We Know Who You’re Guessing This Mufflermobile Was Originally Built For But You’re Probably Wrong

There’s something inherently fun about cars that look like things that are not cars. There’s the Weinermobile that looks like a hotdog, and Plantar’s Peanutmobile is a joyous machine, too. But what about a car that looks like a muffler?

William Jordan has come into possession of just such a vehicle. At a glance, it’s unmistakable: it’s shaped like a big, flat muffler that would normally dangle beneath a car. It’s even slightly battered and rusted, just like the real thing after a few seasons out in the weather.

“I do know some of the history,” William tells me. He believes the vehicle was originally built as a promotional tool for the Meineke auto repair chain, sharing an older photo apparently from the vehicle’s past.

“[They were] originally created in Arizona, [and] they bounced around five exhaust shops there for years,” says William. “They ended up being purchased by the Denver car museum Rodz and Bodz, and now I have it in Kansas City, Missouri,” he says.

He reckons he has a handle on the total numbers these were built in, too. “It’s rumored that Meineke only built three of these to be used in commercials … I’m trying to find a way to confirm this, but haven’t yet.”

Meineke’s ads typically involved historical or pop culture figures abusing their staff over muffler prices. 

While many Meineke commercials are preserved on YouTube, like this great Shakespearean example, none remain that show the promotional vehicle. If you’ve got video evidence of the Meineke muffler cars in a commercial, don’t hesitate to reach out – lewin@theautopian.com.

 

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A post shared by Rodz & Bodz Movie Car Museum & Rentals (@rodzandbodz)

A picture of Meineke’s promotional muffler car.

William’s example does bear a resemblance to the Meineke promotional vehicle. However, there are some obvious differences. The tail lights don’t match, and are mounted in a different location. William’s muffler car also features proud seams on the front, rear, and sides, and a fuel filler sticking up through the top of the body. In comparison, the Meineke promotional car is relatively smooth in these areas, particularly on the flanks. It’s possible that multiple variants of the promotional vehicles were built, or that the vehicles were modified or rebodied over the years. With limited records available, it’s difficult to say.

Meineke’s mufflermobiles are apparently quite well known. Online sources suggest the promotional vehicles were built by Joe, Scott, and Steve Minghelli—family members who owned a series of Meineke outlets across New Jersey.

Ultimately, though, William’s car looks more similar to a mufflermobile from Kerr Car Care and Quality Muffler Hut in Washington. The car, painted pink, has been pictured on Google Maps and Flickr, and bears a striking resemblance, as seen below. The fuel filler is in the same place, it has matching tail lights, and a similar hatch on the hood. I’ve reached out to the Quality Muffler Hut for more information on its history.

The Quality Muffler Hut car has the same bead down the side, too, pictured here in 2009. (Flickr embed)

Regardless of the exact provenance, William has plans for the future of the vehicle. As it stands, the muffler body currently sits on the chassis of a 1981 Toyota Starlet. The tired hatchback underpinnings have seen better days, and William is hoping to lift the body onto something a bit more modern.

Easy candidates for the swap would match the Starlet in size and shape. William’s mufflermobile has a hatch on the front for access to a front-mounted engine, and it’s designed with a relatively short wheelbase. However, depending on William’s thirst for fabrication, just about anything could be made to work. Something body-on-frame would be suitable if it could be made to fit.

Variations On A Theme

As it turns out, there are a great many muffler cars out there. It’s no surprise—a great deal of workshops specialize in changing out mufflers, and they know how to weld. Armed with a car lift and the appropriate tools, it’s a pretty achievable task to fab up a simple muffler body to sit on a cheap car. Fun, too!

In my research, I was able to find another mufflermobile that the owner believed to be an ex-Meineke car. That one made its way to Bonneville—and the pages of Car and Driver—in 2021.

There are other muffler cars out there; this Meineke example apparently lives in Kentucky, and one more in New Jersey.

The Kentucky native was rebuilt on a Ford Ranger chassis and made its way up to Bonneville back in 2021.

As it turns out, one Meineke shop still had a muffler car in use as of 2023, too. You can see it on Google Maps and Pinterest, showing some signs of wear but a body that is ultimately bright and clean. It sits on the roadside to draw the eyes of passing motorists.

Other unique examples include this charming “NO MUFF TO TUFF” build finished in a striking school bus yellow. It looks quite distinct from the other vehicles shown above. It rocks rectangular sealed beams up front, and much of the branding has rusted off.

This one lives in Ohio, according to Reddit. I wasn’t quite able to make out what this one was based on from the pictures in the post below. Perhaps you might be able to identify the vehicle from the interior pictures; I suspect it’s something domestic and front-wheel-drive, based on the front hood hatch.

Perhaps most interesting is the windscreen on this one. It looks almost entirely flat and appears to have a custom frame, suggesting it didn’t come from the vehicle underpinning the build. It’s also got windscreen wipers—though without a roof, you probably don’t want to sit in this one when it’s raining or snowing out.

I was able to find one more example that is even more charming than the rest. Albeit, it achieves this by somewhat compromising the form, because it looks a lot less like a muffler. The vehicle seen below is based on a 1982 Mazda pickup truck, which is immediately obvious because it actually has a full cabin and a functional bed on the back.

As reported by Barn Finds, this example was sold on Craigslist back in 2015. Listed at $4,800, it wasn’t exactly cheap, but it looked an absolute pearler nonetheless. It was apparently owned at one point by a shop called Exhaust Pros, with a simple tagline—”Only what you need… at a price guaranteed.” The shop listed it as a “parade truck,” noting it had only 3,000 miles on a rebuilt engine.

This design actually makes the vehicle far more useful for shop tasks. The occupants won’t get wet driving it outside on a rainy day, and the bed can actually carry things. With that said, it might be a little tough to unload without a functioning tailgate, but there are bars to step on at the back to aid in that regard.

I probably love this one most of all. Even if it doesn’t look much like a muffler, the aesthetic is absolutely fantastic, particularly with the exhaust stacks and the wooden sideboards.

It’s true, you could consider these cars a gimmicky advertising stunt. I’d counter, though, that sometimes it’s just fun when things look like other things. Who doesn’t smile when the Weinermobile rolls by, after all? It’s probably true to say that most of these mufflermobiles are horribly compromised as cars, to be sure. Instead, they’re enjoyable for their levity more than their performance or ability.

The simple fact is that if you own a muffler business, it’s probably fun to spend a little downtime building a silly muffler car as an advertising tool. The mere fact that these vehicles have apparently been independently developed by muffler shops across the nation suggests a lot of people agree with that statement. Perhaps this should be seen as an American tradition in its own right. Baseball, pumpkin pie, and muffler cars—just like mom used to make!

Image credits: Craigslist, via Google Maps screenshot, William Jordan (supplied)