A friendly face in the crowd at Ed Bozarth Chevrolet this weekend is that of Rick Harrison of the History Channel’s No. 1 show, “Pawn Stars.”
Harrison joined the Bozarth family at three days of grand opening celebration for the dealership at 2001 S. Havana St., Aurora.
Under guidance of Kent Bozarth, son of founder Ed, the Chevrolet store has undergone expansion of its showroom, drive-up service department, state-of-the-art customer lounge and parts counter reminiscent of Apple’s Genius Bar.
Ed Bozarth came to Denver 25 years ago from Topeka, Kan., and remembers on his arrival receiving a bale of hay from some of the local dealers “for the hayseed from Kansas.” “Well, we persevered,” he said, “and look at us now.” Ed Bozarth Chevrolet operates five stores in Colorado, Las Vegas and Topeka.
Kent Bozarth heads the operation today; his father is no longer active at the dealership.
New models of the Chevrolet Impala, Camaro and Corvette drew attention the past two days in the large new showroom.
“A regular guy and a great family man” is the promotion for Harrison on the “Pawn Stars” show, and he exchanged lots of talk and good-hearted exchanges with visitors to the grand opening. Nearly seven million viewers tune in every Monday night to see “Pawn Stars,” in its fourth season on History.
Though Harrison has half a dozen collector cars, including a ’69 Hemi-powered Plymouth Roadrunner and a ’68 Ford Mustang Boss, his favorite “driver” is a late-model Chevy Tahoe, purchased from Bozarth in Las Vegas.
“Rick Harrison’s fame is based on his skill at recognizing a great deal on an outstanding product, and there’s a reason that he purchases his Chevrolets from our Las Vegas dealership,” said Kent Bozarth.
Ed Bozarth began his career in 1950, pumping gas, checking oil and washing windshields at his father’s service station in Topeka, Kan. He opened his first car dealership there.
Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
