Muffler Men

The Indian Warrior
4310 Alfred Harrell Highway, Bakersfield, California 93308

Golf Guy
19800 S. Main Street, Carson, California 90745
(Can be seen from 405)

505 South Crane Ave, Compton, California

Edwin
2710 Santa Anita Avenue, El Monte, California 91733

Joor Muffler
302 East Valley Parkway, Escondido, California 92025

11820 River Road, Forestville, California 95436

Hat Creek Muffler Man
Hwy 89, Hat Creek, California 96040
(Formerly in Dunsmuir)

Big Mike
2020 National Ave, Hayward, California 94541
(formerly 22314 Mission Blvd)

Chicken Boy
5558 N Figueroa St., Los Angeles, California

Tony's Transmissions
3900 City Terrace Drive, Los Angeles, California 90022

El Salsero
22800 West Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California 90265

Muffler Man and Other Giants
Garnet Avenue and Mill Creek Road, Mentone, California 92359

4498 E Hyway 140, Merced, California 95340

Hubcap Lady
Pearson Road, Pearsonville, California 93527

Babe the Muffler Man
808 The Alameda, San Jose, California 95126

11114 Ridge Road, Sutter Creek, California 95685

15237 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, California 91405

390 E Commercial St, Willits, California 95490

The Joor Muffler Man in Escondido

Large giants standing 18 to 25 feet tall litter the highways of America, several scattered throughout California. In the 1960s and 1970s a fiberglass company called International Fiberglass created these roadside giants. In 1962, a man called Bob Prewitt who at the time owned Prewitt Fiberglass created the very first Muffler Man, a Paul Bunyan style giant for PB Cafe on Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 1963, Steve Dashew purchased the business from him and until 1975, Muffler Men were churned out by the company, now called International Fiberglass, and appeared on roadways throughout the United States.

Tony of Tony�s Transmissions holds up a car in Los Angeles

The term Muffler Man was coined by Roadside America probably sometime around the mid to late nineties, long after the last Muffler Man was built. Muffler Men are made entirely of fiberglass, hollow, usually portraying a rugged individual with broad shoulders and his left palm face down while the right palm is face up in order to hold an axe, golf club, muffler, tire, etc. They came in a few different variations. The main one with the square jaw was usually beardless although some have had mustaches or beards painted on. This model occasionally came as a cowboy with removable cowboy hat. Next, or perhaps first, was the Paul Bunyan model complete with axe, cap, and beard. Indians were also made with different chests, arms, and heads. The arm instead of bent at the elbows and holding a variety of items had the right hand raised in the stereotypical Native American greeting. The chest was also shirtless and produced from a slightly different mold. Finally there was the country bumpkin style of Muffler Man which had the head replaced with a large eared gap toothed straw hat wearing noggin.

Babe the Muffler Man in San Jose

International Fiberglass also made several other types of fiberglass statues including the hard to find Uniroyal Girls. The Uniroyal Girl is the female equivalent of the Muffler Man and looks a lot like Jackie Kennedy. Her left arm is held up in the air and her right hand is on her hip. She usually came in a dress, although there appear to be many that have probably been modified with her now sporting a two piece bathing suit. There is one Uniroyal Girl in California that we are aware of. She can be found in Pearsonville along highway 395 and is known as the Hubcab Lady named after a resident, Lucy Pearson, who once collected over 80,000 hubcaps. Sinclair dinosaurs additionally came from the same company.

Chicken Boy!

Originally Muffler Men were mostly found outside auto shops, restaurants, and later miniature golf courses, but now can be found almost anywhere. Additionally, many have been customized such as Chicken Boy in the Los Angeles area. Chicken Boy has the head of a chicken and holds a large bucket. Chicken Boy originally stood over Los Angeles advertising for a chicken restaurant. In 1984 the mutant Muffler Man was taken down shortly after the restaurant closed. It was saved by Amy Inouye who for over two decades has been holding on to Chicken Boy trying to get him restored somewhere. Finally in late 2007, early 2008, Chicken Boy was placed back up in Los Angeles. A few groups in the area refer to him as the �Statue of Liberty of Los Angeles�.

Muffler Men in the sixties and seventies cost anywhere from $1000 to $2800 each, depending on quantity ordered and accessories installed on each fiberglass statues. Now a days it is not surprising to see them go for $20,000! Probably, one of the more famous Muffler Men can be seen in the opening credits of the HBO series "The Sopranos". This is an actual Muffler Man from NJ.

The Hayward Muffler Man is an example of one of the Paul Bunyan bearded muffler men. He originally sat outside a car wash and use to carry a scrub brush. Now he stands outside an auto shop and the scrub brush has been removed.

The Malibu Muffler Man is another example of a converted Muffler Man. Standing along the Pacific Coast Highway at a Mexican restaurant called La Salsa, he wears a sombrero, sports a mustache, and carries a large platter (formerly filled with food). The location was a burger joint back in the seventies and back then the Muffler Man (then referred to as Malibu Frosty Freeze Man) carried a large burger, the bottom half of the bun is now the platter. He is often called "El Salsero".

So far, we've found seven of the many Muffler Men out there, and we'd love to have your help finding other Muffler Men. Although we obviously only concentrate on California, we'll also be very appreciative for anyone sending us pictures of Muffler Men out of this state as well. Happy hunting!

Check back later this month, as we intend to get pictures of the Uniroyal Girl in Pearsonville and the Indian in Bakersfield.