Boyd Coddington, the "King of Hot Rods", has died. Coddington, who was a long-time diabetic, died at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in suburban Whittier, Calif. at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday. His death was due to complications brought on from a recent surgery. He was 63.
In 2003, Coddington collaborated with ROUSH Performance to create the Boyd Coddington/ROUSH California Roadster. The Mustang featured a two-tone paint job with DuPont custom-mix silver over factory Ford black. His list of clients included ZZ Top, The Beach Boys, Van Halen's- Michael Anthony, Brad Penny of the LA Dodgers, Budweiser, White Cap, Sobe, Old Milwaukee Beer, O'Reilly Auto Parts, and Hershey.
In 2004 Coddington became the star of his own show, American Hot Rod. The hour-long program took viewers inside his La Habra, Calif. shop as his team worked under tight deadlines to create one-of-a-kind automotive creations.
Coddington is survived by his wife Jo Coddington and his five sons Boyd Coddington Jr, Christopher Coddington, Thomas McGee, Gregory Coddington and Robert McGee. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Coddington Foundation to benefit a variety of Boyd's favorite charities. Please address your donations to: Coddington Foundation, 811 E. Lambert Rd., La Habra, California, 90631.
Godspeed Boyd. You will be missed.
http://mustangs.about.com/b/2008/02/28/boyd-coddington-1944-2008.htm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Note:
I'll assemble a photo compendium some of Boyd's works, with which a lot of our overseas members, and perhaps some of domestic members, might not be familiar.
I had often dreamed of someday contracting him to build me a car. I'm sure his shop will continue on in some fashion, but his vision will be hard to replace.
~Karn
"American Hot Rod" brought great entertainment to our European shores as well, through Discovery Channel - and although Mr. Coddington most of the time came off as a grumpy old man who had never heard of a roomy time schedule, he sure had an eye for design.
I always really liked CadiZZla
(http://www.petersen.org/images/Exhibitimages/cadzilla.jpg)
I've added a selection of Boyd's cars here (http://www.autopuzzles.com/Boyd%20Coddington.htm). Enjoy ID'ing as many as you can - I'm sure if Boyd knew of our crew here, he's want it that way. :)
2 - Delahaye Whatthehaye Street Rod 1936
3 - Ford Hot Rod Boydster III 1933
10 - Chevrolet Belair Chezoom Custom 1957
So sorry to hear of Boyd's death. I didn't realize that he was in such poor health. I think I'd read that he was a diabetic, but didn't realize the seriousness of his condition. My sons and I had a great deal of bonding building models of the Aluma Coupe and the "Eliminator".
An automotive great has left us.
:-\