from Princeton University, after which he got a job in Ford Motor Company as an engineer.
The company's management quickly noticed a young and enterprising worker. A few years later, Iacocca received his first managerial position. His career turned out to be swift and he was soon able to become one of the directors of the company. Iacocca was active in issues such as promoting consumer auto loans and introducing small, front-wheel drive cars like the Ford Fiesta. But his most important achievement, of course, is the creation of the Ford Mustang.
The very first model appeared in 1964. It was created on the basis of the Ford Falcon, produced from 1960 to 1969. So, on the basis of a leisurely and rather dull family sedan, a model was created that looks like a real sports car (however, the main emphasis was not on dynamics and speed, but on ease of maintenance and comfort). Interestingly, the company chose among a variety of names - Cougar, Bronco, Puma, Torino and others. Subsequently, they were all used to name other Ford models.
The Mustang received an unusual and bold design, characterized by a long hood and a short trunk, which immediately attracted the attention of buyers. The series proved to be extremely successful and over the past decades, six generations of Mustangs have been introduced.
Iacocca worked at Ford until 1978, after which he moved to the Chrysler Corporation, which at that time was, to put it mildly, in a difficult position. He managed to significantly improve the position of the company and literally save it from bankruptcy.
Iacocca also became famous as the author of several autobiographical books, which became real bestsellers, reprinted several times.
