Saturday, June 27, 2026

McNamara vs. Iacocca (Ford v Ferrari)

As an aside thought but while reading David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest I couldn't help but make an observation. Halberstam wrote:

But after he left, Lee Iacocca, who would eventually succeed him said that Bob McNamara had damn near ruined Ford by pushing that Falcon, too simple a car, with too small a profit for the company. Iacocca symbolized exactly the opposite of McNamara in the auto world... Lee brought in the Mustang, a car designed for the American consumer in just the way McNamara's cars were not.

It occurred to me that in the Matt Damon, Christian Bale movie Ford v Ferrari neither McNamara or Lee Iacocca is portrayed although Henry Ford II plays a significant role. Guess if either McNamara or Iacocca was portrayed it might have taken the film down a significant rabbit hole that was not central to the plot.

By the way - I enjoyed both the book and the movie.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:08 PM

    Jonathan Edward Bernthal played Lee Iococo

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    Replies
    1. Your right - remember Bernthal but never realized he was supposed to be Iacocca even though I saw the movie a couple of times. Guess I thought - hey that's the Punisher or the Accountant's brother.

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