Business Notes

CORPORATIONS Iacocca Eyes New York

In 1979 Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca was best known for persuading Congress to put up $1.2 billion to bail out his ailing car company. My, how things have changed. Instead of begging for dollars, Iacocca has become a best-selling author, and Chrysler has racked up eight quarters of record profits. Last week Iacocca offered further proof of Chrysler's comeback by announcing a reorganization that will allow for greater flexibility and future expansion. The company will be split into four parts: autos, finance, technology and aerospace. An umbrella organization, headed by Iacocca, will oversee all operations and is expected to be set up as a holding company based in Manhattan. Chrysler Vice Chairman Gerald Greenwald, Iacocca's heir apparent, will become chairman of the automobile wing.

Relocating to New York City would put Chrysler closer to the banking and financial communities. It would also put Iacocca in the same city as his fiancee Peggy Johnson and the Statue of Liberty renovation project, which he chairs. Iacocca already spends much of his time at his New York office. Furthermore, despite his denials, Iacocca is rumored to be considering a run for the presidency, and a move to the East Coast would place him nearer the center of national political action. SEVERANCE PAY Bergerac's Golden Parachute

Most people who lose their job receive a final bonus based on the length of time they have been employed. For some this severance pay permits a more comfortable retirement. In the case of Revlon Chairman Michel Bergerac, 53, losing a job was probably the best financial deal he ever made. Last week Bergerac resigned as chairman after Pantry Pride won a three-month fight to control the company. He and eight Revlon board members had agreed to step down to allow for a trouble-free transition to the new owners. Under an agreement worked out with Revlon's board of directors two years ago, Bergerac will get a parting package worth about $35 million in cash, stocks and stock options. This is believed to be the biggest of the so-called golden parachutes ever paid.

In the last year before the takeover, Bergerac made $1.3 million. Wall Streeters say he earned his salary. He diversified Revlon away from cosmetics and into the health-care business, acquiring companies that made such popular products as Turns antacids and Oxy acne medicine. Bergerac now plans to play tennis and spend time with his family before examining several job offers he has already received. He will not need to choose one too quickly. AIRLINES A Pair of Jumbo Deals

It was an eventful week for United Airlines. In Washington, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole approved the Pacific routes that United bought from Pan Am in April for $750 million. And in Chicago, United announced that it was buying 116 planes worth $3.1 billion from Boeing. Included on United's shopping list were six jumbo 747s and 110 small Boeing 737s, which are used for shorter hops. Some of the 747s are specially equipped to carry 400 passengers and fly a range of 8,000 miles, ideal for flights across the Pacific.

The United sale was the second billion-dollar deal for Boeing in less than a month. Three weeks ago, the Seattle aircraft manufacturer received a $2 billion order from Northwest for a fleet of ten 747s and ten 757s. At least some of those jumbo jets will be used to compete with United in the lucrative transpacific market, where Northwest currently reigns among U.S. carriers.

United's routes now span half the globe, and Richard Ferris, chairman of United's parent company, UAL, could be eyeing the other half. He may consider flying his airplanes to Europe, where competitors American and Northwest are already established. CLOTHING Christie Brinkley's Belly Flop

To some she remains the curvy girl from SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S swimsuit issues. To others she is the inspiration of Singer Billy Joel's Uptown Girl. But to Clothes Maker Russ Togs, Christie Brinkley, 31, is the name of a line of clothes that had a loss of more than $1 million in the six months ending in August. Last week the New York-based company dropped its Brinkley division, which it had kicked off in August 1983.

Russ Togs signed Brinkley to a three-year contract in the hope that she could help them get into the upscale sportswear market, but the effort largely failed. Brinkley blames Russ Togs for not promoting her product after an initial push. Says she: "The Russ Togs management was not equipped to put ideas into action."

Brinkley is not the first celebrity whose clothing line failed. Jane Fonda's exercising outfits were introduced in 1983, but they did poorly. Capri Beachwear, which marketed the apparel, filed for bankruptcy about a year later. Names can still help if the quality is good and the price is right. Tennis Player Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Supermodel Cheryl Tiegs have launched successful name-brand clothes in the past five years. AUTOS Resuscitating the Air Bag

From the day General Motors began test marketing air bags in 1973, sales were flat. Car buyers declined to pay $225 for the optional safety device, and by the end of 1976 they had disappeared from auto showrooms. Now the Ford Motor Co. is trying an American air-bag comeback. Last week the carmaker said it will carry driver-side air bags as an $815 extra on four-door models of the 1986 Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz.

Last year Ford offered air bags as an option to volume buyers like companies and the Federal Government. It sold 7,400 air-bag-equipped Topaz cars during the 1985 model year, out of total sales of 377,555. Although air bags do little good when a driver gets sideswiped, they have already helped prevent serious injuries, and possibly deaths, in head-on collisions. On a wet Connecticut road, the car of one Traveler's Insurance employee skidded into a truck carrying propane gas, but she walked away with minor bruises.

Mercedes-Benz will have air bags as standard equipment on all 1986 U.S. models. During the past two years, Mercedes has offered air bags as an option. Of the 155,000 cars sold in that period, 18,000 had air bags.