Iacocca Gets New Wheels

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Still, Iacocca's new venture faces a long, steep climb to success. The E-Bike is already nine months late to market (at an entrepreneurial burn rate of $150,000 a month) because of the technical difficulties in producing a finely tuned hybrid to Iacocca's exacting specifications. Instead of selling through bike dealers, EVG will peddle the E-Bike through auto dealers, where advertising budgets are gargantuan and Iacocca's credit impeccable.

Next week Iacocca will put his mouth where his money is, when he unveils the E-Bike at the National Auto Dealers Association convention in San Francisco. Whether EVG is another Mustang or another Edsel, friends say the effort has rejuvenated a man who told FORTUNE magazine he had "flunked retirement." Says Irene DiVito, a co-founder and vice president of EVG: "He's got his game back." And this is a man who only plays to win.