Iconic Arizona auto dealer Tex Earnhardt dies at 89

PHOENIX - Iconic Arizona car dealer Tex Earnhardt has passed away at the age of 89 from natural causes, Earnhardt Auto Centers announced on their website Sunday.

"With great sorrow, Earnhardt Auto Centers announces the passing “Tex” – whom so many know to be the founder of Earnhardt Auto Centers – at the age of 89," the site reads.

The cause of death wasn't immediately released.

Earnhardt moved from rural Texas to the Phoenix suburb of Chandler as a teenager where he worked at his family's gas station.

In 1951, he became the youngest person to receive a Ford franchise just shy of his 21st birthday.

Earnhardt was famous for his TV commercials that showed him in cowboy attire atop a bull as he talked about a great deal on his autos and then delivered his trademark slogan of "and that ain't no bull."

“Tex’s mark on the economic landscape of the Southwest and in the hearts of our family and Arizonans will endure for generations to come,” said Derby Earnhardt, grandson of Tex on the website. 

Read the announcement here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.