BOYD CODDINGTON, 63, HOT ROD ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

When I read this afternoon that Boyd Coddington had died at the age of 63, it came as no great  shock or surprise. Coddington had gained and lost large amounts of weight during his lifetime, and they say that's tough on anyone's heart, but what struck me most about him was his tenacity, patience, ideals of perfection, and his determination to recover from adversity ... and that's not to mention his gorgeous cars, truly worthy of what someone once called "applied art with a practical purpose". Coddington saw great success, watched as it mostly disappeared, then built himself, his name and his business back up again. What he went through, the tremendous ups and downs, personally and in business, were enough to do-in ten people. I'm just happy that towards its end, his life had become, again, a pretty good success.

While custom car and motorcycle creators have today, thanks to cable TV, become big media stars, like Chip Foose and that family from Orange County Choppers, Coddington was the first.

A decade-and-a-half-or-so ago, we held the "Coolest Car in LA" contest at KTLA MORNING NEWS, which was, at the time, the by-far #1 morning TV show in Los Angeles (and KTLA being one of the first "Superstations", it was also seen nationally). We producer- and on-air types sat down to plan the event, including who we might want to be judges of the contest's finals. The contest ran for about five weeks; there were some 700 entries and all sent a tech sheet about their vehicles along with photos, and the photos were real photos, as this was well before the ubiquity of the Web, and certainly way before digital cameras were priced so to be available to the general public.

As for these judges, one name we all instantly agreed upon the first time it was mentioned: Boyd Coddington. (Photo - "Boydster 2").

Coddington, like other great Southern California "customizers" and "custom car builders" before and after him, had roots in Orange County, CA and Disneyland and/or Knott's Berry Farm. These were, and are, places were machinists and fabricators like Coddington could cut their teeth building specialized, never-before-seen vehicles from the ground up. Along with the vehicles, which could range from covered wagons to faux nuclear submarines, these amazingly talented men and women also built, again from the ground up, the engines and the motors which motivated their works. Even some of the people who painted these contraptions became famous, best-known, probably, is Von Dutch, who I believe worked at both of Orange County's palaces of fantasy, from the "Happiest Place on Earth" at 1212 Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim, to its slightly-seedy but just-as-overly-patriotic neighbor a mile or two down the road, on Buena Park's Beach Boulevard, where Mr. Walter Knott had invented boysenberries; his wife, Cordelia, wrote a recipe for fried chicken that still draws hundreds of diners every night.

Such was the atmosphere where Coddington made his bones, the great American places of fantasy, all of it built on dreams, where he developed the skills which would make his name known to tens of millions of Car Nuts around the world.

His initial commercial success was thanks to his own talent. Much of his failure can be traced to some people in the business and PR side of things who pushed Coddington, too fast and too much, into arenas that perhaps weren't best for him, and almost surely were beyond his business acumen. Coddington was quiet, some would say shy. There didn't seem to be an aggressive bone in his body. He began as a machinist, and ended as a world-renowned artist, sculptor and innovator. Many people made a lot of money off Coddington, but, when he was down, most of them apparently forgot his phone number. One more time, he had to re-build something from the ground up: Himself, and as usual, when left to his own devices, the Coddington project was a success. (Photo - Boyd's AlumaCoupe, introduced for the first time anywhere on the TV show where I reported, KTLA MORNING NEWS in Los Angeles, before its 1992 New York Auto Show public intro).

Here's one obituary on Coddington, the good and bad, and which is, we think appropriately, from his  "hometown" newspaper, the "Orange County Register":

"Boyd Coddington, whose curvaceous custom cars and high-octane cable TV series "American Hot Rod" made him a legend of the Orange County and national car culture, died Wednesday at age 63.

Coddington, a La Habra resident who called Orange County home for 41 years, died at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier. Cause of death was not released.

Coddington's career had its ups -- "American Hot Rod" aired on the Discovery Channel from 2004 to 2007 -- and downs -- bankruptcies and a guilty misdemeanor plea for filing fraudulent car title information.

Born in Rupert, Idaho, in 1944, Coddington was a farm boy who devoured auto magazines and dreamed of creating his own custom cars. In 1967, he moved to Anaheim to work as a machinist for Disneyland, keeping his dream alive by spending his spare time custom building hot rods in his garage. The Disney job taught him a lesson he would use in his designs, said Brad Fanshaw, Coddington's business partner from 1989 to 1996.

"At Disney, he learned that if you do it, do it right. Make it perfect," Fanshaw said. (Photo - Boyd's "Smoothster").

Coddington's first big hit was a streamlined makeover of a 1933 Coupe that won the Al Slonaker Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in hot rodding. He won the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" award in 1982 at the Oakland (CA) Roadster Show.

His 1989 "Cadzilla," considered a design masterpiece, was custom built for rock star Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Michael Anthony of the band Van Halen and actor Tim Allen also commissioned cars by Coddington. His hot rods were re-created as toys for Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars.

"He used to say, 'I don't like to see any bumps,' " Fanshaw said. "He'd take a '32 or '33 body and give it a clean look, shave off the hinges, the handles, reshape the body. It was a sexier look than anything out there."

The New York Times called Coddington "indisputably the best-known and arguably the most influential professional builder in the field."

He was inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame in 1997, along with his chief designer Chip Foose, who also became a television celebrity. (Photo - Boyd's "Che-Zoom" was not only a full-size car, but also a Mattel HOT WHEELS choice and a plastic model kit made by Testor's --- remember the great glue which came with those models?).

Coddington's design success led to business booms and busts. In the early '80s, he pioneered carving  wheels out of aluminum blocks, selling them to fans who loved his style but couldn't afford a customized car. The wheels became so popular that Coddington took the company, Boyds Wheels Inc., public in 1995.

In 1998, Boyds Wheels filed for bankruptcy and Coddington filed for personal bankruptcy protection in 2001 to stave off creditors from his business debts. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of submitting counterfeit vehicle titles to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, trying to avoid smog restrictions and taxes by claiming his new hot rods were vintage cars. In a 2005 interview with the Register, Coddington said he thought what he was doing was not a problem until he was busted.

"If a guy's got enough money to pay $100,000 for a car, he can pay the tax on it," Coddington said. "But if the loophole is there, he'll go through it. Everybody will do that, that's human nature."

Coddington opened his shop in La Habra in 2001, where he became a local civic booster, supporting local children's charities and his personal foundation, which raised money through annual custom car shows that drew thousands to La Habra.

"It's a huge loss for La Habra. He put La Habra on the map," said Jim Gomez, a La Habra city council member.

Coddington is survived by his wife, Jo; three sons, Boyd Jr., Chris and Greg; and grandchildren." -30- (end of Register story)

Boyd and his wife started the Coddington Foundation, and if Boyd is remembered for his cars, he'd also like it if people would remember him for his Foundation; the following is from his website:

"Boyd and Jo Coddington have always been involved with numerous charity organizations. (Photo - "Boydster 1").

But in 2005, they decided to start their own when a young man named Max Cohen came into their lives. Max was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, a terminal illness, in February 2003. He has a passion for designing cars and motorcycles and his favorite shows are American Hot Rod and American Chopper. It was his dream to design and build his own hot rod. Upon learning of his wish, Boyd and Jo Coddington immediately contacted him and brought him to California to pursue it. They, along with the Coddington Foundation assisted in making this young man's dream come true by bringing him into design the hot rod and have Max work side by side with the craftsmen in the garage.

Also, Boyd Coddington's Garage has been working with the Elwyn Foundation for years, hiring mentally challenged adults to work in the shop. All are not only employees, but, become part of the Coddington family. Boyd and Jo have always held a special place in their hearts for children and the mentally challenged. (Photo - Boyd's "SportStar").

The Coddington Foundation is a Public Benefit non-profit corporation formed exclusively for charitable and  educational purposes. Specifically, our organization will provide a unique opportunity for terminally ill children to experience their dreams through building a hot rod which will be auctioned for charity. Provide work opportunities, job experience, and financial sponsorship for mentally challenged adults 18-60 in order to assist them in entering the workplace. And raise funds for other non-profit organizations such as La Habra's children's programs and the Elwyn Foundation through various charity events, such as the annual Coddington Foundation Car Show and Fundraiser.

The Coddington Foundation is committed to positively impact the lives of those less fortunate in our community and throughout the country. It is our belief that together we can accomplish this mission."

Comments

[Tom Topping]

steve parker- I remembe your radio show in the 90s- you interviewed me from Pikes Peak- are you on L,A, media today or internet only?
best regards
Tom Topping
Boulevard Sentinel Newspaper
Northeast Los Angeles

[Simon (chinster) Carter]

Gone but not forgotten, hope you are well where ever you are. Same to you Roy & Max, and all of the hard workers who made it all possible
Chinster

[Brad Jones]

Hey Ted, I know your type like the back of my hand. You talk a bunch of crap, and you are the first one in line to buy one of his hats or t-shirts.

You don't know the first thing about Boyd.

[taz siddique]

when the (Boyd) show first came on , here in the u.k, i thought not much of it , but it was the only decent thing on channel 4 before I went to work , the more i watched the more i liked it. some off the cars he made i would love to have .... very very talented person . god bless him ...

[ned]

i loved the series ... the man was a genius and a great person supporting his employees through thick and thin. Will be sadly missed; may you rest in peace .

[scott drew]

I watched Boyd's show as much as I could. He inspired me to get my car going. His show gave me ideas for things I could do to my car. He will be missed by me & all the show's viewers. He was very talented.

[Ted Johnson]

As typical hundreds of words for a guy that got his start from a guy named John Butera, who by coincidence died the same week. Of course no mention of a guy who had more talent in one finger than Boyd had in both hands. Not my opinion, but held by the mainstream masters of the art. Jesse James worked for Boyd and got a helping hand from John Butera, bottom line. . . Jesse passed on Boyd's memorial and spoke at John's.

Just for the record, Boyd who is credited as the "Father of Billet" got the idea from John Buterra, who is and was the real "Father of Billet". A point that was clearly made at John's memorial. Boyd was at John's shop one day watching John carve out a piece of aluminum and asked are you going to make more of those? John said no and Boyd asked, "Is it OK if I make more to sell?" John said he had no problem with it and as they say the rest is history.

It would be nice to see the same effort for a memorial to John. How about it.