Yahoo Autos Bob Lutz: The Shadiest People I Ever Worked With
My dad's older brother, Uncle Freddy, was handsome, six foot three, and utterly charming. Always superbly dressed, he had an unbridled passion for fast cars and beautiful women. When he was a student at the Sorbonne in Paris, the considerable sums he received for higher education from my well-to-do grandfather were quickly converted into a Bugatti and a lavish apartment. I doubt Uncle Freddy ever attended a class, and he never really worked. He might have served as the inspiration for Michael Caine’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a movie about a handsome con man who skillfully separates wealthy women from their money. His automotive tastes spanned beyond that Bugatti—Alfa Romeos, a coachbuilt 4.0-liter Delahaye coupe, and an immense Packard Custom Super Eight convertible. A consummate car guy but with a moral compass that rarely found true north. Later in life, I met quite a few “Uncle Freddys”—passionate, intelligent men who were easy to like but prone to taking shortcuts:
This story originally appeared in the July 2019 issue of Road & Track.
Max Hoffman
This Austrian-born importer of just about every upmarket European brand was BMW’s U.S. distributor when we met. His charm and persuasiveness were famous, and his credentials were above reproach, but much of his success was built on bribery and extortion. When he offered me $10 million in a secret Swiss account so that I would be his “reliable, personal friend” at BMW, I declined. He took it with grace but often reminded me that he had powerful Italian-American friends who would hate to see BMW cancel his contract. He is now a legend: instigator of the BMW 507, Jaguar XK120, Mercedes-Benz 190 roadster, Porsche Speedster, and others. But basically a crook.
John DeLorean
Tall, handsome, urbane, well tailored, and a reliable creator of successful products. Disdained despite the success of his cars at GM, he set out to create the unfortunate DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) with the help of Colin Chapman. (He’s another one!) DeLorean spent his career doing bad things for the love of his schemes. His run ended ignominiously when he was seized by U.S. Customs with a suitcase full of cocaine. Clever lawyers successfully argued entrapment, and he got off. Later, when I was president of Chrysler and we were facing a cash shortage, DeLorean phoned me several times to see if we were interested in “unconventional financing.” We were not. Believable rumor has it that large sums of British government grant money, meant for brand-new machinery and equipment at the Ireland DMC plant, were somehow “diverted” into far-cheaper used items. The bulk of the money going… where?
Alejandro De Tomaso
He created the Mangusta and later owned Maserati. Lee Iacocca was enamored and cut a deal enabling Maserati to be a Chrysler brand. The partnership’s only product was a K-car-based roadster. But we could not call it a Maserati. It was “Chrysler’s TC by Maserati.” It failed, and when we finally added up what the misadventure had cost, it was close to $600 million.
Carroll Shelby
One of the most notorious was “Ol’ Shel,” beloved by all except those who regularly did business with him. Again, the stories abound: faked serial numbers, 20 “original 1960s” Cobra chassis that turned out to have been recently built then buried for a while to promote “aging.” Shelby was funny, intelligent, and great to be with. The longer I worked with him at Chrysler, the less I liked him.
The list gets longer with the years. So what’s the connection? Hubris? A sense of untouchability? I don’t have the answer, but given my own passion, I’m glad the U.S. Marine Corps burned into me a rigid, inviolable code of business ethics. I could’ve easily followed my genes and become another Uncle Freddy.
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