BOYD CODDINGTON

BOYD CODDINGTON
BOYD CODDINGTON EMERGES
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
AMERICAN GRAFFITI
CODDINGTON AND COMPANY
MISTER HOT ROD
BOYD CODDINGTON VS. VAN HALEN
BOYDSTER 1

BOYD CODDINGTON

Boyd Coddington was a 13-year-old boy on his parent’s farm in Rupert, Idaho when he traded his shotgun for his very first vehicle, a ’31 Chevy pickup truck. His father was not keen to the idea, so he eventually had to return the truck, but his fascination with automotives was steadfast.

BOYD CODDINGTON EMERGES

During the 40’s and 50’s, the young Coddington read every hot rod magazine he could lay his mitts on and subsequently put his enthusiasm to use by designing, building, chopping and wielding parts from one car to another to create his own unique concoctions.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING

At 22, Coddington after completing a machinist trade-school training course at Idaho State with a three-year apprenticeship, he moved to the birthplace of hotrods, sunny California. By 1966, he was building hot rods during the day and supporting himself by working as a machinist for Western Gear at night.

AMERICAN GRAFFITI

With the encouragement of all of those around him, Coddington opened his own custom garage in Cypress, California in 1978. His first official customer was Vern Luce. For Luce, he built a custom ’33 coupe that would go on to win the 1981 Al Slonaker Award in the Oakland Roadster Show. Coddington soon became known for creating the most renowned hot rods in the world.

CODDINGTON AND COMPANY

Awards starting rolling in as the hot rods were rolling out and Coddington needed help keeping up with the growing demand, so employees were in order. He hired Gary Hudson, his first staff member, in 1978. Things only would get bigger and better for Coddington and these days his La Habra, California garage is a massive 50,000-square-feet with 70 employees. His staff includes his two sons, his wife Jo and his ex-wife Diane. Together they build hot rods, custom wheels, component parts and consignment cars.

 

MISTER HOT ROD

Boyd Coddington was Hot Rod Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1988. He was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 1995. He has won the Grand National Roadster Show’s America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award on seven different occasions. He has won the Daimler Chrysler Design Excellence Award twice. He and his garage produce around 12 to 15 vehicles a year at costs ranging from $50,000 to $500,000. His biggest business is in the actual wheels, they make and sell about 100,000 of those annually.

BOYD CODDINGTON VS. VAN HALEN

For hot rod enthusiast and Van Halen drummer, Michael Anthony, Coddington created the Boydster 1. Based on a 1932 Ford Highboy, the Boydster 1 body was hand-crafted from steel with the hood and deck created out of aluminum. The suicide doors from the 1934 model were seamless streamlined into the design so they would flow with the laid-back windshield. The leather interior was dyed to match the exterior paint, which is Dupont Boyd Red.

 

BOYDSTER 1

The Boydster 1 debuted at the 1996 Oakland Roadster Show and for the second time in a row Coddington won the prestigious America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award. Boyd has now recreated the Boydster 1 body in fiberglass, so any hot rodder can build their very own, ‘most beautiful roadster’.