car salesman significance...

Pink is a significant character because he's a close male figure to Sonny in the novel.  He holds the keys to a future that can take Sonny away from this place he calls his home.  At any moment, Sonny can gather all the money he's saved from stealing, and buy the Bel-Air.  Pink is also a conflicting charactet between Sonny and Cloyd because Cloyd doesn't like Pink's hustling ways and how he brings black people around the building.  Pink is actually quite close to the black community because he is in fact black himself.  If you read far enough into the novel, it is revealed that Pink is an albino.  Either way, Sonny has no problems with him and Pink even calls Sonny "little brother."  I think by the end of the story, Sonny will purchase the Bel-Air, leave the neighborhood, and finally be the man he's always wanted to be.