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RIP Lee Iaccoca, and thanks for the Mustang (auto industry bailouts, not so much).
Iaccoca probably gets too much credit for the Mustang; the Ford design & engineering team of Don Frey, David Ash, Joe Oros and later Larry Shinoda made it the visual icon it is today. But Iaccoca certainly led the effort and made the Mustang a reality in a short period of time.
The original 1962 Mustang I concept car, which I saw a couple of weeks ago at The Henry Ford: a mid-engine 4 cylinder 2 seater. It was a car show sensation, but Iaccoca realize a production car needed to be more conventional 4 seat/front engine, and based it on the Falcon. 
At the AACA museum in Hershey PA I saw another Iaccoca project- a showroom condition 1984 Plymouth Voyager, the first minivan. Like the Mustang, a perfectly timed appeal to Baby Boomer life stage that created a new car segment, and which ultimately saved Chrysler
sure, Iaccoca didn't always bat 1.000
But he was the guy who brought Carroll Shelby into the Ford fold, resulting in the Shelby Mustang, Cobra, and victory at LeMans. Later at Chrysler Iaccoca invited Shelby in again, resulting in the 80s Shelby Dodge Chargers, which were pretty hot cars for the era
Speaking of which, another car I saw on my recent trip: unrestored '68 Shelby Mustang w/ a 428 and 23k original miles. Car was repo'd in 1969 or 70, and has belonged to an Iowa friend's family ever since
Hats off to Iaccoca for helping resurrect the Ford Racing program in the 60s after a 25 year absence. Here he is with Jim Clark admiring the DOHC Ford-Lotus V8 engine before the 1964 Indy 500
Oddly enough, I also ran into this engine and Jim Clark's 1964 Lotus Ford Indy car during my trip, at the Barber Motorsports Museum in Alabama. It won the pole position in '64 but had a tire failure. Clark would win Indy in 1965 in another Lotus Ford.
The Ford racing program of 1963-70 was a thing of wonder; F1, LeMans, Indy, Nascar, NHRA, Trans Am, off road. We will never see its likes again.
