Kerr's Mufflers

It was common to sponsor cars for friends and customers that were displayed in car shows back in the 1960s. Here is a little sign for Kerr's Mufflers displayed next to Dave Prey's 1963 Chevrolet Impala, a custom known as "Cherry Heering." Photo from The Howard Gribble Collection.

Kerr's Mufflers was a muffler, tire, and chrome center run by Jim Kerr. In August of 2023, Keith Christensen of Gene's Mufflers told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that Kerr was an opportunist. "He used to come into our shops loaded with curiosity and viewed how we did things and what equipment we used. He eventually went to a town about 15 miles south of us opened a garage put one rack inside and went into the muffler business. He struggled along for about 2 years and finally put in an additional rack. At that time, he was finally in the actual muffler business." Keith recalled that Kerr would come over and visit and at the same time be inquisitive about their methods from forms of advertising as well as brands of products they carried. "I helped him as much as possible, as competition doesn't hurt a business." According to Keith, "The copycatting became a major activity for him. I had built a Fiat 600 car, painted it pearl yellow put the iron cross on both doors, and mounted a semblance of a muffler on the roof using two ten-gallon cans welded together with coffee cans welded on either end. It looked like a big glaspak muffler going down the road. A good gimmick that drew a lot of attention. At this point, our friendship took a turn. He had an old 1957 Cadillac Coupe Deville, and he took two 50-gallon drums and did the same process of putting a muffler on the roof of the Cad, trying to steal the idea. That made our friendship fade."