King of Cars

First Season

For most people their lives revolve around their car. Americans use their vehicles to commute to work, run errands and travel. Some are born in cars, others die there a number where even conceived there. It is a rite of passage to get your driver’s license and purchase your first car. Since I grew up in Brooklyn, New York the automobile was never really that important to my live, the subway was always a few blocks away and parking here is a nightmare. So, when I started to watch the new A&E reality series, ‘King of Cars’ I was in personally uncharted territory. Many Americans will opt for a used or ‘previously owned’ vehicle. If you live in the Las Vegas area you will without a doubt consider visiting Towbin Dodge, the home of ‘Chop’ the self acclaimed King of Cars. Thirty year old Chop is a large man with a personality to match. His name comes from his policy of chopping the price of the used cars his team sell, not from the term used by law enforcement referring to places that cut apart stolen cars. Chop and his dealership have little need for such illegal activities, his place of business is thriving, he is a local celebrity and somewhat of a cult hero. His weekly infomercials are legend. They pull more of an audience than many mainstream television shows and for good reason; they are well produced and fun to watch.

The series follows typical days in the life of this flamboyant and successful local business man. First and foremost he is a family man with two sons, Abraham and Rocco. Chop is second generation in the used car game and by the looks of things he is doing a great job getting his sons ready to take their place in the family dynasty. They place with a plethora of toy cars, able to name the make and model of each one. They even play at selling the car, early training to inherit dad’s job. Chop himself started working with his dad at the age of 14 selling cars and as never considered any other line of work. By the age of twenty one he had his own dealership. Aided by a dedicated staff including Will ‘Chilly Willy" Tooros, the General Sales Manager, the people at Towbin Dodge are like a well trained army with one objective, get the consumer in a car that is right for them. The first episode of the series follows Chop on a typical Saturday, the day they sell about 60 per cent of their income. Just before the doors open Chop gathers his sale force together for a pep talk that would rival a professional football coach. The men sit around Chop as he shows them a fist full of money. They leave the room shouting and ready to go. In order to stay as the number one dealership they have to sell about 500 to 700 cars a month. While this is difficult for most dealerships Chop manages it month after month with promotions, games and traditions that keep people coming back. His army of fifty sales people are motivated by bonuses for selling multiple cars or specific cars that Chop wants to move.

Two of the salesmen that Chop has his eye on are Ali Quddus,, and Barry Young. Ali’s came in to buy a car for himself and found a career instead. He has been working for Chop for three months, his best had 15 sales. For Barry he is the unofficial class clown of the group. His best month saw 18 cars sold. In the first episode the audience is given a chance to see how the deal is made. As Ali notes most people think that used car salesmen are one of the lowest forms of life, always ready to rip you off. They sales force at Towbin has to fight this preconception while still making a living. When a potential customer tries to leave Ali has to step up and show himself as a closer. Barry muses that the closing rate is on daily display and if a day or two passes he starts to worry. The episode shows him as he tries to get a young family into a new car.

The big board shows every customer that comes in for the day, how many sat down to talk a deal and how many are closed. Chop oversees this board like a general looking at the deployment of troops. When a car is sold the customer gets to hit the famous gong, the deal is closed and hopefully he had fun. On that particular day every customer that buys gets to throw two balls at the salesman as he sits over a dunking tank. Chop has created a carnival atmosphere on his lot, the people come perhaps because they have seen his outrageous commercials but they stay because Chop has made shopping for a car fun to do.

A&E continues to make their spin on reality television shows work. While most of the other networks have series where the contestants are inflicted with challenges that border on abuse, A&E goes in another direction. They have been bringing the television audience a look at the real lives of people with strange yet interesting occupations. From running a funeral home, to being a bounty agent or car salesman A&E brings these eccentric characters into our living room. Here Chop and his people are just like the rest of us, making a living, but hey happen to have a bit more flair surrounding them. The persona that Chop has on his commercials is a man more ‘pimped’ out than most vehicles but the truth is he goes to work in a suit and is always around keeping an eye on the business. Here is a hard working man that cares about his family and the safety of every family that comes through his doors. You may not think that a series like this would be interesting, a day in the lives of car salesman, but that would be wrong. Consider the mindless games that are on most stations this is fun for the whole family to watch. I look forward to see just how this series will continue.

Second Season

In February of 2007 The King of Cars hit it's second season. As the business continues its great expansion Chop finds that he has to increase his sales force and his lot size. Enter the new salesmen, know somewhat affectionately as the Green Peas. Technically, they are New Sales Trainees but then again this is not your usual place of business. In one of their first meetings some of the more seasoned pros stand in front of the wide eye newbies and shout "Why are you here?". The let the Green Peas know that soon they will have to wear wigs, dress in outrageous costumes and generally embarrass themselves to keep up. They are also told in no uncertain terms that the bottom line is the bottom line. Their survival on the job is completely dependant on how many signatures the get at the bottom of a sales agreement. It may not have been as intense but there was a certain flashback the famous scene in 'Glengarry Glen Ross',  Always Be Closing. There is only one acceptable way of doing business at Towbin Dodge, Chop's way.

On Shadow day a seasoned 'pimp' is assigned to watch over a green pea. The green peas have to look and learn from the best. Auto Marshal is one of the men assigned to train a pea. He wants to become successful in this line of work in part to show his father up. Previously he worked in a dealership in Texas. Unlike the others who interviewed for the job Auto came in completely in character. He walked in with a cowboy hat, Texas Ranger badge and spurs. Chop and the other long timers took one look at the spurs and hired him. He has only worked for Towbin for two months but has already earned the right to guide a shadow brother. He goes through a mock swearing in ceremony complete with giving his pea a ridiculously small cowboy hat to wear. As Chop explains to the camera the purpose of the pea training is not only to make sure they are great salesmen but also that they will fit into the wacky world of Towbin Dodge. This time is part training part hazing. Those who cannot exell ion both aspects will find themselves voted off the island so to speak.

One of peas is Gary Guertler. He is fifty three years old and found himself in over $75,000 in debt. In order to keep his family afloat he changed his career to selling cars. The potential six figure income had a lot to do with his motivation. He is assigned to shadow veteran Gabe Telez, aka El Supa. Gabe keeps Gary waiting and forgets his own name tag. Although Gabe is described by Chop as scatterbrained he is their top salesman. Sure they could be taught in a classroom but Chop believes in throwing the new guys into the water just to see if they can swim. A job at Towbin may look like a lot of fun and it is but first and foremost they are there to keep their position as number one.

In another episode the process of cutting those with less potential begins to take place. The world of Towbin Dodge is fast pace, demanding and highly competitive. There are more peas than positions so anyone making a mistake is out. Auto Marshal's pea, Deputy, only has an 8% closing rate so the decision is made to give him the ax. That job falls to Chop's number one man, his General Sales Manager Will 'Chilly Willy' Tooros. He has a miniature wooden bat with the words 'You're Firde'. Since Auto Marshal was the Deputy's trainer Chilly Willy calls him into his office first. When Willy sits down with the Deputy the 19 year old pea now has to sell himself. It has only been five days since he started to work on the floor with Auto Marshal but in this intense environment success has to be immediate. When the kid hears his job is on the line he promises Willy that he can get three cars out in the next three days. If he manages it he can keep his job.

Like the first season this one offers real life drama set in front of the zany world of Towbin Dodge. I know there are some out there who may doubt that a series about a car dealership would be interesting but I found myself pulled right in.

Posted 3/31/06

Posted 2/14/07    New Season Update