FORM 3 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES ------------------------------ OMB APPROVAL ------------------------------ OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: September 30, 1998 Estimated average burden hours per response.........0.5 ------------------------------ Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (Print or Type Responses) _______________________________________________________________________________ 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Benton, William P. - ----------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) Parklane Towers West, Suite 1610 - ----------------------------------------------------- (Street) 3 Parklane Blvd. Dearborn MI 48126 - ----------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) _______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 12/11/97 _______________________________________________________________________________ 3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary) _______________________________________________________________________________ 4. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH) _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) --- 10% Owner _X_ Director --- Officer (give title below) --- Other (specify below) -------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________________________________________ 6. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year) _______________________________________________________________________________ 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person --- --- Form filed by More than One Reporting Person _______________________________________________________________________________
TABLE I--Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. 2. 3. 4. - --------------------------------------------- -------------------- ---------------- -------------------- Ownership Title of Amount of Securities Form: Direct Nature of Indirect Security Beneficially Owned (D) or Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) (Instr. 4) (I) (Instr. 5) (Instr. 5) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- None - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. * If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v). (Over) SEC 1473 (9-96) FORM 3 (continued)
TABLE II--Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. - ---------- ------------ -------------- -------- --------- ---------- Date Exer- Title and Amount of Ownership cisable and Securities Form of Underlying Deriv- Expiration Derivative ative Date (Month/ Security Conver- Security: Day/Year) (Instr. 4) sion or Direct -------------- -------------- Exercise (D) or Nature of Title of Date Amount Price of Indirect Indirect Derivative Exer- Expir- or Num- Deriv- (I) Beneficial Security cis- ation ber of ative (Instr. Ownership (Instr. 4) able Date Title Shares Security 5) (Instr. 5) - ---------- ------- ----- ----- ------ -------- -------- ---------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- None - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explanation of Responses: - ----------------------------------------------------- - ----------------------------------------------------- /s/ William P. Benton 1/9/98 ---------------------------------------- -------------------- ** Signature of Reporting Person Date ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number. Page 2 SEC 1473 (9-96)