A replica of a big {photograph} of Cal Worthington contained in the Worthington Ford dealership on Saturday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Instances)
Make no mistake about it, bub, Southern California is automotive nation.
So car vendor Calvin Coolidge Worthington determined to have a bit of enjoyable, entice consideration, and empty his tons with “My Canine Spot” TV commercials that includes a reside, snarling gorilla.
The commercials, through which he additionally used different animals as a canine named Spot — a penguin, camel, elephant, bear, lion, hippopotamus, and tiger — helped Worthington construct an empire of 27 dealerships that bought greater than 1 million automobiles.
Worthington Ford dealership on Saturday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Instances)
A lot of these commercials had been filmed beneath the massive “Worthington Ford in Lengthy Seaside” signal on the dealership he purchased in 1963.
Now that signal has come to mark the top of an period. Worthington’s household stated they’ve bought the 3-acre enterprise, the final dealership nonetheless bearing the title of the legendary automotive salesman who died in 2012.
“It’s very unhappy,” Nick Worthington, Cal’s grandson, stated in an interview with ABC7. “Our workers have been with us 40 plus years.
“It’s part of everybody’s childhood and life rising up right here,” he added. “It’s arduous to shut that guide for everyone.”
On Saturday, Shawn Abdallah, finance director on the dealership, stated information of the sale “got here as a shock, though there had been rumors for a few months that one thing like this was within the works.”
“The rumors had been confirmed on Thursday,” he stated, “when Nick had everybody collect in a convention room right here for an necessary message.
“He stated, ‘You in all probability heard the rumors and at the moment I’m right here to verify them.’ ” Abdallah recalled. “He was very emotional. And yeah, there have been tears throughout.”
The client, Nouri/Shaver Vehicle Group, plans to maintain all of the Worthington Ford workers, however they should reapply for his or her jobs, Abdallah stated.
The long-lasting massive blue “Worthington” signal overlooking Bellflower Boulevard, Abdallah stated, “received’t be taken down till March 1.”
Worthington Ford dealership on Saturday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Instances)
Within the meantime, guests don’t should go far to see reminders of the flashy stunts utilized by the Oklahoma transplant to make the arduous promote throughout a 65-year profession that made him an icon of quirky Southern California tradition.
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The showroom of gleaming new Ford fashions, for example, incorporates a floor-to-ceiling {photograph} of Worthington cheek-to-cheek with a tiger: probably the most personable of all of the animals that helped him construct a cult following.
It is a reminder of a unusual period when car salesmen right here, within the capital of automotive and freeway tradition, dressed like Napoleon, wore halos, and adopted unique animals for a sale.
Worthington’s signature gimmicks had been the “Canine Spot” adverts, which first appeared on-air in 1971. They had been initially supposed to be spoofs of two opponents: Ralph Williams and Fletcher Jones.
Williams had launched an advert marketing campaign with a German shepherd named Storm, and Jones appeared on TV cuddling puppies.
Anthony Crawford seems to be at new automobiles at Worthington Ford on Saturday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Instances)
“I made a decision I’d mimic them,” Worthington recalled in an interview. So he borrowed a gorilla, chained it to a automotive bumper and let the cameras roll.
Making an attempt to seem unruffled, the lanky pitchman with a cowboy hat and an ear-to-ear grin launched that characteristically folksy tactic with welcoming phrases: “Howdy, I’m Cal Worthington and that is my canine Spot.”
“I discovered this little fella on the pound,” he added, with a smile, “and he’s so full of affection.”
The brand new homeowners of the dealership will change the title to BP Ford.
This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Instances.