Boyd Coddington
| Boyd Coddington | |
|---|---|
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Boyd Coddington (r) from American Hot Rod sign autographs aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz in 2005.
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| Born |
August 28, 1944 Rupert, Idaho, United States |
| Died | February 27, 2008 (aged 63) Whittier, California, United States |
| Occupation | Hot Rod Designer TV Show Host |
| Net worth | 12.5m (at time of death) |
| Spouse(s) | Jo Andenise Clausen McGee (m. 2002–2008; his death) Diane Marie Ragone Elkins (m.1971–1996; divorce) Peggy Jeanne King (m.1965– ?; divorce) |
| Children |
With Jo: None With Diane: 3 Peggy: 1 |
Boyd Leon Coddington (August 28, 1944 – February 27, 2008) was an American hot rod designer, the owner of the Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Shop and star of American Hot Rod on TLC.
Coddington grew up in Rupert, Idaho, reading all the car and hot rod magazines he could, and got his first car (a 1931 Chevrolet truck) at age 13. He attended machinist trade school and completed a three-year apprenticeship in machining. In 1968, he moved to California building hot rods by day and working as a machinist at Disneyland during the night. He soon became known for building unique hot rods and in 1977 he opened his own shop, Hot Rods by Boyd, in Cypress, California. His first major customer was Vern Luce whose car, a 1933 coupe, won the Al Slonaker Award at the 1981 Oakland Roadster show.
Coddington was known for clean, elegant designs combining old school with what would come to be known as the "Boyd Look".
Some of Coddington's signature innovations were his custom-fabricated alloy wheels, typically machined from a solid aluminum billet, an industry first. Together with John Buttera, Boyd pioneered this "billet" machined look and applied it not only to wheels, but broadly throughout the car.
In 1988, Coddington founded Boyd's Wheels, Inc., to manufacture and market his custom billet wheels.
In 1989, the "CadZZilla", a customized 1949 Cadillac, was commissioned by ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, conceived by Jack Chisenhall and designed by Jack Chisenhall and Larry Erickson. It is acclaimed as one of the great expressions of automotive customization. Columnist Gray Baskerville called CadZZilla "the most incredible transformation he'd ever witnessed", and in their "History of Hot Rods & Customs" the auto editors of Consumer Guide praise it as "the first really new type of custom since the heyday of the 1950s".
Many of the next generation of customizers started their career with Coddington. Larry Erickson, later the chief designer of the Mustang and Thunderbird for Ford Motor Co., worked with Coddington early on, and specifically credits the CadZZilla collaboration for jump-starting his career. Designer Chip Foose (Overhaulin') and fabricator Jesse James (Motorcycle Mania). both started their careers in his shop. Coddington hosted the Discovery Channel show American Hot Rod.
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