With the death of 48-year-old entertainment icon James Van Der Beek on February 11, 2026, the pop culture world has started looking back through his body of work to honor his memory. While high-profile projects like “Dawson’s Creek” and “Texas Rangers” stand as some of his most well-known and celebrated works, some of his other acting efforts have flown under the radar. For instance, many might not know that Van Der Beek once went undercover as a car salesman way back in 2016 for the reality series “Stars Selling Cars.”<\/p>\n
As the name suggests, Autoblog’s “Stars Selling Cars”<\/a> was a YouTube show where well-known celebrities went undercover at a car lot. They tried to pass themselves off as normal salespeople without customers realizing who they were truly dealing with. Van Der Beek was the first star to give this a whirl in the series’ premiere episode. Try as he did to pass himself off as a regular car salesman \u2014 khakis, mustache, and all \u2014 multiple customers caught on and recognized him. Hopefully, these car buyers were as good at identifying credible car dealers<\/a> as they were at spotting disguised actors on car lots.<\/p>\n This wasn’t the only time Van Der Beek worked around cars in his career. His appearance on “Stars Selling Cars” came a few years after appearing in a widely-seen, nostalgic car commercial.<\/p>\n Read more: Stunning Vehicles In Tom Cruise’s Collection That Aren’t Cars<\/a><\/p>\n James Van Der Beek disguised as a car salesman in an episode of “Stars Selling Cars.” – Autoblog\/YouTube<\/p>\n A few years before his appearance on the debut episode of “Stars Selling Cars,” James Van Der Beek appeared in a 2013 advertisement for the car-buying and selling platform Cars.com<\/a>\u00a0that played on Van Der\u00a0Beek’s history in emotional and dramatic roles. The ad featured him delivering lines from one of his most popular films, 1999’s “Varsity Blues,” as a way to add the sort of drama customers might expect when buying a car, in contrast to the supposed drama-free experience of buying via Cars.com.<\/p>\n Cars.com didn’t stop there, of course. The platform took things beyond TV with its\u00a0#VanDerDrama social media campaign,\u00a0encouraging folks on Twitter (as it was known then) to join in and discuss the ad. On top of this engagement, there were also Van Der Beek-themed contests for folks to enter. All in all, this may not be one of the absolute wildest car commercials of all time<\/a>, but for fans of Van Der Beek and “Varsity Blues,” it’s a fun, nostalgic watch all the same.<\/p>\n Whether bringing the titular Dawson to life on “Dawson’s Creek,” delivering his “Varsity Blues” lines in a car commercial, or trying to sell cars incognito on “Stars Selling Cars,” James Van Der Beek consistently gave his all in front of the camera. He will be sorely missed.<\/p>\n Want the latest in tech and auto trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a> for the latest headlines, expert guides, and how-to tips, one email at a time. You can also add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\nBefore going undercover, Van Der Beek advertised for Cars.com<\/h2>\n
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