Muffler Man Cowboy - Big Don
Hayward, California
Type: Cowboy (22 ft. tall)
Arm position: Standard
Accessories: Stetson Hat
Nickname: Big Don
This cowboy Muffler Man hails from Missouri, where it was lost for over a decade. He stood at a Boonville gas station along I-70. After the station closed, the fiberglass giant was auctioned off in 2000. His new owners intended to donate the figure to a planned children's museum near Kansas City. The museum fell through, and the Cowboy was left in storage.
Bruce Kennedy purchased the Cowboy in 2013 to display at his Bell Plastics business location in Hayward. The figure was restored, the painted details rendered to create a lifelike face. It is anchored on a concrete slab in front of the building.
Bruce plans to add a backdrop and more details to the display, which is along an otherwise non-descript street in an industrial park.