Big A: Texaco Giant

Galena, Kansas

This 22-foot-tall fiberglass Muffler Man -- named "Big A, the Texaco Giant" -- was installed and unveiled on September 8, 2024, outside of Gearhead Curios, a Route 66 and Jefferson Highway souvenir shop housed in a restored 1939 Texaco filling station.

In the late 1960s International Fiberglass created giant service station attendants named "Big Friends" for a nationwide marketing campaign at Texaco service stations. Almost all were later destroyed.

Mark Cline of Enchanted Castle Studios in Virginia created this new version of a Big Friend. From the shoulders down he is molded from the 2nd Amendment Cowboy Muffler Man in Amarillo, Texas, and his head is molded from a Paul Bunyan Muffler Man. Cline added a goatee and painted sideburns to resemble Gearhead Curios' owner Aaron Perry (This also explains how the Man got his "Big A" name). His arms and hands are positioned with one waving like a Texaco Big Friend, the other holding a custom-made wrench.