Lions great, auto dealer Mel Farr dies at 70
Retired Detroit Lions running back Mel Farr, who also earned acclaim off the field as one of the nation’s biggest car dealers, died Monday night at age 70, the Lions said late Monday, citing relatives.
A cause of death was not immediately confirmed.
Farr was the seventh overall pick out of UCLA by the Detroit Lions in 1967. He was named NFL Rookie of the Year and spent seven seasons as a running back for the Lions, earning trips to the Pro Bowl in 1967 and 1970. He finished his career with 739 carries for 3,072 yards and 26 touchdowns, along with 1,374 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
During his career, Farr became the all-time third-leading Lions rusher. His son, Mike Farr, also became a Detroit Lions wide receiver.
In 1974, he retired from football after being traded to Houston. The next year, Farr launched a new career, becoming a partner at Cook-Farr Ford in Oak Park; soon after he’d be known for his “Mel Farr Superstar” television ads with an announcer intoning at the start of the commercial: “Fighting high prices to bring you a Farr better deal.” He pitched the cars wearing a red cape and pretending to fly.
Within three years, Farr had assumed sole ownership of the dealership, and President Jimmy Carter cited him for “outstanding achievement” in business.
Farr soon co-founded the Black Ford and Lincoln-Mercury Dealers Association. In 1979, the “Mel Farr Superstar” ads debuted.
His stature continued in the 1980s, when he bought the Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Waterford and Toyota/Mazda/Volkswagen dealership in Bloomfield Hills.
Also during that decade, Farr created Triple M Financing Co., named after his three children — Mel Jr., Michael and Monet — to provide loans to credit-risky customers.
In 1984, he joined with Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH in accusing Ford of “racist” attitudes toward minority dealers. In 1997, he partnered with Donald Trump in unsuccessful bid for Detroit casino license.
The businessman’s stature grew in the 1990s, when he purchased a Ford store in Fairfield, Ohio; opened Mel Farr Hyundai/Suzuki/Kia and Used Car Superstore in Royal Oak Township; and invested in Ford dealerships in Houston, Baltimore and Grand Blanc.
He also went to Wall Street with Jackson to raise money to expand used-car operations and in 1998, Black Enterprise magazine cited Mel Farr Enterprises as the nation’s biggest black-owned business with revenues of $596 million.
Farr faced problems, as well.
In 1999, lawsuits were filed in Wayne County alleging violations of Michigan consumer laws and dangerous flaws in high-tech dashboard devices that prevented leased cars from starting if the customer fell behind on payments.
Farr also was sued for falsifying lease costs, overcharging consumers and skirting consumer protection laws in Michigan and at stores he previously owned in Ohio. In one case, an Ohio jury socked a Farr dealership with a $5 million punitive verdict in the case of an elderly Ohio couple who sued for fraud.
Farr once told The Detroit News: “Yes, we have sold some bad cars. But we didn’t do it on purpose. We are working to put out a really decent automobile and give the customers value for their dollars.”
If some felt jaded by their experience with Farr, other customers loved what he offered credit-risky car buyers.
“He gave me a lot that I didn’t have before,” Sherry Loukas, a single mother and waitress from Roseville, told The News in 2002, when she remarked how grateful she to Farr for her leased maroon 1995 Ford Escort. “I would be walking otherwise.”
In 2000, Wall Street financing collapsed amid concerns about overvalued assets. Meetings with Ford executives resulted in Farr selling off six dealerships.
His last Ford stores closed in 2002.
More recently, Farr was at the bedside of fellow Lions great Charlie Sanders, who died July 2 at age 68.