"Hoss" Cartwright

[JoeC]

Hoss owned a Chevy power Maserati race car that Nickey sponsored
I was doing some searching on Nickey and found this Hoss story.
no idea if it is true or not
quote
"Hoss got involved with road racing in the late 1960s and owned a car called "The Vinegeroon." It was built and maintained by Nickey Chevrolet in Chicago. Dan and Nickey owner Jack Stephani were friends. Hoss would come to town (always at Jack's expense) for personal appearances at the dealership. He'd wear the Hoss hat and Hoss vest from Bonanza and shake hands and kiss babies, etc. Nice guy, but incredibly cheap. How cheap? While in town he never stayed in hotel. Ever. Jack Stephani had a sofa bed in his office at Nickey Chevrolet and Hoss would sack on the property. Stephani's flunkies would lock the gates at closing time and turn the guard dogs loose with Hoss inside. He'd watch TV by himself and drift off to sleep in the middle of a used car lot at Irving Park Road and the Kennedy Expressway.

Hoss never rented a car. One of Stephani's car hikers would pick him up at the airport and drive him around in a demo Chevy, usually an Impala. Hoss never paid for meals. Jack would pick up the tabs. Or when Hoss got hungry and wandered out around the neighborhood in search of a snack, he'd take a stack of 8" by 10" glossies with and go to different hash houses and greasy spoons where he'd naturally be recognized as a Cartwright. The owners wouldn't let him pay for the $20 worth of vile crap he'd wolfed down. Hoss, always protesting, would then peel off a glossy and autograph it to Sam, Gus, Pete, Alex or Joe with a great flourish.

Then he'd siddle on back to Nickey Chevrolet, put on his nightshirt and nightcap and haul out the sofa bed and take a snooze.

I heard all of this from a guy who worked at Nickey Chevrolet.
end quote

[BBIGG BLOCK 396]

Thats a good story,falls in line with what I remember.That night at our camp before the parade we had big dance and a guy barbqued a whole calf (of course it was not alive),I think Hoss ate 1/4 of it,man he could eat.I am not a little guy myself but I couldn't hold a candle to that guy. And I love good barbque,Very friendly person,and very likeable person.He did pass out some sighned glossy photos and so did the other stars of Bonanza.Trail rides and dances are pretty big here in Texas,I had a chance to go on many

[68TopStock]

The Dan Blocker/Nickey connection is why "Little Hoss" was named. Dan Blocker was a big Chevrolet man, so to speak, and the 302 was a little motor. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[TimG]

A good friend of mine (Cary Chapman) has often times told me he was at the dealership when Blocker picked up the Z16.
He said he did a smokey burnout while leaving. I have no reason to doubt Cary, I have known him for about five years and he is a good car friend.

[Stefano]

Cool info, I had always thought that Big Hoss and Little Hoss came from the Robert Redford movie, but I guess it was released after 1968?

[mr gasser]

I remember going into nickey chevrolet and seeing a 70 green 396/375 nova in garage. And on winshield sign save for Dan Blocker cool....