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Boyd Coddington
Boyd Coddington (r) and his wife Jo from American Hot Rod sign autographs aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz in 2005.
Born	(1944-08-28)August 28, 1944 Rupert, Idaho, United States
Died	February 27, 2008(2008-02-27) (aged 63)
Occupation(s)	Automobile designer, TV show host
Website	http://www.boydcoddington.com/

Boyd Leon Coddington (August 28, 1944 – February 27, 2008) was the owner of the Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Shop and star of American Hot Rod on TLC.

Background

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 8. 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. He realized quick success: his first major customer was Vern Luce whose car, a 1933 coupe, won the Al Slonaker Award at the 1981 Oakland Roadster show.

Design innovations

Coddington was known for his clean, elegant designs combining old school with what was to be known as the Boyd Look. It featured radically transformed vintage styling, but re-engineered around modern and scratch-built components: at the customer's preference.

One of Coddington's signature innovations were his custom-fabricated alloy wheels, typically machined from a solid billet (block) of aluminum (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 these custom billet wheels. His popularization of machined billet wheels had broad impact, eventually spreading out of the hot rod world to enormously influence the popularity of custom rims within hip-hop culture. Among his many innovative designs was the ability to produce unique designs of wheels known as One-Off wheels.

CadZZilla

The "CadZZilla" was commissioned by ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and designed by 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"

Artistic legacy

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, where he competed fiercely as well with his former protégé.

Coddington's creations have won the Grand National Roadster Show's "America's Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR)" award seven times, (the only back-to-back winner) of America's Most Beautiful Roadster, the Daimler-Chrysler Design Excellence award twice, and entry into both the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame, SEMA Hall of Fame, Route 66 Hall of Fame, the National Rod & Custom Museum Hall of Fame In 1997, Coddington, was inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame .

Later financial trouble and the "Ship of Theseus"

In 1998, financial trouble due to a $465,000 loss from a bankrupt customer led Coddington to re-organize Boyds Wheels and partnered with his eldest son (Boyd Coddington Jr.).

His designs, centrally feature scratch-built components and appropriated the foundation of a vintage automobile. In his later days he began registering cars that were essentially completely custom fabrications as antique automobiles, avoiding major emissions restrictions and tax liabilities. California officials considered this a "Ship of Theseus" fraud, claiming that so many central elements were replaced the cars ceased to be the same entity. Coddington was charged with a misdemeanor and pleaded guilty on April 7, 2005. .

Death

This article or section appears to contradict itself. Please see the talk page for more information. (June 2011)

Coddington had been hospitalized December 31, 2007 shortly after New Year's Eve. He was discharged, but was readmitted just a few days later to Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in suburban Whittier, California.

After being readmitted, doctors performed surgery and Boyd was expected to make a complete recovery. Coddington died on February 27, 2008. His publicist stated that Coddington was a long-time diabetic who died from complications that were brought on from a recent surgery along with liver and kidney complications.

He is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California

References

Citations

1. "Boyd Coddington, Hot Rod King, Dead At Age 63". jalopnik.com.
2. Lienert, Dan (June 1, 2004). "The Hot Rod King". Forbes.com.
3. John Buttera obituary in Hot Rod Magazine: ""Lil John" Buttera, Master Hot Rodder, 1941-2008". "He may very well have been the "father of billet components" in racing and street rodding, as his love of taking a chunk of aluminum and machining it into something uniquely functional were legend." Coddington and Buttera are often jointly credited for the popularity of billet componentry.
4. ^ The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (September 19, 2007). "History of Hot Rods & Customs". Consumer Guide. p. 10. Retrieved 12 December 2008. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
5. ^ "Iconic "Cadzzilla" Part of New Exhibit at Saratoga Automobile Museum".
6. The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (September 19, 2007). "History of Hot Rods & Customs". Consumer Guide. p. 11. Retrieved 12 December 2008. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help) The design language of the top, hood, side window openings, and front and rear ends was completely new and different from anything that had gone before it. CadZZilla created a stir and was instantly recognized as one of the all-time great custom cars.
7. HOT ROD Magazine. "Dream - 1932 Chevrolet Roadster". Petersen Automotive. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
8. The COACHBUILT Encyclopedia of American Coachbuilders & Coachbuilding. "Jesse James (profile)". Retrieved 12 December 2008. In 1992, after an apprenticeship of sorts with the legendary hot-rod builder Boyd Coddington, James started up his own shop.
9. Chantal Lamers (2006-05-07). "Driven to be the best". Orange County Register Newspaper. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
10. "Boyd Coddington, 63, King of Hot Rods, Dies". New York Times. March 1, 2008.
11. "Troubled Company Reporter - BOYDS WHEELS: Third Quarter Report". InterNet Bankruptcy Library. December 18, 1997.
12. Garrett, Jerry (February 27, 2008). "Boyd Coddington, Hot Rod Hero, Dies at 63". New York Times. Retrieved April 26, 2010. In 2005, he was accused of fraud by the State of California for titling his custom-fabricated creations as "antique cars" to avoid emissions controls and tax obligations
13. Hot Rod Legend Boyd Coddington Hospitalized
14. Boyd Coddington, 63; custom car designer starred on 'American Hot Rod' - Los Angeles Times

External links

• Template:Official Boyd Coddington Web Site
• Hot Rods by Boyd
• American Hot Rod TV Series
• Boyd Coddington Helps Exhume Buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere in Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Sons of Boyd Tribute Site
• Boyd Coddington At Find A Grave

Template:Persondata

• Self-contradictory articles from June 2011
• 1944 births
• American automotive engineers
• SEMA Members
• 2008 deaths
• People from Minidoka County, Idaho