Iacocca: An Autobiography

Front Cover
Random House Publishing Group, Jun 1, 1986 - Biography & Autobiography - 384 pages
“Vintage Iacocca . . . He is fast-talking, blunt, boastful, and unabashedly patriotic. Lee Iacocca is also a genuine folk hero. . . . His career is breathtaking.”—Business Week

He’s an American legend, a straight-shooting businessman who brought Chrysler back from the brink and in the process became a media celebrity, newsmaker, and a man many had urged to run for president.

The son of Italian immigrants, Lee Iacocca rose spectacularly through the ranks of Ford Motor Company to become its president, only to be toppled eight years later in a power play that should have shattered him. But Lee Iacocca didn’t get mad, he got even. He led a battle for Chrysler’s survival that made his name a symbol of integrity, know-how, and guts for millions of Americans.

In his classic hard-hitting style, he tells us how he changed the automobile industry in the 1960s by creating the phenomenal Mustang. He goes behind the scenes for a look at Henry Ford’s reign of intimidation and manipulation. He recounts the miraculous rebirth of Chrysler from near bankruptcy to repayment of its $1.2 billion government loan so early that Washington didn’t know how to cash the check.
 

Contents

The Family
3
School Days
13
Getting My Feet
31
The Bean Counters
40
The Key to Management
49
The Mustang
65
Encore
83
The Road to the
91
Should Chrysler Be Saved?
212
Chrysler Goes to Congress
224
Equality of Sacrifice
241
Trial by Fire
251
The KCarAnd A Close Call
264
It Only Hurts When I Laugh
277
Public Man Public Office
281
A Bittersweet Victory
293

Trouble in Paradise
103
The Day After
141
THE CHRYSLER STORY
147
Courted by Chrysler
149
Aboard a Sinking Ship
160
Building the Team
176
The Day the Shah Left Town
192
Going to the Government
202
STRAIGHT TALK
307
How to Save Lives on the Road
309
The High Cost of Labor
319
The Japanese Challenge
330
Making America Great Again
340
The Great Lady
355
Index
358
Copyright

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About the author (1986)

Lee Iacocca was the president of Ford Motor Company and chairman of the Chrysler Corporation. In retirement, he devoted his time to the Iacocca Family Foundation, which raises money for diabetes research. Lee Iacocca died in 2019.

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