Tex Earnhardt with his grandson "Tex" Earnhardt.
Tex Earnhardt didn’t just wear a cowboy hat and boots as props to sell cars. He lived the Old West lifestyle and adopted a philosophy as no nonsense as his slogan: “That ain’t no bull.”
The Chandler-based auto magnate lived on a working ranch, took outdoor showers before dawn every day and built one of the largest family businesses in the Southwest.
His death at age 89 on April 19 was announced on the company website, earnhardt.com.
Earnhardt was just under 21 when he opened his first Ford dealership on Arizona Avenue south of Boston Street in September 1951, and he remained active in the business into his 80s.
Hal “Tex” Earnhardt Jr. was born in December 1930 and came to Chandler with his family in the late 1940s from the south Texas town of Harlingen. He dropped out of school in the 10th grade, became a rodeo rider, and worked at the family’s gas station before borrowing money from his dad to open a small Ford dealership in downtown Chandler.
Earnhardt Auto Centers grew to 23 dealerships, representing 17 brands, with locations in the Phoenix and Las Vegas metro areas. The Earnhardt family also runs two QuickLane Service Centers and two body shops and has nearly 3,000 full- and part-time employees, the company said.
Along the way, Earnhardt’s sons, Hal and Jim Babe, joined him in his businesses, and so did several of his grandchildren. Family members still run Earnhardt Auto Centers and Earnhardt Ranches.
“The company today is based on values that Tex instilled in all of us,” said Dodge Earnhardt, son of Hal Earnhardt III, in a statement. “Treat everyone the way you’d treat your mama” and “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” are a few core sayings from Tex that we hold dear.”
Tex Earnhardt himself attributed his success to family values. “We may sell a lot of vehicles, but you still have to sell them one at a time,” Tex said in a statement celebrating his 62nd year in the car business. “That’s why I’m here every day, and so is my family.”
Earnhardt gained local recognition as the cowboy car dealer who rode a bull in television commercials. But the bull was actually a steer, which gave rise to his famous slogan.
Earnhardt, in a 2012 talk to the Chandler Historical Society, told how the slogan started. Steers at his Chandler ranch were castrated in a way that left skin hanging so it appeared the animals still had testicles.
While filming a commercial, he remarked to the camera crew, “That ain’t no bull.”
Earnhardt wasn’t just a cowboy on television. He rose at 4:15 every morning and took outdoor showers near his home’s back door no matter the temperature or weather conditions.
Even after he turned 80, Earnhardt enjoyed team roping, attending rodeos and riding horses with the guys who work on his south Chandler ranch. Earnhardt spurned fancy clothes in favor of cowboy hats, boots and Levis, often taking hand-me-downs from his sons. His son Hal once persuaded him to buy a pair of nice George Strait-style Wranglers. Earnhardt had a soft spot for Strait, who was one of his favorite musicians.
Earnhardt, who wore a longhorn tattoo on his chest and a large bull head on his forearm, liked to swim, fly his Cessna 182 and ride motorcycles, logging up to 15,000 miles a year on rides to Mexico and Colorado.
He refused to drive new cars, opting instead for decade-old cars and trucks traded in by customers.
Derby Earnhardt, another grandson, said, “Tex’s mark on the economic landscape of the Southwest and in the hearts of our family and Arizonans will endure for generations to come.
“While we’ll go on … it’s tough to know that this great man is no longer with us …no longer atop Chisholm (the trusty steer in Earnhardt commercials) greeting our friends and customers and introducing them all to this amazing brand he built.”
Earnhardt, in several interviews, said he could afford to order only one Ford at a time. He’d put the car on display, and when he sold it, he’d order another. But nearly 50 years later, in 2000, Earnhardt’s 14 dealerships were selling more than 33,000 cars a year with close to $1 billion in sales.
In his talk to the historical society, Earnhardt described how he earned one of his longtime customers shortly after he opened his first dealership.
Earnhardt said he was driving to New Mexico along a desolate stretch of highway when he spotted a man in a suit beside a car with its hood up. He drove past the man but then turned around and gave the man a ride into the next town.
The man he’d helped was prominent Chandler land and business owner Jackson Bogle.
“He thanked me and bought a lot of Ford cars and trucks,” Earnhardt said. “So next time you see someone broke down, pick them up.”
Earnhardt’s businesses continued picking up people in need. In hundreds of cases, the Earnhardts lent moral and financial support to employees who were facing an illness or family tragedy. Charities and needy causes also benefited from the Tex Earnhardt Foundation, a nonprofit corporation designed to enhance the quality of life for the residents of Arizona.
Earnhardt’s business philosophy was modeled on the Golden Rule. He said he always treated customers the way he wanted to be treated.
“After 60 years, I’m sure we’ve got some unhappy customers, but ... we have second and third generations buying cars and trucks from us,” he said in interviews with The Arizona Republic.
Earnhardt also said success has nothing to do with money but with attitude.
“Success is not liking what you do, but loving what you do or being passionate about what you do,” he said.
Arizona leaders mourn loss.
Remembrances poured in for the local legend Sunday morning.
Gov. Doug Ducey posted that Earnhardt embodied the Southwestern spirit.
“Tex opened his first auto dealership in Arizona in 1951, expanding it to over 20 locations and also giving back to Arizona and local charities greatly during that time. He lived and breathed the spirit of the old southwest, and he will be missed. Praying for the Earnhardt family #RIP,” Ducey tweeted.
Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods described Earnhardt as “one of a kind” in a social media post.
“I enjoyed every minute I got to be with him,” Woods wrote. “His name could easily have been Arizona — he was so much a part of our independent spirit. RIP Tex.”
Others memorialized Earnhardt as one of Arizona’s authentic cowboys.
“Tex Earnhardt was one of a kind,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said in a tweet. “He was as real and genuine as a cowboy could be. He defined Arizona and will be missed.”
In 2012, The Arizona Republic asked residents who made the most significant contributions to the Southeast Valley. Earnhardt was on more than one list.
“Now, there are people whose impact has brought thousands of jobs over the past decades to the Southeast Valley, and one of them is automotive dealer Tex Earnhardt,” John D. Rodriguez, community organizer and sports agent, wrote.
“The past several decades, Earnhardt has generated millions of dollars of tax revenue to all of the cities he has dealerships in,” Rodriguez said. “Accomplishing all that, I’ll use his famous line in all his commercials: “And that ain’t no bull.”
Earnhardt had two sons and a daughter and also leaves grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“It’s a time to remember and grieve, but the company, and the mission to serve its surrounding communities, will continue to grow and expand; ensuring the legacy and spirit of Tex Earnhardt is felt and present for many, many years to come,” sons Hal and Jim Babe Earnhardt said in a statement.
Donations may be made to the Chandler Compadres, P.O. Box 11038, Chandler, AZ 85248, or online at https://www.chandlercompadres.org/donations/tex. The Compadres work to help disadvantaged children in the Chandler and the Southeast Valley.