It was with some trepidation when a reporter walked onto the lot of Tuxhorn Towing at the corner of Sixth Street and North Grand Avenue on a recent weekday.
Growling dogs. Razor wire fences. Impounded cars, with angry car owners trying to get those cars back from indifferent shop owners behind bulletproof glass. That’s the stereotype of any tow yard.
What a surprise, therefore, when JR Tuxhorn IV greeted the reporter with a “What can I help you with?”
“We stopped towing (illegally parked cars) maybe 10 years ago,” says JR, whose great-great-grandfather, John Tuxhorn, established Tuxhorn Towing at the same location in 1919. “We didn’t need the aggravation anymore.”
There are still towing companies in Springfield that will haul off your car that has overstayed its welcome in designated lots, but no longer with the pink-colored trucks, 10 of them, that JR and his father have under control. JR’s son, JR Tuxhorn V, is also part of the family business, as is his brother, Jared Tuxhorn (pictured above).Tuxhorn Towing has been in business in Springfield for 106 years. They no longer want to hassle with locals, or non-locals, who park too long in, say, an apartment complex or the back of a bar parking lot.
That, JR says, is more in keeping with modern-day towing. Municipal governments can just put a Flock camera on a vehicle parked too long in a spot it shouldn’t have and send out a digital ticket, although more likely than not get the payment.
Now, Tuxhorn Towning has a greater business interest in rescuing a stranded driver or hauling freight from one central Illinois spot to another.
When the pink Tuxhorn trucks show up now, it’s most likely to rescue a driver whose tire just blew out on the highway, or some other kind of distress.
“Customers are happy to see us now,” JR says with a laugh. “We want to help our customers, not have a standoff with them.”
This article appears in October 29-November 4, 2026.
