407-page hardcover · 2026

Earl ScheibA Colorful Life

Donald Scheib Jr. & Allan Telias

$85 + $10 USPS · Total $95

Ships in 5 business days · ISBN 979-8-218-65901-1

Hardcover coffee-table book Earl Scheib: A Colorful Life — thick landscape edition

The man who painted America

From a Los Angeles gas station handshake to a coast-to-coast paint empire — Hollywood TV spots, Thoroughbred Racing, and a documented trail that reaches Jimmy Hoffa, the FBI, and JFK investigation. Built on one promise: “I’ll paint any car for just $19.95.”

Earl Scheib became a household name. His later “$29.95” slogan entered American pop culture — referenced in movies, on television, and in everyday conversation. Away from the spray booth he was also a major thoroughbred owner and breeder, with champion racehorses that carried the Scheib name across the finish line.

From the archive

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Al Scheib’s customized 1957 Plymouth Fury — Hamilton studio portrait — Al Scheib · 1957 Plymouth Fury

Vintage Earl Scheib newspaper advertisements — left book page — Classic Newspaper Ads

Custom culture collage — Scheib cars, dune buggies, and candy paint from the book — Scheib Family Fun

Uncle Phil’s prop dynamite gag gift — mock bomb on a kitchen counter — Uncle Phil’s humor

Winner’s circle photo — jockey on horse facing the camera — Earl's Championship Horses

Woodboard of four early Earl Scheib shop photographs — Early Expansion

Earl Scheib fleet semi truck — Frank Lambe Road Runner — Fleet Clientele

The Hondells memorabilia — Surf Route 101, Mercury Hits, and USO Shows poster — Uncle Ritchie & the Hondells

Earl Scheib auto painting shop with car trunk in foreground — *“I’ll paint any car for 19.95”*

Vintage Earl Scheib matchbook ads pinned on a corkboard — Matchbook ads

Vintage Earl Scheib newspaper advertisements — right book page — Classic Advertisements

Fran’s Valentine Stakes commemorative plaque for Eddie’s New Dream at Santa Anita Park — Santa Anita Racetrack · Fran’s Valentine Stakes

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“I’ll paint any car for just $19.95.”
The promise that painted America

Studio lights off

Earl Scheib

One famous face, One famous disappearance, One national wound — and a paint king who was never only about paint.

America knew Earl Scheib as the man who’d paint any car. He was a television staple with a bargain pitch that became a familiar punchline. But people never knew the harder story underneath: an empire that looked like the American Dream on the surface, with something quieter in the shadows.

The assassination of JFK brought an investigation that didn’t only chase presidents and gunmen. It brushed against Jimmy Hoffa, Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald — and Earl Scheib.