‘Keep the Flames Away From Your Chevrolet . . . ‘

The cars were moving off the showroom floor at Security Chevrolet in Vista like hot cakes, faster than anything sales manager John Quinn had ever seen.

Trouble was, nobody was buying them. In a heated rush, salesmen were driving spanking-new cars--and even pushing one vintage model--to save them from a fire that struck the East Vista Way dealership early Saturday.

The blaze erupted about 9:40 a.m. in a faulty light fixture in the showroom ceiling. A salesman heard a couple of weird popping noises. Then, “Blam!” Quinn recalled, the ceiling was a ball of fire.

Inside the small showroom was an $11,000 Geo Storm as well as a much more valuable vehicle that the dealership had placed on display: a 1956 Chevrolet.

The car was the prize awarded to the relative of a local resident 34 years ago for dreaming up what was to become a famous advertising slogan: “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet.”

As sparks and pieces of the burning ceiling began falling, the salesmen knew they had to move the valuable cars or watch them burn, Quinn said.

But first they had to move five autos that blocked their way, parked on a porch outside the showroom--including a $37,000 Corvette directly in their path.

“I ran into the office and looked in the drawer where we keep the keys to the Corvette,” Quinn recalled. “They’re in a special place because of the value of the car. And when I looked, they weren’t there.

“It was the heat of the moment and I was fishing around the drawer like a madman. Finally, my fingers found them.”

After moving the Corvette, the salesman rescued the silver and white ’56 Chevy that the late Albert Merrill of Boston had won for his winning slogan. They shoved the car from the blackened showroom without so much as a scratch.

“We had to go back inside and push it because we didn’t have the keys,” Quinn said. “The embers were falling, and right after we got the car out, the ceiling really started to drop. The only thing that was on our minds was to get the hell out of there.”

Osce (Tex) Gross, 84, of Vista, whose wife was related to Merrill, said he went by the dealership Sunday and was “glad to see the car was still alive.”

“That car really means something to this family,” he said. “It’s a V-8, four-door with original upholstery. Everyone who sees that car wants to buy it, it’s just that special.”

Gross said Merrill, his wife’s uncle and a bank treasurer in Boston, was the kind of man who liked to enter contests and had a way with words.

“That’s how he came up with the winning jingle,” Gross said. “And Chevy went right to the bank with it. You used to hear it on television all the time.”

The car stayed in the family after Merrill died several years ago at age 98, Gross said. After refurbishing it, Gross and his wife gave the car to their son Fred, who runs a Vista insurance agency.

While the salesmen said they were glad to have been able to rescue the cars, the showroom didn’t fare as well.

Investigators say the fire caused about $300,000 damage to the building and contents, a figure they said was substantially reduced by the quick actions of the salesmen in moving the cars.

When firefighters arrived at the fire, they found smoke pouring from the showroom and flames flicking from the ceiling.

“The firemen were able to protect our office and 99% of our records,” said Randy Hollingsworth, general sales manager of the 22-year-old dealership. “Without our records, we would have been a crippled business.”

On Sunday, yellow Fire Department tape surrounded the empty showroom. But the salesmen at Security Chevrolet were still on hand to do what they do best--sell cars.

“Now, let’s take a look at this little V-6 right here in the corner,” one salesman said, leading a would-be customer by the arm. “It’s a real beaut.”

Hollingsworth said the dealership was business as usual. “If you want to buy a car,” he said, “we’re opened for business.”

The boys on the lot, however, didn’t sell any cars at all on Saturday or Sunday. But car salesmen are resourceful, Hollingsworth said.

“Maybe we’ll have us a little fire sale,” he quipped. “That’s a real incentive for the salesmen. Because if they don’t get any sales, they get fired.”