BayWolves

August 4th, 2015 at 1:52 AM ^

He was an incredible kick returner and had awesome speed. All the fans questioned why he was never given a chance at wide out because of his speed and eventually he got a shot to do just that. Still, his best playing days were spent returning kicks. Rest in peace Mr. Farr.




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Mr. Owl

August 4th, 2015 at 2:20 AM ^

He was one of Marvin Gaye's old pals back in the day.  Mel was one of the Lions that were the background vocalists on the What's Going On LP.

RIP 24.

ElBictors

August 4th, 2015 at 4:03 AM ^

Grew up in Denver and Michigan and between Mel Farr Superstar and Jake Jabs, you have two of the most iconic pitchmen for their craft in the history of mankind.

Remember him as a player from the highlights ...but far more so as Superstar.

RIP

Roanman

August 4th, 2015 at 7:20 AM ^

I had a friend who sold cars for Mel Farr for some years. He would tell me about Farr's stories about Dick Butkus. Evidently, Butkus liked to call Farr out in pregames from the other end of the field and never quit until the game was over. He liked to start with "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FARRRRR!!!!". It would go downhill from there.

Some years later, I was at some DIA fundraiser down in that little courtyard restaurant thing that they have and was introduced to Mel. I told him that my friend had told me about his relationship with Butkus and got to hear Farr tell some of the stories himself. I don't even care if it's true, it was side splitting funny and one of my all time favorite memories.

Everyone Murders

August 4th, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^

Here's the thing about Mel Farr:  Other car dealers could not sell you a [fill in car model] for $119 a month ... and they could not fly either! 

I don't recall ever seeing him play, but his commercials were great and he had a good reputation around Detroit.  His ads and Alan Ford's ads* were really very good.  Sorry to learn of his death.

*"Hey dog, c'mon dog, come down to Telegraph Road ... right now.  Get a good deal."

 

LSAClassOf2000

August 4th, 2015 at 9:00 AM ^

The other Ford dealership commercial that is rather iconic around these parts is Roy O'Brien's in St. Clair Shores - "Stay on the right track to 9 Mile and Mack...."

That being said, for sheer entertainment value growing up, the world would stand still for Mel Farr Ford's commercials. I even had my dad drag me down there once so I could meet Farr (we had no idea that he would actually be there, but it turns out that he was) and I managed to get an autograph. 

Everyone Murders

August 4th, 2015 at 9:08 AM ^

Great local ads from that era included Joshua Doore's furniture ads (IIRC, things ended up poorly for Mr. Doore - some sort of Goodfellows demise with him in the trunk of his own car, anatomy unflatteringly rearranged), the Father & Son remodelling ads (no job too big, no job too small, we're father & son - we do it all), Ollie Fretter, and others.  You could get away with a much more direct advertising style that has a lot of charm viewed from today's perspective.

Prince Lover

August 4th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^

How could you forget he most iconic commercial from that era?

The Detroit Zoo commercial. 5 minutes, just 5 minutes. My lines, my lines, I can't think of my lines. My makeup, my makeup! I need to talk to my agent. Let ME talk to your agent....

Those were the golden days of ads. I definitely loved Mel Farr Superstar. And the Tellie-graph road, get a good deal. I even forgot about the 9 Mile and Mack one.

Louie C

August 4th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^

That commercial was great. To my disappointment, a couple of years ago, I diving through YouTube looking at retro commercials, and I discovered that the commercial wasn't unique to Detroit. They would use the same animal footage and voiceovers, but would plug in what ever zoo that represented the local affiliate. I saw the same exact commercial for the San Diego Zoo,and I believe San Antonio as well. Sigh.

mgoblue0970

August 4th, 2015 at 9:44 AM ^

His reputation was about perspective...

He put devices in cars to shut them down if someone missed a payment.

He cooked his books -- got in trouble a number of times for that

I believe Ford took back a number of his dealerships

Got busted for contract fraud and violating a number of consumer protection statues

If he was popular, it's because he was the last stop for someone with bad/no credit.

Everyone Murders

August 4th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^

He had a cape and could fly!

Interesting info regarding Mel Farr's reputation.  I'd not heard any of that, but rumors of dodgy (hah!) practices at a car dealership certainly have a degree of instant credibility.  It's like hearing about sketchy practices in SEC recruiting - you don't dismiss those out of hand.  Farr's public persona seemed to be that of a good guy, but what you write makes me rethink the whole issue.

LKLIII

August 4th, 2015 at 11:38 AM ^

Not to devolve this into a bigger discussion, but I think a lot of the 'dodgy' practices also depends on what the alternative was.  If customer X normally would have gotten 4% APR financing and gotten a better service/warranty deal on thier car, and Mel was giving them 7% and snaking out on warranty deals, then yes, he wasn't that great--and probably would have gone out of business.  But in my experience dealerships are pretty competitive with each other.  If anything, the thing that would keep him from offering 8% APR is a guy setting up shop down the block offering 6.75% APR financing and so-on.

But as somebody already said, I think a big reason the deals weren't "great" is because for lots of people with limited means and credit scores, this was the last option.  The alternative for customer X wasn't 4% APR, a better price, and better warranty.  If it was he'd just go down the block to the more mainstream auto dealer.  Instead, the alternative was going without a car at all, or perhaps borrowing money from a criminal element that wouldn't just use an ignition-kill switch method to ensure collection of payments.

So anyway, great return-man.  Great entertainer/pitch-man.  And a "mixed bag" business guy who--depending on your perspective--either offered a certain strata of folks an opportunty to own a car that might not be available otherwise, or who gouged poor folks who wanted a car.

mgoblue0970

August 4th, 2015 at 12:45 PM ^

Yeah... some people laud him for giving a car to people who couldn't have one otherwise.  But when you look at the terms of his deals, he was a predator upon one of the weakest segments of society.  Shit like that pisses me off -- taking advantage of people that is! 

Also, Mel Farr is a case study in RULE # 1 of going to a car dealer.  NEVER discuss "payment" -- always discuss "price" first!!!!  Settle on a price THEN discuss terms because the finance department can make the payment anything you want.

Mr. Owl

August 4th, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^

Abdullah should change to 24.  I've wanted to see a RB in 24 for a while now.  Everybody seems to wear 21.  Be different.  Be a superstar!

cloudman

August 4th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^

He grew up in Texas playing football at Hebert high school, lettering in Football,
Basketball, Baseball and Track.
At UCLA, he was part of the dream backfield along with Heisman winner QB Gary Beban. He had a 50 yard TD run during the 1965 upset win over USC, and UCLA went on to upset MSU at the 1966 Rose Bowl.
He was drafted #7 in the 1967 NFL draft by the Lions. He had a distinguished career at the Lions from 1967 thru 1973 with two Pro Bowls in 1967 and 1971.
Also, in 1971, Lem Barney and he sang back-up vocals for Marvin Gaye's song "What's Going On".

DennisFranklinRules

August 4th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^

Mel was my neighbor on lakeview court. I was his paper boy and he used to invite me over after route was done to play 2x2 bball in driveway w him, Lem and Charlie. Pretty amazing athletes (especially Lem).