When Felix Sabates escaped from the Cuban Communist regime in 1958 at age 15, he was "relocated" to a settlement in Lexington, North Carolina where he sanded furniture by hand in an area furniture factory to support his family.
Felix then landed a job washing cars at the Charlotte airport for National Car Rental.
He later talked himself into being hired as a a non-salaried, commission-only salesman at a Charlotte Chevy dealership on Independence Boulevard named City Chevrolet. Today that establishment is the flagship of his close friend Rick Hendrick's massive automobile dealership empire.
When a Charlotte area businessman read of Sabates' success becoming number 1 salesman at the Chevy dealership, he offered him a job with his distribution company. Felix accepted and made enough money in that venture that he was able to purchase the company that became Top Sales .
The young entrepreneur then proceeded to make a fortune distributing Atari, Pong, Pac Man and Nintendo. He increased his fortune with exclusive American distribution rights to a toy that became a massive hit - the talking Teddy Ruxpin teddy bear toy.
After dabbling in the NASCAR Busch Series, Sabates hit the Winston Cup trail full time in 1989 with Kyle Petty as his driver.
In 1991, Sabates adorned his driver, Kyle Petty and his cars in the colors of his new sponsor, Mello Yello - a Coca Cola "answer" and competitor to Pepsi's Mountain Dew brand.
Tom Cruise and all those Hollywood types thought those Mello Yello colors so captivating that they emulated them in Tom's big budget "Days of Thunder" movie take on racer Tim Richmond and crew chief Harry Hyde.
Felix Sabates later had an ownership interest in Charlotte professional hockey and basketball teams.
While his presence in NASCAR is not as pronounced as it was in the 90s, his present racing venture team was in the headlines the past several weeks, announcing the departure from of Juan Pablo Montoya and hiring of the young phenom Kyle Larson at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing WITH Felix Sabates .
All of this is just background to set the stage for a couple of ads I saw in the first several pages of the ritzy Ballantyne Magazine that arrived at my Charlotte residence today.
I am reproducing those two ads below:
That's right. We can't buy those Pontiacs like Felix used to field on the NASCAR ovals - nor can we buy a Plymouth, DeSoto, Olds, Hudson, Studebaker or Mercury. They've all vanished. And, Lord knows, too many of we common folk are wheeling around Charlotte in Chevys and Fords.
Somebody has got to step up to the plate and serve the well heeled here in NASCAR Hall of Fame country.
Thank goodness, Felix has answered the call and is introducing the (once) iconic Bentley nameplate to Charlotte, joining the Mercedes cars he also peddles here at another dealership.
The storied Bentley brand, founded in 1919, was once owned by Rolls Royce, before both nameplates were acquired by Volkswagen in 1998.
Ironically, the other Mercedes dealership in Charlotte is owned by Rick Hendrick . Hendrick acquired it from Beck Imports when Mercedes refused to do business with Bruton Smith, who they accused of not meeting Mercedes' standards at other dealerships he operated. That dispute was settled in a - SURPRISE - lawsuit by Bruton and later settled out of court.
By the way, Felix and Rick are nearby neighbors these days of J unior Johnson , former owner of a Mountain Dew sponsored car. All three live on the prestigious Quail Hollow Golf Course in South Charlotte, site of an annual PGA event and soon the host of the U.S. Open Golf Championship.
I wonder what Junior Johnson has parked in his garage these days? If he has a Mercedes, did he get it from Felix or did he get it from Rick?
Will Junior soon be driving a Bentley up to some hidden hollow in Wilkes County one frosty fall evening?
Just wondering.
All jest aside, I do congratulate Felix Sabates for overcoming adversity and tyranny to live the American dream.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
