See Lee Iacocca at the height of his powers as a TV spokesman as he pitches the 1987 cars from Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth.

Lee Iacocca (1924-2019) has been called the last of the Motor City’s old-school auto tycoons, and that’s a pretty fair description. He was a top executive at Ford Motor Company until he was forced out in a power struggle with the big boss himself, Henry Ford II. From there he took the top spot at Chrysler, where he wielded total authority and was never shy about serving as the public face of the company across the media landscape. There was even talk of running for U.S. president, from which he wisely backed away.

As this 1987 television spot illustrates, Iacocca had a lot on his plate that year. There were product rollouts for the new LeBaron Coupe and Convertible, the compact Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance, the successful Dakota midsize pickup, and the restyled Dodge Daytona. Also shown here is the two-seat Chrysler TC by Maserati, which was unveiled at the 1986 LA Auto Show but didn’t hit the showrooms until MY 1989. Not mentioned here: In March of 1987, Chrysler purchased American Motors in a $1.5 billion deal, acquiring the Jeep brand. Iacocca retired as chairman and CEO at the end of 1992, but here we see him at the height of his powers as Chrysler’s super-salesman. Video below.