Putting the show in business

HENDERSON, Nev. — Just outside Las Vegas, where the car lots blur into a kaleidoscope of colors, Towbin Dodge is closing for the night.

The king of the joint is Chop, and his assorted characters of salesmen are fussing over their wigs and costumes.

Blonde or brunette? A doctor's scrubs or a sumo wrestler's oversize pants?

This isn't a bad Vegas lounge act. Here, men and a couple of women, sociable or shy, turn into the stars of a silly, surprisingly alluring 30-minute infomercial so wildly popular that 80 percent of the dealership's sales come from the show.

And now it's going national.

Chop grabs a red and black polka-dot ladybug costume and tosses it to one of his employees.

"You're Jim Ellis, the ladybug pelvis," Chop commands. His pupil nods as his fellow salesmen laugh and holler. Then the group heads to the side of the car lot.

What follows is something akin to an awful high-school skit. Car salesmen in nice suits are transformed into a blue genie, a sumo wrestler or a ladybug. Chop shouts at viewers, leans in close to the camera, shakes his fingers, almost pokes his head into it and commands viewers to "GET DOWN HERE!"

Sure, car dealers don't exactly have the best reputation. They can be slimy, and many people hate the entire car-buying experience.

But Chop manages to be charming, entertaining. So much so that you may want to buy a car from him.

"IT'S TIME TO DO SOME CHOPPING!" Chop yells into the camera as a 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan pulls up behind him.

"How about $13,000?"

"CHOP IT," his gallery of salesmen yell in perfect, staccato unison.

"$12,000?"

"CHOP IT."

In a strange way, it's compelling to see how low the price will go. He finally reaches $8,888 and Chop finishes the deal with his trademark, low-voice "Hit the gaaaassss."

Towbin Dodge is the No. 1-ranked dealership in the country for used cars sold by a single franchise, according to Ward's Dealer Business magazine. It sells an average 500 to 750 new and used cars a month.

The reason? The infomercial and the man behind it, who may just be the best-known car salesman in America.

And now, even more of America is coming to know Chop. He is starring in his own A&E reality show called "King of Cars" which debuted April 4.

His real name is Josh Towbin, but only his fiancée calls him Josh. He is 30 and from outside Trenton, N.J., where his father owned a car dealership. From childhood, Chop was destined to do the same.

The family moved to Las Vegas when Chop was 14. He started answering newspaper ads for people selling scooters, offering them less than what they wanted, while his father stood back and shook his head.

"You're chopping the price," his father said.

The name Chop was born.

Chop took the scooter home, detailed it, then sold it for double the original asking price.

"He would stand out in front of the house for an hour to negotiate for $100 in the desert sun," said Dan Towbin, Chop's father and owner of five local dealerships.

After mastering scooters, Chop moved on to cars. He worked at his father's dealership, washing cars for $5 an hour. He became a salesman, then top salesman.

By 26, Chop was the owner and general manager at Towbin Dodge.

Chop took over the infomercial from one of his father's other dealerships and made it his own.

The antics are sophomoric. The talent is nil. But the crazier he acted, the more cars he sold.