The Ford F-100, the precursor of the F-Series that presently rocks the American sales charts, is one of the favorite canvases for local custom shops to try their magic. We've seen time and again how the decades-old half-ton has been reimagined into something else, but some of us, myself included, never get tired of it.

Sperlich joined Ford in 1957 after receiving a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. By 1960, he noticed the rising popularity of small European cars in the United States. He connected with Ford Division Vice President Lee Iacocca, and the two of them pushed through the vehicle that became the Mustang.

Sperlich worked first for Ford, then for Chrysler, and he radically changed the automotive market at both. He died this week at age 95.

Ask the average automotive enthusiast who led the development of the Ford Mustang and Chrysler minivan, and the likely answer they’ll give you is Lee Iacocca. Which isn’t incorrect. Iacocca, as the eventual president of Ford and then the chairman of Chrysler,