Texaco Big Friend

In May 2024 as part of the grand opening celebration for the new American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois, a freshly restored, ultra-rare giant was erected out front: an original Texaco Big Friend.

The Texaco Big Friend is an offshoot of the Muffler Man roadside attraction, fiberglass giants who stand anywhere from 14 to 25 feet tall built between 1963 and 1972 by International Fiberglass in Venice, California. With signature stances, these big men stood outside of muffler shops and other businesses to call attention from the road.

The Big Friend is unique among his peers with its signature stance (one arm bet up and the other bent to the front, palm up), impressive size (24-feet tall), and standard issue Texaco uniform (a green branded jumpsuit and service cap).

This roadside attraction was originally created as part of a marketing campaign for Texaco from 1966 to 1967. Their advertisements at the time featured giant station attendants on hand to provide their “Big Friend Service” to customers. They pledged to check the car’s windshield, battery, oil and radiator. This Big Friend pledge is reflected in the muffler man’s stance, where one arm is bent with the palm forward, as is making a promise.

International Fiberglass Company built 300 of these 25-foot-tall statues for the Texaco Oil Company’s Big Friend advertising campaign, with an option to make up to 3,000. Unfortunately, these over-the-top roadside attractions soon became a liability, unstably toppling over and causing accidents. Plus, their sheer size made them difficult to transport. Production was halted and all of the commissioned giants were ordered to be destroyed. Luckily, though rare, at least a few were spared and today you can still find some remnants of the attractions, whether in parts or in full. But out of the original 300, only about 6 are known to exist today.

The Atlanta Texaco Big Friend is 24-feet tall, that’s seven feet taller than the museum building and four feet taller than the Bunyon Giant Muffler Man down the block.

The giant went up late in the day on May 26, 2024 with a crowd watching on who had gathered for the Grand Opening celebration. Joel Baker of American Giants procured the roadside attraction and (Re) Giant (formerly American Giants Restorations) restored it to be displayed. It originally stood in Las Vegas, and, after spending time at a mobile home company before being scrapped and eventually donated to a local museum. The museum contacted American Giants, who kept it safely in storage until the recent restoration.

The Texaco Big Friend is located on the west side of the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois, along the 1926 alignment of historic Route 66. You can stop by to see it any time, whether the museum is open or not. But, if the museum is open, be sure to pop inside to learn more about this and all the other muffler men and fiberglass giants