A MUST DO! Admission is FREE! The Huge Cool 21 Foot Tall Fiberglass Salsa Muffler Man Statue (El Salsero) has watched over the City of Malibu & looked out over The Pacific Coast Highway for over 50 years. His frontside faces the Santa Monica Mountains & his backside faces the Pacific Ocean. He is holding a Giant Mexican Food Platter, wearing a Sombrero, Serape, & Sandals. I wouldn't make a Special Trip to come here but if you're in the Malibu area be sure to stop by & take a glimpse & a photo or two. The Former La Salsa restaurant has closed & currently remains unoccupied & in search of a new tenant.
Here's some of its History. A Muffler Man Is a large fiberglass statue that was used as an advertising icon to Advertise & attract people to their businesses. They have become roadside attractions all across America & there's even some in Canada too. International Fiberglass in Venice CA made most of them. Believe it or not there are people on a quest to visit them all. There's something about these Giant Muffler Man statues that just makes people smile. Most of them were initially placed in front of Muffler Shops/Auto Repair Shops thus the name Muffler Man.
The Salsa Muffler Man started out in the late 1960s as a statue carrying a Huge Hamburger which was So Cool! He was dressed as sort of a Soda Jerk serving a Giant Hamburger atop Malibu Fosters Freeze. In 1988 Artist Bob (Daddy-O )Wade converted & restyled the figure Into Salsa Man which is equally Cool. By coincidence Dennis Hopper the actor & artist made a very similar statue to this one that now sits in the Collection Center for the Arts in Dodge City Kansas.
Now that the Mexican restaurant is closed should Salsa Man be changed back to the Original Hamburger Man. Only the Malibu City Council can decide that. Better still, keep Salsa Man & build a brand new Hamburger Man who watched over Malibu from the 60s-80'S. You can't have too many Cool Giant Size Icons watching over your city. Can you? LOL!
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