About this location
A few stories people tell about this place
1. It was an unusually quiet Sunday morning in downtown Portland when a delivery driver pulled up to The Custom Muffler Shop & Brakes. As he walked inside, everyone noticed something odd: the usually boisterous mechanics were whispering so softly that they sounded like mice arguing over crumbs. Finally, one old mechanic cleared his throat and said, ‘We’re on strike, you see. Nobody’s fixing anything until our coffee machine gets refilled.’ The delivery driver looked puzzled but smiled, realizing it was just another day in quirky Portland.
2. A little boy was waiting impatiently for his dad outside The Custom Muffler Shop & Brakes one afternoon. Suddenly, he pointed excitedly and whispered, ‘Dad, look! That guy’s car is talking!’ His father chuckled, leaned down, and said, ‘Son, that’s not a talking car—just an old friend of mine named Rusty who drives by here every day.’ They both laughed as they watched Rusty wave back at them from behind the wheel.
3. It was just past midnight on a Thursday when a strange humming noise began drifting from behind the old garage doors of The Custom Muffler Shop. The neighborhood had long since fallen asleep, but soon enough, everyone could hear it too. Curious neighbors peeked out their windows, some even grabbed their phones to record the eerie sound. Turns out, it was just an overzealous air compressor working overtime for a late-night brake job. A relieved delivery driver emerged, grinning sheepishly, explaining that he’d accidentally set the machine on maximum power. The next morning, everyone in town joked about ‘the ghostly garage’—but no one minded, because sometimes good stories make waiting for repairs worth it.
4. While waiting for his car’s brake job to finish, a regular noticed something peculiar—every time he looked up from his magazine, the mechanic seemed to be talking to himself and laughing softly. Finally, curious as to what was going on, our regular approached the counter. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘what are you giggling about?’ The mechanic looked up with a sheepish smile, holding a small radio tuned to an oldies station. ‘Oh, nothing much,’ he replied, ‘just some classic tunes from the 80s.’