Hut damn! Bradenton, Florida's Quonset hut Uniroyal Gal

Coming across a Uniroyal Gal is like seeing the leading lady from the deliciously awful 1958 sci-fi classic "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman." "Har-ry!..."

When Eccentric Roadside moved our world headquarters from Rhode Island to Bradenton, Florida, little did we know kismet was involved until we discovered there is one of those rarest of rare eccentric roadside attractions right here in town: a Uniroyal Gal, the Muffler Man's sultry female counterpart, created as an eye-catching Jackie Kennedy-esque roadside icon by the International Fiberglass company for Uniroyal back in 1966. There are only 12 or so of these beauties left that are still out in full view and we've been fortunate to have seen three before (click here) in such far-flung places as Blackfoot, Idaho, Blackwood, New Jersey and Unger, West Virginia, but we never dreamed there would be one right on own own home turf. This one is displayed in front of the Edmunds Metal Works Quonset hut. The hut has an imposing hand-painted sign on it that says "Powder Room: Total Custom Powder Coating". Across the way is another building with an old-timey sign that says "Gasoline Alley" on its side. This whole establishment looks like it would make a fine locale for one of those cable-TV shows about outrageous auto customization, with Miss Edmunds (or some other alias) as their fetching heroine. Compared to the other Uniroyal Gals we've seen, Miss Edmunds is rather au natural, with her sun-baked, worn complexion and scruffy, yellow bikini. Perhaps she's due for a make-over...now, there's a cable TV series we'd watch: "Uniroyal Gal Makeover." Of course, though, we know she's beautiful on the inside and that's what really counts.