Lee Iacocca Unveils Anniversary Ford Mustang – At Least He Is Having Fun



2009 June, 23rd
Phil Butler
Phil Butler
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“Once in a while a car comes along that changes everything, and that was the original mustang.”

Lee Iacocca

Legendary automotive visionary and executive Lee Iacocca will soon release a 45th Anniversary Ford Mustang. Iacocca’s timing will either be considered genius or lunacy, depending on how the Mustang (or the timing) is perceived. One thing is for sure, Iacocca has never taken a dim view, nor has he let adversity stand in the way of success.

Iaccoca, for those who do not know, was instrumental in the design, production and ultimate popularity of the Mustang “Pony Cars” from their introduction at Ford in 19641/2. However, unveiling a muscle car in the midst of the worst US auto industry climate ever, is? Iacocca may be singing; “The sun will come out tomorrow”, but making the drop-top version of the “Iacocca” may not be a good idea just yet.

According to the news, only 45 limited edition Iacocca Mustangs will be built by designer Michael Leone and Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters. The prototype and images around the Web reveal an elegant and powerful looking rendition of the famed mustang. But, at a suggested price of something over $60,000, one has to wonder if the edition is more of an expensive idol to Iaccoca himself, or just a toy for people with money to burn. In the current automotive and economic climate reliving visions of Caroll Shelby or even the Roush cars seems far removed from reality.

No mistaking who the car is named after.

No mistaking who the car is named after.

The “Iacocca” mustangs will reportedly be equipped with a manual 5 speed, standard 320 HP 4.6 V8, with option of dropping in a 400 HP high performance version as well. Iacocca appears to be interjecting some positive news and “motion” atop a rather depressed car landscape. The introduction of this new Anniversary car comes on the heels of Iacocca’s comments to GM and Chrysler via the New York Times. His advice to them was to “settle up the loans with the government as quickly as possible. Based on his experience in dealing with the 80′s Chrysler bailout, perhaps the best advice they could get. Iacocca went so far as to say the government was all but intolerable in their scrutiny of him and Chrysler back then. As for his intent in the building of these mustangs Iacocca had this to say:

“All the talk about bankruptcy and bailouts — the mood is so gloomy on cars”

As beautiful a line as any Mustang I have seen.

As beautiful a line as any Mustang I have seen.

Iacocca, at 84, has long since retired from the auto world. His legacy in resurrecting Chrysler back in the 70′s and 80′s is the stuff car business dreams are made of. From this writer’s perspective, the industry could use someone with his panache and feel for the market now. As for the Icocca Mustangs, I expect the introduction of these was out of timely commemoration of Iaccoa’s involvement with the cars, a very wealthy auto magnet spending some hard earned buckets of money, and as he said, lifting the spirits of at least some auto enthusiasts. As for those who just got laid off by GM, and a country full of people in trouble, shiny chariots for a select few offer no elevated spirits.

You can check out the 45th Anniversary Iacocca Mustangs at Lee’s site here.

About the Author

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Phil Butler is editor-in-chief of Everything PR and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. He’s a widely cited authority on beta startups, search engines and public relations issues, and he has covered tech news since 2004. Phil wrote in the past for ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, Profy, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, AltSearchEngines. Follow Phil on Twitter or send him an email at phil [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

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There Are 4 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Genesis on 23 June 2009:

    I`m a huge fan of Mustangs, particularly the earlier models and actually own a ’73 fastback. This new version looks pretty sleek compared to some of the models that have come out in recent years.

  2. Comment by Phil Butler on 23 June 2009:

    Hi Genesis,

    Yes, I am a huge fan myself. I used to own a 1968 Shelby GT 500, back in the day. I wish I had it now, I could retire. :) As for some of the “retro” designs, I like them a lot too. The 73 is a pretty year as well, a long low profile.

    Always,
    Phil

  3. Comment by Matt Keegan on 24 June 2009:

    Iacocca deserves recognition for the Mustang through a special edition model. But, the $60K price premium is polar opposite of what he had in mind when Ford decided to develop the pony car in the early 1960s. Back then, the original Mustangs were affordable, selling more than 400,000 copies at its peak.

    In this economy, the special editions will probably sell only because they are making 45 of them.

    My, how things have changed!

  4. Comment by gjperera on 29 June 2009:

    Sweet…the second car I owned was a Mustang and I absolutely loved it, got me into a lot of trouble…hence the reason I don’t have it any more, but definitely a car I’ll be buying as a weekend car when I have the extra cash…thanks for sharing, this car looks beautiful and it brought back the good old days with my mustang.

    On another note, the $60k price tag is a bit hefty considering you can get the Shelbys for less than that. Then again they are only building 45 so it stands to reason that these will probably be bought and put in a garage somewhere to be sold for more money 15-20 years from now. Look at the Ferrari Enzo, I know, a whole league onto itself…they made less than 600 I think and they sold from Ferrari for $625K, but when they hit the market….I saw some running for a million…