Greensburg's headless 'muffler man' ready for his makeover
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The hulking, 20-foot headless male figure who for the last half century has kept watch outside of a Greensburg auto repair shop is finally ready for a makeover.
Greensburg's "muffler man," a fiberglass statue who was once one of hundreds across the U.S. in the early 1960s, has seen various iterations, from a muscular lumberjack to a high school football player and even a Pittsburgh Steelers team member.
Brian Baughman, owner of Lug Nutz Tire and Auto Service on New Alexandria Road, bought the business with the famous figure in front of it in 2002 and has seen customers and curious passersby look up and marvel at roadside oddity, one that has been without a head for about a decade.
"We've had a lot of people stop and take pictures. It's almost caused wrecks. You'd think it would be a good thing, but we've had a lot of people who will curse me out because of that thing. One guy called me up out of the blue to ask when I'm getting it fixed," Baughman said.
The bearded lumberjack's head blew off about a decade ago during an overnight wind storm. Baughman said he came to work the next morning and saw the head on the ground between the figure's legs. It was badly deteriorated but has been repaired and repainted is ready to be hoisted atop its body.
Greensburg's headless muffler man is one of about 200 that remain throughout the U.S, according to Ken Smith, a senior editor with Roadside America. He helped name the statues during a cross-country drive in 1994.
"We were in Ohio and started talking about these giant statutes. We saw there were many with giant mufflers so we started calling them muffler men," Smith said. "We've tracked about 200 of them around the country. A lot got destroyed over the years."
Smith said the original muffler man was crafted to promote a restaurant, the Paul Bunyan Cafe in Flagstaff, Ariz. The mold for the figure was eventually sold to salesman who customized the design and marketed it to businesses throughout the country. The muffler men predominately appeared in front of auto repair shops and held tires, mufflers, axes and other objects until they went out of production about 1974.
"The whole point of these is that when you are driving around, it gets people to stop," Smith said.
According to Roadside America, there are currently six muffler men in Pennsylvania, including Greensburg's headless version, along
with statues in Kittanning
and Uniontown.
A resurgence of sorts is underway as newer muffler men are being produced and are sprouting up across the county, Smith said.
An original could be worth as much $15,000 to $20,000 and in some cases are being sold separately from the businesses where they stand, Smith said.
The Greensburg-area muffler man has been repainted and repaired over the years, most recently last year when its black Steelers jersey was replaced with what is believed to be the statue's original red shirt and blue pants color scheme.
Baughman's wife and three young children took the oversized head home last year and repainted it.
"It's time to fix it. We're going to reattach the original head this summer," Baughman said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .
