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Thread: Cal Worthington Dead at 92

  1. #1
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    Unhappy Cal Worthington Dead at 92

    Car Dealer Famous for Outlandish Ads Dead at 92
    Cal Worthington and his 'dog Spot' appeared in commercials
    By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

    Posted Sep 10, 2013 12:52 PM CDT

    (Newser) – Cal Worthington, famous in Southern California for the outlandish TV commercials advertising his car dealership, died Sunday at age 92. Worthington, who bought his first LA-area dealership in 1950, started making the commercials in an attempt to drum up business because his location wasn't so hot, the New York Times reports. He starred in the ads, which sometimes aired as many as 100 times a day, often performing stunts such as standing on a biplane's wing as it flew, riding a killer whale, or driving around in a golf cart with a tiger. Often the ads—at one point, as many as 40 of them were filmed per week and they aired 50,000 times per year—would feature his "dog" Spot, who was never actually a dog. (He was played at various times by a gorilla, a lion, a bull, and a penguin, among other animals, the Los Angeles Times reports.) All the while, his jingle played in the background: "Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal." (Interestingly, Worthington himself never owned a car, he just borrowed one from his lot.)

    Worthington was born in Oklahoma and grew up in poverty, eventually leaving school at 13 to sign on with the Civilian Conservation Corps and later enlist in the Army Air Corps during World War II, during which he flew B-17 Flying Fortresses. He couldn't become a commercial pilot because he didn't have a college degree, so he bought a gas station in Texas and tried his hand at selling used cars there before ending up in California. In addition to the ads, Worthington once had his own live TV show two nights a week; "Cal's Corral" featured performers including Johnny Cash. Worthington's notoriety led to Tonight Show appearances and even roles in one film and a TV show—and, of course, a lot of cars sold. Worthington estimates he sold more than a million; at one point he had a multi-state empire of 29 car dealerships. But "I never much liked the car business," he once said. "I just kind of got trapped in it after the war."




    Yeah, he got booted out of Washington for his shady business practices, but the man was a goddamned legend. Rest in peace, Cal
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    He was spoofed in one of the early Cheech & Chong records.....when they are watching TV and they have "Ve are killink ze gurrrl olt man!!!" and "Let's Make A Dope Deal". You hear a car commercial where it is Cheech telling people to come on down to the car lot where you can do your laundry......and then later there is a commercial for the same car lot, but it is a vato from East L.A......

    When I lived in L.A. in 1980, yeah....watching late night TV he was on constantly...fucking annoying as hell, though a little bit entertaining.....he is probably going to try to sell a car to God now. And probably Satan too!
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    This is starting to sound like an episode of The Roth Show...
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    And his dog spot......

    RIP Cal. Along with 49.95$ You made buying a car an American Experience.


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    My grandpa owned car dealerships in San Diego....90 minutes south of Los Angeles. First Buick dealership in San Diego and later he had a Chevrolet and then a Cadillac dealership. Both those he designed and had built from the ground up custom to resemble the Spanish theme houses popular in the Anza Borrego Golf Community.

    Point is, he and many other dealership owners knew each other.

    I was always mesmerized as a child by Cal Worthingtons oddball commercials and everyone knew the song (pussycow, pussycow, pussycow). I asked my grandpa one day if he knew him & what he thought. He said "Cals a crazy old bird". That he was. And it was great.

    One thing Cal did was hold his own finance company. They would do 8 & 10 year loans to allow people closer to the poverty line to still be able to purchase a decent vehicle. Low or zero down payments. Granted, the interest was awful and stretched over 8+ years you were paying a hell of a lot more for that car than it's value. But you had a car. And lack of a vehicle can be the difference between living in an alley dumpster or making a life.

    Rest in peace Cal Worthington. Thanks for all the funny commercials and helping everyone you could get a car.
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    Who was it that compared DLR's early (club days) stage act to a cross between Jim Dandy and Cal Worthington? It was in some interview posted here not that long ago, but I'm blanking on who the quote was from....
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    Dude...that sounds like a Davism.....great analogy.

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