Billy Fuccillo’s booming voice can be heard on the radio, on television, or on the lot if you live in Southwest Florida or close to one of his other dealerships.
According to his dealership, Fuccillo, 65, passed away on Friday, June 18, following months of deteriorating health.
It’s going to be huuuuuge! was Fuccillo’s catchphrase. he has a great heart as well. on-air.
Along with running the Fuccillo Automotive Group, he frequently gave to charity, including $100,000 in 2019 for the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida to help fight local hunger.
Every time Fuccillo gave a gift, he appeared to be the recipient rather than the giver. Fuccillo was quite compassionate. Over the years, he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to both the Salvation Army and the Harry Chapin Food Bank.
Billy had a reputation for unexpectedly calling and stating, “Hey, I’ve got something for you. And as a result of that, Richard LeBer, CEO of the Harry Chapin Food Bank, stated, “You know, he fed many thousands of people in Southwest Florida.” “I believe that the word “big” will simply become part of everyday speech for a very long time to come.
Fuccillo knew Robert Goodman as a buddy. When Fuccillo converted Goodman’s land into his Cape Coral Kia vehicle business, the two came into contact.
He was anxious about it, according to Goodman. “He phoned me Bobby, Bobby, and he said, ‘This doesn’t work, I need you to purchase it back from me, I want to, I want to get a money-back guarantee, and I was so convinced that it would work.'”
Fuccillo became a philanthropist quite quickly. He began giving away free homes and automobiles. Free gas day was also observed.
According to Goodman, “He was you know, he had this presence on TV. “But when you got to know him, he was really, you know, a humble man.
Sandra Hamblin George, a customer, stated, “I want to thank Billy Fuccillo from Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral. We had such lovely memories of our trips to Europe and the Bahamas. ” Billy, you are appreciated and will be missed.
The Cape Coral and Port Charlotte Fuccillo Kia dealerships were sold to LMP Automotive Holdings, a Delaware-based company, in late 2020.
Visit this link to view Fuccillo’s obituary. On June 24, his funeral will take place in Syracuse, New York.
In This Article...
What happened to Billy Fuccillo?
1956 saw the birth of Fuccillo in Greenport, Suffolk County, New York. He earned a marketing degree from Syracuse University in 1978. [1] After graduating from college, he worked at several auto lots. He went independent and started his own dealership in 1989. Over the years, the company expanded to have over 25 dealerships in Florida and New York. [2] distributing a range of brands. [3] His catchphrase, “It’s HUGE!” is frequently used throughout his advertising. [4] [5] Tom Park, who served as Fuccillo’s production director and the straight man in many of the company’s advertisements up until 2018, remarked that the line was first improvised by Fuccillo in response to the large turnout at a sales event. The two liked it so much that they adopted it as their trademark from that point forward. [6]
On June 17, 2021, Fuccillo passed away in his Florida home after months of deteriorating health and a protracted illness.
[7] Almost precisely one year later, Park passed away. [8]
A sale of Fuccillo Kia has occurred?
Billy Fuccillo, a famed car dealer, passed away at the age of 65, ten years after Southwest Florida first felt his imposing presence.
According to CNY Central, the Syracuse Auto Dealers Association informed its members via email on Friday morning of Fuccillo’s passing.
Percy Vaughn, a Kia executive, and many others remember Fuccillo as a legendary vehicle salesman who always thought of others.
“Billy was a trailblazer. He accomplished feats that other auto dealers only imagine. Although he appeared in those advertisements, he was always giving back to the community “says he. “Man, Billy was a legend. Billy won’t ever be replaced.”
His Fuccillo Kia of Cape Coral was sold in March for $13.1 million, bringing an extravagant era that included rock concerts, cruise giveaways, and broken lease agreements to an end.
Fuccillo sold his Cape Coral house to Kevin Ruane’s family trust for $2.25 million last year after realizing that his health had deteriorated over the previous year. Kevin Ruane is a Lee County Commissioner and the former mayor of Sanibel.
He first gained notoriety in Southwest Florida because to his Pine Island Road Kia store and its advertisements that included his characteristic “Huuu-ja!” and pitch partner Caroline Renfro. After a short while, the Korean-owned corporation named his Kia dealership the best-selling in the entire world.
Long before the Pine Island Road boom, when Cape Coral was the focus of the national housing crash, and in a Southwest Florida still reeling from the Great Recession, he gambled on property that housed an abandoned Saturn dealership. He defended the dealership’s practice of catering to consumers with low credit ratings and didn’t hesitate to offer cars to individuals getting over the crisis.
Kia-branded automobiles have quickly climbed into the top 10 of new car sales in Lee County since the Fuccillo Kia car dealership debuted in December 2010.
“How are you going to finance people?” In a 2017 News-Press story, Fuccillo posed the question. “I believe we made a lot of efforts to help the neighborhood turn itself around, and they in turn assisted us. We’re here to sell automobiles, that’s what we do.”
He was the well-known figure in Southwest Florida, the one with the welcoming smile you could just walk up to and strike up a conversation with.
Sue Smith of North Naples, who met Fuccillo at a Ruth’s Chris Steak House happy hour in Estero a few years ago, is one who did exactly that. He was cordial and kind as Smith excitedly approached him to introduce himself. She remarked, “I was so happy to have met him, and I constantly tell people that he was really different in person from how he appeared on television. Smith intends to toast him when he eventually makes it back to the eatery.
Who ruled Fuccillo after?
New York’s WATERTOWN (WWNY) – There has been a huge shift in the neighborhood auto industry.
Wally Darwish now owns 12 Fuccillo Automotive dealerships around New York, including the Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Mitsubishi dealerships in Watertown and Adams.
“When I learned that I could and had the chance to buy these dealerships, I really pursued it and pursued it hard,” Darwish said on Tuesday.
Darwish acknowledges that he must step into very huge shoes, but the New Jersey native claims that his love of the spotlight is similar to Fuccillo’s.
“Man, you remind us of that man Billly Fuccillo,” people would frequently say to me when they saw me on television when I would say, “Come on down, have fun, and get a wonderful price, woo hoo,” Darwish added.
Darwish wants all of his clients and colleagues to continue to exhibit the same compassion and consideration that Fuccillo was known for.
I’m very thrilled that the people that are here will have the chance to grow alongside me, he remarked.
Darwish gave every employee at the places it acquired the opportunity to work for him or her going forward.
In addition, Darwish claims that he plans to buy successful dealerships like Fuccillo’s in order to achieve his goal of becoming a household name in five to seven years.
What ever happened to the Fuccillo Kia owner?
Billy Fuccillo, a renowned auto dealer, was never shy about using his catchphrase “It’s Gonna Be Huuuuuuggge” in radio ads, TV advertising, or even on his vehicle lots.
The Syracuse Auto Dealers Association informed its members via email of Billy Fuccillo’s loss, writing, “It is with deep sorrow that we inform you of the passing of former member and friend, Billy Fuccillo.
Fuccillo grew up on Long Island, New York. He attended Syracuse University on a football scholarship and afterwards became a used car salesperson for Sam Dell and Bill Rapp.
Later, he established Fuccillo Autobrokers, Inc., a used car dealership. Then, in 1989, Fuccillo built his first auto dealership, a Mitsubishi franchise, in Watertown, New York.
His advertisements soon appeared all over Florida and central New York. In both states, he operated more than 25 auto dealerships.
Additionally, Fuccillo had a kind heart. He gave away two automobiles to two women in Wesley Chapel as a surprise in 2016. He frequently gave to organizations including the American Heart Association, the Harry Chapin Food Bank, and many more.
In 2015, he stated, “I’m a man who wants to donate in the communities that I do business in solely.”
Fuccillo promised to assist Barbara Jimenez, a USF student who had been seriously injured in a car accident in Cuba, in getting back to her home in Florida in 2015. Preston Rudie, who at the time served as the director of communications for then-Congressman David Jolly, recalled that Jimenez didn’t have insurance or the means to return home, so Fuccillo volunteered to fly her back on his private plane.
I’ll never forget the time he called to ask me to help someone in need and to make that offer to a female he didn’t know. According to Rudie, the founder and CEO of Catalyst Communications Group, “I think that spoke volumes about his character and who he was as a man.”
What disease did Billy Fuccillo suffer from?
Fuccillo’s passing was disclosed to members of the Syracuse Auto Dealers Association through email on Friday morning, according to WSTM.
Following a stroke, Fuccillo’s health had deteriorated during the previous year, and he sold the Ruane family his property in Cape Coral, Florida, for $2.25 million, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. At the time of his passing, he was a resident of Sarasota, Florida.
Two dealerships in southwest Florida, located in Port Charlotte and Cape Coral, were sold by Fuccillo last year to the publicly held LMP Automotive Holdings company, according to the newspaper. According to the Albany Times-Union, Fuccillo sold Matthews Auto Group three New York dealerships in the Syracuse area and two in the Rochester area in January 2021.
The advertisements Fuccillo was most famous for on television and radio always ended with a loud voice.
“In an interview with the Times Union in 2008, Fuccillo stated, “My mum says she mutes me when my advertisements come on.”
“William Fitzpatrick, the district attorney for Onondaga County, told WSTM that he was larger than life.
“He was a large man. He had a strong personality, according to Kim Perrella, vice president of member relations and auto shows for the Eastern New York Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Inc.
Fitzpatrick claimed that Fuccillo, an enthusiastic golfer, attracted attention everywhere he went.
Every time we played and he made a shot, someone would exclaim, “That was HUGE! According to Fitzpatrick, Billy would wave and smile as if he were hearing it for the first time. “Just a wonderful man.
Before earning a degree in marketing, Fuccillo played tight end for the football team at Syracuse University, according to the News-Press. According to the Times-Union, he claimed to be broke and on the verge of being kicked out of his flat after graduation.
“Selling automobiles was the only employment I could find, Fuccillo admitted to the newspaper. “I discovered I was proficient at it.
According to WKBW, Fuccillo was also renowned for his generosity. Fucillo Automotive provided hundreds of meals at a time to front-line staff at hospitals around Western New York during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“People could make fun of him, but what the heck? Because everyone knew his name, that man was among the smartest men I have ever met, Perrella told the Times-Union.” In terms of marketing, he did an excellent job.
According to the News-Press, Fuccillo organized a Styx performance on his Cape Coral lot in 2012 that attracted thousands of the band’s fans and resulted in the sale of dozens of vehicles.
When he sold 523 automobiles in a single day in 1996, Fuccillo claimed it was his best day as a dealer. According to the press, he invited Evil Knievel’s son Robbie to jump his motorcycle over 19 automobiles in front of the Adams Dealership.