He started as a student engineer at the Rouge plant in 1946, just another talented, young college graduate hoping to make a career at Ford Motor Co.
By the time he was ousted as Ford president 32 years later, Lee Iacocca was a household name in the auto industry.
He went on to save Chrysler Corp. from bankruptcy, write two best-selling autobiographies and flirt with a run for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.
But in his heart, Iacocca still considers himself a Ford man.
On the eve of Ford's 100th anniversary, the 78-year-old retired auto legend reflected on his life at Ford, and the prospects for the world's No. 2 automaker.
"One-third of that century, I was there," he said in a recent interview. "And if I hadn't gotten fired, I'd never have had the chance to do all the other things."
It was front-page news across America when, on July 13, 1978, Ford Chairman Henry Ford II fired Iacocca with the now-famous line, "Sometimes you just don't like somebody."
The move baffled the public, who knew Iacocca as the father of the Mustang pony car but had no idea of his behind-the-scenes clashes with Ford's imperial chairman.
When he reported Iacocca's demise on the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite said that "it all sounds like something from one of those enormous novels about the automobile business."
If the century-long saga of Ford is like an epic novel, Iacocca remains one of its grandest characters.
His Italian immigrant father, Nicola Iacocca, once told him, "Why walk when you can run?" That motto summed up his years at Ford, where Iacocca was a whirlwind of ideas with a golden touch for picking talented people and hot products.
The high point came in 1964 when Iacocca graced the cover of Time and Newsweek as the man behind the wildly popular Mustang.
"The Mustang has got to be the greatest thrill I ever had," he said. "We were young turks back then, and nothing could stop us."
But he learned the hard way that the only constant at Ford is the power of its founding family.
"They say the bigger you are, the harder you fall," he wrote in his 1984 autobiography, "Iacocca." "Well, I fell a great distance that week."
But in his own indomitable fashion, Iacocca rebounded to take the helm of struggling Chrysler, and presided over one of the great corporate turnarounds in U.S. history.
Retired from Chrysler for more than a decade, Iacocca lives the good life at his homes in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, Calif., and at his vineyard in the Tuscany region of Italy.
But he has hardly slowed down, pitching products ranging from electric bikes to his signature olive oil spread.
His advice to Ford's current chairman, Bill Ford Jr.? Get back to the basics of the business.
"You hit some home runs sometime," he said. "But Ford has to hit some singles and doubles."
He is outspoken in his admiration for Bill Ford Sr., who was always overshadowed at Ford by his brother, Henry II.
"He would have been a great chairman, but Bill always said that Henry's in charge," Iacocca said.
His warm feelings extend to Bill Jr., who took over as CEO in 2001 after firing Jacques Nasser.
"Billy may surprise you," Iacocca said. "He sure as hell surprised Nasser. He's going to be his own man, and more power to him."
And after 35 years, he has mellowed in his opinion of his onetime nemesis, Henry II.
"I had some good times with Henry and some bad times," Iacocca said. "In the end, it was his company."
When he looks at Ford now, Iacocca sees a sleeping giant and a great investment opportunity.
"I got into the stock recently at $7.95 (a share)," he said. "My friends said, 'You have? They're going to go broke.' I said, 'Listen to me. Ford will never go broke. The Ford oval will shine forever.' "
Iacocca loves the California lifestyle, but still hasn't lost his itch for the industry he once lorded over. He tried to take an active role in DaimlerChrysler AG, only to be shut out by the German executives who bought his old company in 1998.
But he's still available if a certain other automaker could use his talents.
"Hey, tell the Fords if they need me, I'd be glad to come and help," he said. "It's still my first alma mater."
You can reach Bill Vlasic at (313) 2220-2152 or bvlasic@detnews.com.
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