end of the road for Southern California's Cal Worthington car dealership

Thanks John. Interesting story which is repeated so often with multi-generational businesses.

We have two near me that have recently sold out of the family after more than 70 years. One location is now a huge funeral home, the other continues as a GM dealer.

good morning David.......I`m trying to envision a be-petted mortician with a catchy jingle whose TV ads are accented by scantily-clad, toothsome wenches.......I may have missed the point entirely, but who can argue with a seventy year track record?

Actually when you first introduced us to Slippin' Jimmy, Cal Worthington was who I thought of immediately.  Lol.

Speaking of car marketing gimmicks; the strangest ones I ever saw were done by Dick Balch of Balch Chevrolet in Federal Way, Seattle in the 70s.  He would  thump a brand new Chevy with a sledge hammer and laugh insanely in his ads.  Apparently his sales skyrocketed but personally I thought it was sickening to see such damage done to a brand new car.  It was reported that some customers would insist on having Balch damage their new car and autograph it.  I understand he eventually got mixed up with drugs or something like that; which really was no surprise.

Wow, I was at Worthington Ford last month test-driving a Maverick truck.  The dealership was considerably downsized from how it was in the 90's.  If I remember correctly, he had a Dodge dealership in Southgate in the 60's and 70's and then switched to Fords in the Eighties, although he could have had both at the same time.  It was always a treat to see Cal and his "dog" Spot commercials on late night TV selling used cars.

Posted by: @jack-dodds

Actually when you first introduced us to Slippin' Jimmy, Cal Worthington was who I thought of immediately.  Lol.

"Slippin` Jimmy",for any of you who may need to know this for school today,was a nickname given to (better call) Saul Goodman

"The "Slippin' Jimmy" name comes from Better Call Saul, where it is explained as a nickname Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) had acquired from his days pulling scams on people. It refers to the common practice of pretending to have a slip and fall to score an easy cash settlement from a business owner.May 23, 2022"

Better Call Saul was an awesome series....something very different and Odenkirk nailed the part.  I recently watched the latest addition to this series.

Slippin Jimmy reminds me of a car salesman back in the 60's. Every car on his lot was "That's a fiiine automobile!!"