The old-time prospector and his burro have found a new home on SW Pacific Boulevard in Albany.
As many drivers on SW Pacific Boulevard in Albany have noticed, the prominent spray foam figures of a prospector and his burro have moved.
For a long time, they stood on a pedestal at the former South Pacific Auto Sales car lot on Pacific near 49th Avenue.
Now they stand on the building of another car business on the other side of Pacific north of their old home.
On a bike ride Thursday, I found them at Niice Auto Group LLC, 2935 Pacific Blvd. SW. Randy Harrison and Ryan Swanson opened the business last July, taking over in a location that had been LJ Motors.
The company name is pronounced just like the word with just one “i.” I guess they added the second “i” to indicate that they are extra nice.
The office building has been thoroughly remodeled and actually is really, well, nice.
Ryan Swanson was busy with a customer when I dropped by on Thursday afternoon. When he was free, he told me they bought the prospector and burro when the remaining equipment at South Pacific Auto Sales was auctioned off last fall. They paid $6,000, he said.
The figures have a bit of history, as I mentioned last September in a story about the closing of South Pacific Auto Sales. They had been at a Lebanon car lot that closed, and the South Pacific owner obtained them in about 1994 from Spray Foam, the firm that also made the big foam duck in Waverly Lake.
One commenter on the September story remembered that the prospector originally was at Plaza Chrysler/Plymouth in Lebanon and was called Plaza Pete. Another recalled commercials that called the prospector the “Loan Arranger.”
The spray foam figures remained on the otherwise empty former South Pacific lot until recently, when they were moved to their new owners’ place. Someone documented the move on Facebook last week.
Now the figures once again overlook a lot full of used cars and trucks. (hh)
The story has been edited to properly describe the animal figure as a burro, or small donkey.
From their rooftop perch, the spray foam characters keep an eye on the northbound lanes of Pacific (U.S. 99E).
Wouldn’t be S.W. Albany without them….anything to sell used cars these days…
Thanks for following up on the prospector and his burro. I always enjoyed seeing them over the years when I drove by South Pacific Auto Sales. They are even more prominent in their new location. I’m happy they were kept local.
Hasso at first called the burro a mule. I brought that to his attention with some “quotes” from Webster’s on definitions of a burro and a mule, so he changed mule to “burro” in his “blog.” But, he wouldn’t print my colorful comments on who/what the parents of a mule are!! Oh, well…
Is “karen” in the dictionary yet?
Hey, Donkey! Karen means “pure” or clear” and is a Greek name derived from the name, Katherine. Don’t know why you need to know, but there you are….smart a**.
I’m glad to see these figures still have a home. You mention that South Salem Auto purchased them in 1994, but they had originally been in Lebanon. When were the figures created?