Muffler Man

RA ID#: 5880
Type: Classic
Town: Escondido
State: California

Arm position: standard

Accessories: Oversized muffler, seasonal attire

Note: Featured on business card and local ads

The Joor Muffler Man is courage personified. Other M-Men cower on building roofs or are secreted away after hours and off-season. But in the seasonless climes of southern California, the Joor man stands around the clock at the busy corner of Juniper and Valley Parkway in Escondido.

Joor Muffler Service has been replacing decrepit exhaust systems since first opening in 1931. Their muffler man, purchased at a trade show in the 1960s, has been wooing customers from his concrete slab for 40 years.

He sports a pencil-thin moustache, blue eyes and a piercing gaze. And he owns and extensive seasonal wardrobe. The muffler man can be seen in December dressed as Santa, and on Halloween wearing a large orange pumpkin.

During his decades of service, the big guy has survived a string of assaults. He's been riddled with arrows and splattered with paint balls. Pranksters once attached a mud-filled sheet around his waist as a gargantuan diaper. The worst was when vandals set his Santa pants on fire....

But most of the community respects the Joor Man, and would be unhappy if he left town (a less community-oriented giant, such as the crowned Midas Muffler man in Whittier, CA, can disappear with nary a whine).

They know he's important. We happened to notice, thoughtfully taped to a window in the Joor office, the Smithsonian magazine article "Big Men," (2000) where we blathered about the Muffler Men phenomenon. John DiPiero, the shop's manager, handed us a business card, which features the muffler man as business icon.

Reported Sightings | Tracking Chart

Joor Man offers muffler salvation.

An imposing presence in Escondido.

Facing the intersection.

Joor Man is dressed up for special holidays.