My mom actually bought a car from Cal in the early 70's. She didn't realize it was him until she saw a commercial sometime later. There isn't a Southern California resident who doesn't know that song from childhood. Those ads were everywhere on the dial when I was growing up, and he was still appearing mostly in late night ads until the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RGD_Gw_JcA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N9ZY0hKB4E

Truly the end of an era, as nobody makes tv ads like that anymore. The insurance costs alone would see to that.