In the gimmicky world of car sales, screaming pitchmen and garish ads hawk zero-percent financing! and REBATES! -- anything to increase traffic on lots decorated with cheesy inflatable figures or flapping plastic.

But over the past few days, tiny Vinton Motors has garnered attention for a modest, low-key ad in this newspaper that brought home the cold reality of the flagging American auto industry.

The Ford dealership, which has sold cars for 77 years, quietly announced in a serene, ocean blue ad that it will close Aug. 15. It applauded its employees, and in an unusual move, urged other companies to hire them.

"Any employers needing the best out there, HERE THEY ARE!" reads a headline over pictures of the staff that has helped keep the family business running over the decades.

"Everyone here deserved recognition," said General Manager Virgil Skaggs, who came up with the idea of the ad. "It's the best collection of people. We're just trying to help them find something."

Not surprisingly, owner Billy Vinyard gave credit to Skaggs and another employee for the ad.

"I approved it and applauded it," said Vinyard, who took over the business from his father, who died in 1979.

"We felt like these people have been with us a long time. It's kind of like family."

As a native of Michigan, the daughter of a General Motors manager and as a former GM employee myself, I've witnessed firsthand the cyclical fluctuations of the auto industry beginning in the late 1970s. But I've seen it from the manufacturing side, and now I see it from the sales and service end.

I've seen assembly line workers laid off, with union benefits that somewhat cushioned their fall or rules that allowed them reassignments based on seniority.

Even now, as the industry tries to weather the decline that contributed to the closing of dealerships such as Vinton Motors and recently Friendly Lincoln Mercury, automakers have offered plant employees five- and six-figure "bonuses" to leave.

There are no such golden parachutes for the people at Vinton Motors.

That's what makes the ad so compelling.

Gloria Elliott, a Roanoke workplace consultant and executive coach, said she had never heard of an employer touting its workers to others in an ad. She called it a "classy" move.

It shows Vinyard knows that his business is only as good as his employees, she noted. "I just praise him highly," she said.

Elliott said the ad will pay off for the employees. For example, she said, in a bad economy where new car sales are sluggish, people will more often require repairs on older cars. That translates into a high demand for skilled mechanics.

Mechanic Teddy Spickard told me he has received three job offers since the ad came out. Spickard, 57, who has worked at Vinton Motors for about 28 years, holds the senior master mechanic certification -- Ford's highest.

People with a sales background, Elliott said, will have options because of a general high turnover in auto sales positions.

Salesman J Roy, who's worked at Vinton Motors for four years, said the ad has generated an offer. This is not unfamiliar territory for him. A Bridgeport, Conn., Ford dealership at which he worked earlier closed two months after he left. It had operated for more than 80 years.

"I might stay in the field," said Roy, 47, who plans to take the summer off. "You're always going to need a car."

Skaggs, who has been in the car business for 23 years, said he has other offers. He came to Vinton Motors six years ago thinking, "The place has been here [71] years, It ain't going nowhere."

Vinyard called closing the business "gut-wrenching." While I can sympathize with the owner, he also deserves admiration for trying to keep the shop open. He has spent about half of his net worth keeping the business afloat in recent years.

Wednesday morning, title clerk Yonna Weeks said she had been so busy at work she hadn't had time to think about her next move.

In addition to titles, Weeks does accounting, helps the parts and service departments and acts as receptionist and cashier.

"It's just sad," she said. "It's very, very sad.

Elliott said that most in the circumstances of Vinton Motors' employees rebound.

"Most people, in the end, when 'downsized,' 'right-sized' really feel better about the job they took. They've gotten through it."

However, she said, Vinton Motors workers "need time to grieve for what was -- and look to what is going to be."

Shanna Flowers' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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