Lou Sobh's long string of business successes would seem marked by too many big moments to focus quickly on one as the biggest.

Sobh's first-person ragsto- riches immigrant's tale ranks with the best of them. He moved to Gary, Ind., from Mexico as a teenager in 1960, working jobs that included janitor and department store salesman on his way to getting a sales job in a car showroom.

Today he's one of Atlanta's biggest automobile dealers, with showrooms around the metro area as well as in California, Florida, Illinois and Mexico. More than 650 employees see the 62-year-old's name on their paychecks, and his far-flung auto empire generated nearly $410 million in 2005.

So what was his biggest professional moment? The day he opened his flagship dealership in Duluth? Maybe it was in 2001, when he received the General Motors President's Leadership Award. Or maybe it was when he cracked the national top 10 sales ranking of Hispanic-owned companies listed by Hispanic Business magazine.

No, Sobh said, there is one event in his business life that tops those and the other milestones.

"The biggest thrill of my life is when President Bush gave a speech about me at the White House, about diversity," Sobh said.

Here's some of what the president said in his remarks on Oct. 2, 2003, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month: "Let me tell you a story about Lou Sobh, who is with us today. In 1960, he left Mexico - no money, and he couldn't speak the language ... He served in the United States Army. He got out of the Army, and he had a dream to open up his own car dealership.

"Today, he owns 14. He's living proof of the American dream. It's an incredibly important part of our nation, the Latino spirit of hard work and drive and enterprise."

Within six months, Sobh learned English well enough to win a sales job in a department store, but quickly grew impatient with his education opportunities. The steel mills of Gary, Ind., were a magnet for immigrants from all over the world at the time, but the language classes being taught were populated mainly by middle-aged Eastern European immigrants, and he felt uncomfortable studying under those conditions.

So Sobh went to work.

"The main thing is, no matter what I did, I did the best I could doing it," Sobh said. "If I was a floor sweeper, I was the best floor sweeper. I never looked for a handout, only for opportunity."

Active in the Hispanic community, Sobh urges young people to adopt the same work ethic. For students who want to pursue higher education, he offers significant support to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

He has recently dabbled in nonautomotive ventures in metro Atlanta, including as an investor and board member at the United Americas Bank, and as an investor in Plaza del Sol, a Chamblee shopping center catering to Hispanic shoppers.

Sobh sees both ventures as meeting the needs of Atlanta's Hispanic community in a way not previously available.

"We wanted to have a nice place for the community," he said of Plaza del Sol.

His business associates admire Sobh's drive.

"Lou is a ball of entrepreneurial energy," said Rey Pascual, a partner at Atlanta law firm Kilpatrick Stockton and a fellow board member at United Americas Bank. "When he gets an idea in his head, he just pushes on."

Sobh and his wife, Georgia, live in Duluth, where he raised a son, Michael, and a daughter, Laurie. His daughter operates the family dealership in Conyers, and his son runs the Duluth shop.

Sobh's spacious office above the Duluth showroom is outfitted in rich wood and accessories that reflect his roots and where his passions lie. In the latter category is a model of a private jet he is commissioning, although he says his real passion is boats.

And when he is on the move by land, these days Sobh drives a new, black Hummer H2, usually parked in front of the dealership and kept spotless by his crew. Ownership has its privileges.

On a recent day, he accommodated a photographer by climbing onto the running board of one of the dealership's showroom Hummers, where he offered a telling quip to nearby employees: "I look like Patton. All I need are the pearl-handled pistols."