His commercials were classics when I was a kid http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/23381207/cal-worthington-local-car-salesman-legend-dies-at-92 FOX 11 / AP) Cal Worthington, who built a fortune from a series of West Coast car dealerships and became a TV fixture thanks to commercials urging customers to "go see Cal," has died. He was 92. Dave Karalis, general manager of Cal Worthington Ford in Long Beach, says Worthington died Sunday after watching football with family at his Big W Ranch in Orland, Calif., north of Sacramento. No cause of death was released. The Oklahoma native founded his first dealership in the late 1940s in Southern California. As his business empire grew to other western states and Alaska, Worthington starred in a series of TV and radio spots. The ads featured his "dog" Spot, with animals ranging from tigers and goats to elephants. He is survived by six children and nine grandchildren. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iGEYCsvPJzw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I assumed he was dead and that most of those commercials were just replays from the 50s or 60s. "Get a car, change your luck; buy a van, save a buck - or any kind of truck, go see Cal!" Successful car dealers might be the most underrated entrepreneurs in the country; at least in the context of total revenues and whatever type of upstream financing they have to do to manage their inventory.
Same here. It wasn't until like a year or two ago when I saw the YouTube comments correct the "p***y cow" confusion.
Over in SoCal where there's still a couple major dealers, there's been some radio ads with Snoop Dogg. (And a noticeably frailer sounding Cal through the years, could sense how it was a matter of time.) But he did stay relatively active.
He was a master salesman, who knew how to entertain! My favorite was of him being pushed from behind by that huge steer. When I think of his commercials it brings back memories of this classic... Spoiler RIP SeƱor Cal... ....... ....... .......
he was still selling cars and airing these commercials in the SoCal market up to his last days. as someone who grew up in Houston and had long forgotten about these ads, I was glad to hear them again and learn of his history in the business... and of course we all thought he was saying p***y cow
I remember watching some movie several years ago and his ad came on a tv in the movie. Odd feeling when that happened.