'The Man Slopping Pigs'

Don Beyer began working at his father’s Volvo dealership after graduating college, before eventually teaming up with his brother Michael to take over the family business. The brothers rebranded the business as Beyer Automotive Group and expanded to nine dealerships and five automobile brands. His name was one of a few that were synonymous with car sales in northern Virginia. 

In 1990, Beyer entered politics and served as lieutenant governor of Virginia for several years before losing the gubernatorial election and serving four years as the United States. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In 2014, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives seat for Virginia’s 8th congressional district.

Beyer’s third brother, Rich (among six total siblings), did not enter the family business. He became a sculptor working out of the pacific northwest. In 1984, Don commissioned him to build a sculpture in front of the dealership on Broad Street in Falls Church, Virginia to serve as a town landmark. The sculpture is an ode to their upbringing on the family pig farm. The cast aluminum statue cost $25,000 to build.