I feel like we’ve had a lot of papal content here on the site lately, but I’m not sure there’s a way around that? A new pope was just chosen, and that’s big news, and popes have special cars and even right before that we were talking about building cars in the Vatican – it’s just been shockingly pope-heavy around here lately. And as much as I’d like to escape this ecclesiastical hole, it keeps pulling me back in, automotively. You know why? Because this new pope looks a lot like Lee Iacocca, godfather of the Ford Mustang (and, I guess, the Pinto, too), and the man who saved Chrysler from the brink with the K-Cars and rebirth of the minivan.
I can’t help it. He just looks like Lee Iacocca.
Are you skeptical? I understand if you are; lots of people don’t want to believe that the current Vicar of Christ bears a strong resemblance to the man who once challenged people to buy a better car, if they could find one:
I mean, around 1982, I suspect a lot of Honda Accord buyers did just what Iacocca there suggested.
Anyway, back to Pope Leo XIV and Lee Iacocca; just look for yourself:
I mean, they have pretty different senses of personal style, sure; I think Leo there must be a lot more confident in his appearance, and willing to take much bolder choices, clothing-wise. He’s not afraid of color or pattern, that’s for sure, while Lee was almost always seen in a gray flannel suit.
Just for fun, let’s do a face-swap, and see how different they feel:
Hm. Okay, maybe it doesn’t hold up quite as well, but, look, when it comes to popes and CEOs of major automotive companies, I think this may be the point of greatest similarity in all of recorded history.
Seriously, just look at how things have usually been; take the last Pope Leo, Leo XIII, from the turn of the 20th century, and William Crapo Durant, who took over Buick in 1904 and then started GM:
These guys don’t look anything alike, right? This is how it’s always been – popes and carmaker CEOs are as different as pickles and Pericles. But now, finally, we may actually have a pope that strongly resembles a former CEO of a major American carmaker.
I just think that’s worth noting, is all. Feels important.
Are we just ignoring the fact that the founder of GM’s middle name was Crapo?
Had to do a double-take myself
Strong foreshadowing there!
If you think that’s bad, his brother was named Richard Shitto Durant
Seems the “Dick Shit Special” was not a strong selling vehicle.
My great-grandfather had one and always said it lived up to its name
Don’t know about Iacocca, but Pope Leo is fond of Chicago style Italian beef sandwiches!
Leo XIII looks much more like Chicago style Italian beef sandwich connoisseur
Jason, you might have unearthed a deeply engraved secret of the Catholic Church. I’d suggest you be wary of black choppers around your neighborhood…
Leo XIII looks a little like Henry Ford. No?
Pope Francis passed away 10 days after JT’s Vatican-Hellcat piece was published, and now we have a Chrysler doppelganger in the hot seat.
Just glad I’m on the Autopian’s good side!
It’s ironic that, thanks mostly to Garrison Keillor (“Car ownership in Lake Wobegon is a matter of faith; Lutherans drive Fords and Catholics drive Chevys”) and Paul Niedermeyer (“I was an early acolyte at the Church of Saint Mark of Excellence”) I have an easier time tying Catholic imagery to the one Big Three automaker Iacocca was never affiliated with.
FWIW, my family is Catholic, but my Mom’s side is German (Bavarian) and always favored Fords, and my Dad’s side is Italian (Sicilian) and favored GM, except during the period in the ’60s when Grandpop was doing a lot of business with Chrysler, and, also, the last few years of his life when he got burned badly by an Olds diesel and a Cadillac 4.1 within a few years, resulting in his last car being an Acura
Mine’s Catholic and all the “big-car people” were GM people, there were plenty of Escorts and Omnirizons kicking around the family by the mid ’80s though. In the generation that passed before I came on the scene, my very French-Canadian grandfather loved his Pontiacs to the point that even when he owned a Buick (bought used from his boss) he called it “mon Pontiac” (emphasis on the last syllable). In my own generation, leaving the Church and buying Japanese were rites of passage taken about five years apart from each other.
What did atheists drove? Asking for a friend…
AMC, probably.
I mean, this does explain now why a Dodge Ram was spotted in Pope Francis’s funeral procession.
The new American Popemobile needs to be a pickup truck with the bed replaced by a bulletproof viewing box.
Don’t forget, it needs to be diesel and capable of rolling coal. For blessing the people, of course.
Can’t unsee that. I would prefer to, though.
Pope Leo Iacocca? Thanks, but I still pray to St.Gianni Agnelli The Questionable.
Finally! My suggestion that Stellantis revive Lee Iacocca is coming true!
They just need to transfer ownership of the company to Vatican City and then the Iapope-a can start making the necessary changes.
He actually does, to the point that if he was an actor, he could absolutely play him in an Iaccoca biopic
Which, why hasn’t there been an Iaccoca biopic? Like, not even an HBO or ABC one in the ’80s or ’90s? They made tons of made for TV movies like that back then
There are a ton of juicy details in his book, too…he takes a lot of shots at Hank the Deuce (Henry Ford II).
It was the #1 selling nonfiction book for the full years 1984 and 1985, actually kind of amazing nobody bought the rights at the time, Bill Carter’s book about the whole Leno/Carson/Letterman mess didn’t sell quite that well, and it got a movie
Also, while we’re at it, Henry J. Kaiser could fill a miniseries
It’s been a long time since I read it, but HFII hated Lido.
Jon Bernthal’s 60s Iacocca in Ford v Ferrari was awesome and probably the closest we get for now…
Isn’t that what this is?
That movie taught me never to rent anything based solely on the picture on the case
Is there a worse car movie that The Betsy?
I’m pretty sure there isn’t.
But if there is I’d love to hear about it.
if there’s a worse novel by a published author besides Harold Robbins, I’d love to hear about it
Pope Prevost will bless your RV!
He’ll always be Pope Tourbus to me.
Pope Dodge of St. Regis. 😉
Pictured above.
So what are you saying ? That the next pope-mobile will run a 440 six pack with a shaker hood and pistol grip ? Yaaaa…OK I’m on board.
Wrong era, Iacocca was at Ford in the muscle-car days. How about a 2.5 Turbo II in an unassuming 4-door Omni? Remember, torque steer’s part of the fun!
No Omnis got a 2.5L from the factory. The 2.5L Common Block came out right around when the Omni was discontinued.
Omni GLH Turbo had a 2.2L Turbo I. The only Omni to get a Turbo II from the factory was the Shelby GLHS (with Shelby as the actual manufacturer) which had a 2.2L Turbo II.
Having owned two GLH Turbos, I can confirm that torque steer is a thing.
I enjoyed it in my Audi 5000T as well. Not the best in slush, it’d try to corkscrew you into the curb at the end of the turn. VW Beetle and snow tires could run circles around it, any day
Wow, i had a 5000 Quattro that was absolutely gripped at all times, even in rain or snow. I guess the AWD made the difference.
Lido was more about the K Car New Yorker – he was a big car with lots of chrome guy for most of his career.
The 1989 TC by Maserati and 1990 Imperial were the ultimate evolution of his personal taste and predilections. And probably not a completely terrible garage in around 1990-91, assuming you got them both on some sort of steep employee discount program
Even better: Pope Leo XIV wrenched while in Peru:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/09/peru-pope-leo-chiclayo-vatican-prevost/1d80ad2e-2d0d-11f0-a724-3bc879c9f843_story.html
“He washed his own dishes, he said, and liked to fix cars, searching YouTube for solutions when he was stumped.”
Extremely badass.
Oh, yeah, it’s important for clergy to know their way around cars, as per the nuns in The Sound of Music: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3TzpzFC5yIH0vs6sdwN-x74ky4GDowMRGiLXMUsfxGJ_BVFwiba_klcAcaxibshNH3dRrJM6xxdFtuuywxt7ym1WgFfufBGNdGAJ9u70JLGNaYaiGUA_swo_KImfYdTXOlfQWPhWd7ne/s280/Screen+Shot+2015-03-01+at+8.51.29+PM.png
One of us! One of us!
Hey, what’s it gonna take for me to get you into this religion today? How about $129 per month forever.
10% APR!
If it was ROI, NET, then maybe
Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode!
George: Ah hah. You see Father, I’m I’m incredibly anxious to become a
member. Um, don’t you offer any kind of an express conversion? A quick change?
——————————————
Estelle: Latvian Orthodox? Why are you doing this?
George: For a woman.
Frank: A woman? What are you out of your mind?
Estelle: Why can’t you do anything like a normal person?
Frank: Wait. Is this the group that goes around mutilating squirrels?
—————————————–
Father-priest 2: Is there one aspect of the faith that you find particularly
attractive?
George: (he thinks) I think the hats. The hat convey that solemn religious
look you want in a faith. Very pious.
Let’s not forget his last vehicular contributions, the EV Global Motors E-Bike and Mini-E-Bike:
https://www.theautopian.com/lee-iacocca-saved-chrysler-then-he-became-an-e-bike-pioneer/
Pope Leo name is Robert. So is mine. I was born August 12th, which makes me a Leo…. Coincidence???
Will you bless me ?
Did you sneeze?
Leo Ima Popa.
COTD
Woah! They really do look a lot alike.
If you can find a better religion, be faithful to it.
*reads about history of the Catholic Church*
Er, maybe don’t look too hard. Better to be faithful to what you know.
I was going to go with “if you can find a better religion, tithe it”, but you kinda beat me to it.
We have gone full circle Jesus Chrysler Supercar.
May the lock-up torque converter be Damned For All Time ????
The Iacocca family still controls Yocco’s Hot Dogs in the Allentown area (founded by Lee’s uncle).
Ever since I moved away from the area I have an constant yearning for a couple of Yocco’s hot dogs (replete with chili sauce, mustard and onions, of course) and a side of pierogis. I honestly think Yocco’s pierogis are the best available in all of restaurant-dom.
That actually sounds like a good Torchinsky story pitch – has there ever been another auto CEO/fast food connection, and if so, which produced the better car, and which produced the better food?
VW does make a crapton of currywurst and curry ketchup…
Chili’s was founded by Carroll Shelby’s son-in-law, apparently both inspired by his chili cook-offs, and with a loan from Shelby.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12KeD2J4y1H/
Yeah, and its pretty awesome, I plan a stop at the closest one any time I have to be even vaguely in the general Allentown vicinity
I went to college in the area and definitely miss getting Yocco’d.
I was trying to figure out where I saw him before