Make some space in your road trip itinerary for this Route 66 roadside attraction: the Gemini Giant Muffler Man in Wilmington, Illinois. This oddity is out of this world!
The Gemini Giant is a 28-foot tall muffler man who originally stood on Route 66 outside the Launching Pad restaurant in Wilmington, Illinois. He weighs in at a whopping 438 pounds: not counting his base or the giant 8-foot rocket he holds in his hands!
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What is a Muffler Man?
This fiberglass space man is one of many muffler men spread throughout the United States. Muffler Men roadside attractions are fiberglass giants who stand anywhere from 14 to 25 feet tall. Each has a similar design and was 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 Gemini Giant is one of the most popular muffler men on Route 66, but it’s not the only one! Interested in finding all the muffler men on Route 66? Also check out:
- Muffler Man at Cigars & Stripes BBQ Lounge
- Carl’s Ice Cream Muffler Man
- Muffler Man Holding a Hot Dog
- Atlanta Muffler Man Head
- American Giants Museum
- Lauterbach Giant
- Harley Davidson Muffler Man
- Mega Mayor Muffler Man in Uranus
- Route 66 Food Truck Park Chef Muffler Man
- Big Bill: Muffler Man With Suitcase
- Buck Atom Space Cowboy
- Native American Muffler Man
- 2nd Amendment Cowboy
- Muffler Men Mural
- Dude Man – Cowboy Muffler Man
- Lumberjack Muffler Man
- Chicken Boy Statue
The History of The Gemini Giant
In 1956 the Wilmington business opened as Dari Delite, a small shop that sold hot dogs and ice cream. In 1960 John and Bernice Korlic took over the restaurant and renamed it as The Launching Pad Drive-in. To capitalize on their celestial moniker, the couple had the fiberglass spaceman made by International Fiberglass and named him the Gemini Giant via a local contest.
The Korlics ran the Launching Pad and maintained the giant for 47 years until they sold in in 2007.
For years after, the Wilmington Gemini Giant went through some rough times, with an uncertain future. The Launching Pad closed down in 2010. With the drive-in restaurant and muffler man statue for sale no one knew when, or if, it would reopen and what would happen to the Route 66 icon.
In 2016, the restaurant went to auction but failed to sell because the reserve wasn’t met.
Though the Launching Pad restaurant closed, the space-age muffler man statue still stood and drew crowds of road-trippers looking for the best roadside attractions on Route 66. But, with the business closed, and no potential buyers in sight, the fate of the big green man was still up in the air and no one knew how much longer he’d keep standing.
The Gemini Giant’s Restoration
In 2017 the Illinois Gemini Giant’s fate changed: Holly Barker and Tully Garrett bought the business and decided to restore the building and keep the famous mascot.
The Launching Pad reopened on April 16th, 2018 as a Route 66 Welcome Center and gift shop. Eventually, the kitchen was restored and the restaurant was brought back as well.
In May 2019 this Illinois Route 66 muffler man got a facelift and was restored with a fresh coat of paint. This allowed fans to come check out a site that hadn’t been seen over 50 years: the Gemini Giant without a helmet!
The helmet had to be removed to paint his face (and with it, a football that was stuck inside for over ten years was also removed!).
The Future of The Gemini Giant Muffler Man
While it looked like the Gemini Giant and The Launching Pad Drive-In were saved for good, their good fortune didn’t last long.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the restaurant closed down. It later opened again sporadically before being shut down for good. The owners, Holly Barker and Tully Garrett, split up, leaving Barker to solely own the business.
Barker wanted to sell the business (the Launching Pad plus the giant), listing it at an astronomical $1.5 million. No buyer was willing to pay that much, and talks with the Joliet Area Historical Museum, who had made a more reasonable offer, fell through.
Eventually, in March 2024, Barker gutted the Launching Pad, selling off the Gemini Giant, along with all of the fixtures and memorabilia from the restaurant, in an online auction. The auction went live under the threat that if a $100,000 reserve wasn’t met, the Gemini Giant would be destroyed.
In the end, the Route 66 muffler Man sold for $275,000.
In the hours after the auction finished, there was much speculation over who had bought it. A large community effort had banded together to fundraise tens of thousands, hoping to keep this treasured Route 66 attraction in Wilmington, but the raised money was nowhere near the final price. And collectors on Route 66 and off had their eyes on this space man.
But once the auction was finalized the official announcement was made: the Joliet Area Historical Museum had secured the winning bid and immediately donated the giant back to the City of Wilmington. The purchase was made possible from a grant issued to the museum by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for that purpose.
Immediately, the city, with help from the American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois, removed the giant from the location where it stood since the 1960s and put it into storage. On November 30, 2024 the giant came back to Wilmington and was unveiled in its new location at South Island Park, just a mile west of the Launching Pad on Route 66.
Photos of the Gemini Giant at The Launching Pad Drive-In
I’ve visited this Illinois roadside attraction several times at its original location outside of the Launching Pad Drive-In in Wilmington, Illinois. Here are Gemini Giant photos from:
- my first trip there on July 13, 2007 during an Illinois roadside attractions road trip.
- a visit on a a very quick Illinois road trip in 2010 where I also visited the Leaning Tower of Niles and the Agricultural Crash Monument.
- a Route 66 road trip from Chicago to the Midpoint in Adrian, Texas in 2021.
Photos of the 2019 Muffler Man Restoration
In 2019 I took a mini road trip to Wilmington with my sister (it’s only about an hour and a half drive outside of Chicago) to see the Gemini Giant with his helmet removed as he was being repainted.
We unfortunately didn’t stick around to try one of the Launching Pad’s hot dogs, pot roast sandwiches, fruit pies, or ice cream sundaes, but on the way home from our mini Route 66 road trip we did get some fried chicken at another Mother Road institution: Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket.
Photos of the Gemini Giant in Transition
In 2024, after being sold at auction, the Gemini Giant was removed from his long-term home in front of the now closed Launching Pad Drive-In and taken to a workshop for renovations. On his way, he made a stop at the grand opening celebration for the American Giants Museum. Here are some photos of this muffler man from that day.
