Muffler Man With Beer Mug

Vale, South Dakota

Type: Cowboy (22 ft. tall)

Muffler Man with beer and a cigar.

Arm position: Standard

Accessories: Beer mug, cigar

This customized cowboy Muffler Man first came to our attention in the late 1990s when he stood on the roof of a pawn shop in Wendover, Utah, unflatteringly painted as a Rodeo Clown. He fell down sometime in 2001-2002, but by 2004 he'd reappeared standing at ground level, completely re-outfitted with a black t-shirt and hat, blue jeans, a new belt buckle, and a unique Muffler Man makeover: deep tan, blonde hair, airbrushed arm muscles, and crazy blue eyes.

In 2006 the pawn shop sold the cowboy to the Full Throttle Saloon, "The World's Largest Biker Bar," in Sturgis, South Dakota. He debuted outside their establishment in 2008 with his black t-shirt customized with Full Throttle designs, holding a fat cigar and a mega-frothy mug of beer (Some online critics suggested that the giant mug represented the amount of suds consumed by an average biker during the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally).

The beer-hoisting giant of Sturgis was so eye-catching that it inspired the creation of a second-generation saloon Muffler Man in Colorado Springs in 2012.

The Full Throttle Saloon burned to the ground on September 8, 2015, but its partying Muffler Man was far enough away from the building to escape any damage. The Saloon was rebuilt eight miles north near Bear Butte -- even further out on the range, beyond civilization -- and the Muffler Man was finally trucked to this new home in June 2017.