• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

OT: Boyd Coddington Dead at 63

Country flag
Offline
Was it sudden? Heart attack maybe?
 

BIBBER

Jedi Knight
Offline
too bad....did enjoy his TV series on TLC...another member of RAT FINK heaven!!!
 

Glen_B

Jedi Trainee
Offline
The show convinced me that Boyd was either a colossal jack-a$$ or it was a put-up job to create fake tension to sell the show. Either way, many good people couldn't seem to get away from him fast enough.

Glen
 

bugimike

Yoda
Offline
Glen_B said:
The show convinced me that Boyd was either a colossal jack-a$$ or it was a put-up job to create fake tension to sell the show. Either way, many good people couldn't seem to get away from him fast enough.

Glen

That was my impression also!!! Too many conflicts with other people into hot-rods to be a put-up job, I thought!!
 

rulle7

Jedi Knight
Country flag
Offline
:iagree:
His cars impressed me, his ways did not.
 

Whitephrog

Luke Skywalker
Country flag
Offline
California car-building legend Boyd Coddington dies at 63
By JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Car-building legend Boyd Coddington, whose testosterone-injected cable TV reality show "American Hot Rod" introduced the nation to the West Coast hot rod guru, has died. He was 63.


Coddington died at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in suburban Whittier at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday. His La Habra office spokeswoman Amanda Curry wouldn't disclose the cause of death.


Coddington, who started building cars when he was 13 and once operated a gas station in Utah, set a standard for his workmanship and creativity, with his popular "Cadzilla" creation considered a design masterpiece. The customized car based on a 1950s Cadillac was built for rocker Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.


"That was a groundbreaking car. Very cool," said Dick Messer, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.


"This was your modern era George Barris," Messer said. "He did things to hot rods and customs that weren't being done by anyone else. But the main thing is he designed cars that were drivable."


Coddington was a machinist by trade, working at Disneyland during the day and tinkering with cars in his home garage at night and on weekends. His rolling creations captured the imagination of car-crazy Southern Californians and soon he was building custom cars and making money.


Most often, he customized 1932 Ford "little deuce coupes."


"It was one of those things when a hobby turned into business," Messer said, noting Coddington was also "one of the first guys to get into the custom wheel business."


Wheels by Boyd were fetching $2,000 apiece, which was unheard of two decades ago.


Coddington also surrounded himself with talent. Alumni from his shop include Jesse James and Chip Foose, who went on to open their own shops and star in reality TV shows.


Coddington twice won the Daimler-Chrysler Design Excellence Award and he was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame, the National Rod & Custom Museum Hall of Fame and the Route 66 Wall of Fame.


Always dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, Coddington said he loved his "American Hot Rod" Discovery Channel show, which featured ground-up construction of $500,000 hot rods.


"The viewers are ... people who lived in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and loved these cars. Now, they have money," Coddington told The Associated Press in a 2004 interview.
 

jlaird

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
That's sad. I hated the drama but loved the builds.
 

prometalshop

Member
Offline
HOLY C**p I can't believe what I just read ..... :nonod:
I grew up with reading eating sleeping Boyd. Only watched his show till I could not believe what I was watching . But the man had talent, what a waste, must of bein his heart could not take the pressure any more. I'm saddened he certainly left his mark in the hot rod industry.
My heart goes out to his family.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
DerekJ Batteries Going Dead Austin Healey 9
K TR2/3/3A The Dead Pedal Triumph 3
T MGB MGB Dead Short? MG 8
petnatcar Dead Pedal Austin Healey 12
S WANTED: Healey BN1 "Smiths" Fuel Gauge (Dead or Alive) Austin Healey Classifieds 3
R How old is "dead" FORUM Navigation Questions 5
Busted knuckles TR2/3/3A Lead sled, spiral shank nails and dead battery box’s. Triumph 13
FlyingCat Spitfire Dead Starter? Triumph 18
Sopwith_Camel dead at the finish line Spridgets 10
6 Dead Circuit ARRGH! Spridgets 13
2billydavies TR2/3/3A dead battery, generator, belt Triumph 13
L TR6 need help on long dead TR6 Triumph 16
petnatcar DEAD PEDAL for a BT7 Austin Healey 25
2billydavies TR2/3/3A dead battery... until i disconnect the wire from coil to distributor Triumph 10
T TR4/4A Flat/dead spot on the starter? Triumph 5
K TR2/3/3A Dead Petronix and rough running..... Triumph 10
M TR2/3/3A Finding top dead center Triumph 6
GTP1960 TR2/3/3A Fuel pump inertia switch vs. dead engine switch? Triumph 14
JPSmit Truck diagnostic advice needed [I suspect it is dead!]] Other Cars 7
sim Dead spark plugs ? Spridgets 52
JPSmit Sometimes I am surprised I am not dead Spridgets 15
P Turning to Top Dead Center Austin Healey 11
R dead pedal for '74 midget? Spridgets 4
RickB All 4 parking lights dead, fuses all good? Spridgets 6
dklawson Alex Moulton Dead at 92. - 12/10/12 British Motor Corp 1
NardisCNC DEAD Battery Question...... Spridgets 12
D Dead Boot -- What do you know about this ? Jaguar 6
G DEAD BATTERY Austin Healey 4
M Top Dead Center Triumph 48
L I see dead cars... Austin Healey 9
D Car seems to have a dead battery [I no it's good] Spridgets 13
G GRRRR -- Dead in the water again!! MG 6
DanNagy Spitfire Jumping a dead battery on a Spit MK1 Triumph 7
S Wedge TR8 starter dead spot? Triumph 26
G Gauges dead after wash Spridgets 6
vping Dead battery or Genny gone south? MG 8
davester The Prince of Darkness strikes! Dead starter MG 15
HealeyPassion Dead pedal and pedal positioning project paper Austin Healey 3
HealeyPassion Dead pedal for 5 speeds Austin Healey 5
KVH Triumph Activity Dead on Ebay Triumph 8
JPSmit Top Dead Centre Question Spridgets 24
C Dead Again... Triumph 25
T Crypt car driving in the dead of night Triumph 10
2wrench Number 1 cylinder, top dead center Triumph 51
beaulieu TR6 TR6 project with one dead cylinder ? Triumph 10
Nunyas Dead in the water... MG 22
B MGB MGB Cuts out, Tach goes dead..... MG 18
Z Charging/Dead Battery Problem Spridgets 8
W Dead tach MG 5
T Crypty's dead carbs Triumph 52

Similar threads

Top