Boyd Coddington gone at age 63

Posted by pikesan on Feb 29, 2008 in MyRideisMe, Vintage Rides | 0 comments

…has sadly passed on today at the age of 63.Suffice to say, he was a true giant in the industry, and the first builder to truly inspire me to throw my hat in the ring, and do what I love. His approach and design sense changed forever the direction of the modern street rod and custom car, and will be viewed forever as the benchmark of his era. Cars like CadZZilla are world-famous, and his face was easily one of the most recognizable in the industry.

(CadZZilla and the Hirohata Merc at the Oakland Museum of California… sorry for cruddy pic.)

(…and speaking of CadZZilla, how ’bout a cool peek at a gathering of great talent during what just may have been the birth of that car?

Can you name these guys? –that is a young Larry Erickson on the right… only hint I’ll give)

Thanks to a guy who, no matter how hectic his schedule, took time to spend a few moments with me at a show, and review what I was working on at the time. Sadly, as large a page in hot rodding history as he will fill, there’s an equally big footnote with respect to the terrible PR his TV show brought on, the scandals, behind the scenes drama, the mis-management of business dealings…. All of the things that commonly plague uncommonly talented people. Hopefully, history will raise him to his proper place as the man who forged the future of the industry, giving rise to many talented builders, designers and more.

I recall a time when it was so cool to see a set of billet wheels… “Those are BOYD’S, man!!” One-off wheels for one-off creations… pieces of grand sculpture if ever there were such a thing. Hell, my first hot rod shop t-shirt was a Hot Rods by Boyd tee (with Thom Taylor’s killer artwork)… To call this man an inspiration in my career path would be like saying fish enjoy water. His aesthetic and ground-breaking approach to creating a hot rod will always live on, in some way, in all I create.

(how famous is THAT wall?!)

A sad day, indeed. Our sincerest condolences to his family and close friends. Godspeed, Boyd.

Courtesy of Brian over at Problemchildkustoms.com.

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