Yeah, from what I have heard, Boyd was kind of a jackass. And Chip used to be pretty humble and soft spoken, but his ego is slowly starting to get the best of him too...
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Yeah, from what I have heard, Boyd was kind of a jackass. And Chip used to be pretty humble and soft spoken, but his ego is slowly starting to get the best of him too...
I never cared for him but would not have wished him to die. He sure seemed to have alot of talented people working for him to be such an ass to them. He was a major icon in the hodrod industry.
Chip used to work for Boyd and left because he was an ass. Alot of good builders made Boyd look good and when everyone left, how many cars did Boyd actually build? Exactly! but he took credit for what others did, resulting in alot of good builders departure. Not saying that it's not sad that he died, 63 is to young.
Exactly how I see it, didnt want him to die but definately taking all the credit for some talented people under him.Quote:
Originally Posted by DBTBSS
wow hadnt heard that....
wonder what will happen with the company now
In his early days he did allot of cool stuff.Then his money did it all. But he made some people famous and they might not have made it without him.
Bummer, I have an original set of Boyds on my truck. He and his crew built some awsome sshhiitt like "Cadzilla".
(02-27) 11:43 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
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.
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On The Net:
www.boydcoddington.com
Ahh Man that sux...
that sucks he mite have been an ass hole but he built nice ass cars and wheels i saw him one time when i was in school at wyotech they said he comes up there 2-3 times a year to hire people on he seem nice
even if he was a jerk, at least he had good taste. not to many people have those talents anymore, they are moving onto imports :argg: