Probably the most famous muffler man standing today is the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, IL. He stands in the parking lot of the Launching Pad Restaurant and has been for the last 48 years. I’ve covered the different versions of muffler men on this blog and in my youtube series “American Giants” and the gemini giant belongs the rarest version, the spaceman. In the mid 60’s we were in them middle of the space race and in June of that year Gemini 4 was launched, it was the second manned space flight in NASA’s project Gemini. As these events were unfolding in Cape Canaveral the guys at international fiberglass in California decided to keep up with the times and make a new variation to their muffler man line. And so the space man was born.
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American Giants - Muffler Men 
That is so cool!
I saw an old picture of a similar Muffler Man in front of a car wash. The caption said it was in Los Angeles. I believe the photo was in the book “Pump and Circumstance”.
Thanks for the tip! I found the book on Amazon but I’m going to check and see if I and find it in a library first. I’m looking forward to having a look at the picture!
The launching pad has now been sold. They have started repairs and plan on being open in 2018.
Thanks for possting this
My previous comment on its auction didn’t post. It sold today for $275,000!!! PLUS 18% auction fee + 7% tax = + $68,750= $343,750!!!!!
I know it’s the original, but Mark Cline probably could have remade and shipped one for a whole bunch less.
Maybe one of the route 66 museums was the buyer or The Joliet Area Historical Museum who wanted it pretty bad. They previously offered $150,000 for it plus $420,00 for the property and $50,000 for the fixtures as a package sale reportedly. The asking price for all was $1.4 million and the sellers would not initially separate in the sale. We will see.