♪ You might not ever get rich Those of a certain age, might remember the 1976 hit movie "Car Wash," the disco-infused comedy about a day in the life at the Dee-Luxe Car Wash, its employees and its eclectic mix of visitors.

♪ Working at the car wash ♪ Working at the car wash, yeah ♪ It's a throwback to a different era, music and fashion.

Same can be said for what it was, a full service car wash with the outside and inside getting cleaned.

- There's not many of us left in this business.

- [Jason] Here in Charlotte and around the Carolinas, we have one, and its roots go all the way back to even before the "Car Wash" movie was released.

- I was there when it started.

- [Jason] The Autobell story begins in 1969.

At the time, Charlie Howard was working for a local industrial company, but when that company was bought out, Charlie found himself out of a job.

- So he had to find something else to do.

- [Jason] He partnered with a friend to sell truck-washing equipment.

♪ Car wash, yeah - In order to have a show place to showcase their equipment, they built the first Autobell Car Wash right here in Charlotte down on South Boulevard.

- [Jason] As for the Autobell name, the auto and Autobell has two meanings, auto for automobile and automation.

The bell part, well, that comes from somewhere else.

- It just so happened at the time, we were doing business with an architectural firm that used Bell Towers as an architectural feature, a focal point if you will.

So he said, "Well, it's kind of natural, Autobell."

- [Jason] Charlie's son, Chuck, was a college sophomore when the first Autobell opened.

Two years later, and with his business degree from UNCC in hand, he joined up with dad.

- 'Cause everything we were doing were things that I'd studied in my business classes.

Little by little, we just slow and steady kept growing and growing the business - [Jason] In 1986, and was still a relatively small company, Autobell founder, Charlie Howard, passed away at just 60 years old.

- A pioneer not only for our company but for the entire industry.

- His character is alive and well in this company.

- It took a while to get my feet on the ground and begin to implement my own plan.

- [Jason] For Carl Howard, joining his dad in the family business, the one that his grandfather had started, only seemed natural.

- From the time I was an early teenager, I worked in the car washes, and then I got my license, and I could actually drive a car out, which was exciting.

- [Jason] Over its five plus decades, Autobell has remained in the Howard family with the fourth generation of Howards now on board.

- We're not big corporate private equity, we just do it the old-fashioned way.

We use our funds and borrow a little bit from the banks, and keep growing the company.

- [Jason] But the term, family, goes well beyond just the Howard name.

- We have employees that I consider family, 'cause you know, they've been with us so long.

- I'm one of many who's part of the family.

So with the family vibe comes the family accountability.

- [Jason] Autobell is known for hiring high school students with many returning during and after college.

Every single one of the company's managers, district managers, regional managers, and operations directors, started out by working as a crew member.

- I think about 75% of our employees are students, and it's a great job for a student.

You know, there's no late night work.

It's physical activity, it's outside, a lot of people like that.

- By the time our people are ready to join our management team, they're already well-indoctrinated in our culture, so they understand what our company is all about.

- [Jason] Over the years, they've implemented multiple programs to better serve the community from recycling used water.

- And it enables us to wash cars with only about eight gallons of new water per car.

- [Jason] To giving back to various organizations, like the $12,000 they recently gave the Red Cross, and the 2 million plus dollars of scholarship money for student employees heading off to college.

- We have parents call us wanting to know how they can get their son or daughter into the scholarship programs.

- [Jason] Slow and steady, that's been Autobell's growth model over the years with now 90 some locations across five states.

- Not every decision make is all about profit dollars, right?

It's about what's best for the whole group, what's best for the growth of our company, what's best for the next five years, the next 10 years.

- [Jason] In a world where companies, get bought out all the time, how has Autobell done it?

Well, look no further than the foundation set by founder Charlie Howard 55 years ago.

- Every company makes mistakes.

So the question is, how quickly can you recognize this is not working, let's change it, and do something else that might work or that will work?

- That's one of the great freedoms we have in this country, is to be able to create a business really from practically nothing and grow it.

- [Jason] From a single location on South Boulevard to closing in on 100, makes you wonder what Charlie would say now, nearly 40 years after his passing.

- He'd probably say, "Why didn't you go faster?"

- "Why aren't we bigger?

Why didn't we grow faster?"

(Carl laughs) - But I think he would be very proud of where it is.

But yeah, he was put the pedal to the floor kinda guy for sure.

- [Jason] Employing roughly 3,000 full and part-time employees, and washing some 5 million cars annually, more than 90 million since 1969.

It's probably fair to say, Autobell has left an enduring mark on the Carolinas.