Biography

Cal Worthington was a famous Southern California car dealer whose TV commercials blanketed the Los Angeles area, usually at night, and were almost impossible to avoid. He had two main new-car dealerships--Worthington Ford in Long Beach and Worthington Dodge in Bellflower--but his commercials were almost exclusively about the used cars he sold on those lots ("I've got a gajillion used cars!") which is apparently where he made the vast majority of his money. His catchy jingles included the lines, "If you're looking for a better set of wheels, I will stand upon my head to beat all deals, I will stand upon my head till my ears are turning red. Go see Cal. Go see Cal. Go see Cal!" accompanied by a shot of Cal engaged in all sorts of silly antics with a variety of animals--tigers, bears, boa constrictors, etc.--he called "My dog Spot". He was investigated several times by the state Attorney General for unethical business practices, such as rolling back speedometers and "bait and switch", in which a dealer would advertise a particular car at a price far below its market value, and when potential customers showed up to see it, they would be told that the car had already been sold but "we have one here just like it" (for more money, of course). In the movie Into the Night (1985), one of his crazy commercials is shown playing on a TV in the foreground. Today, both sales and service for the L.A.-area Worthington dealerships are open 24 hours a day.