Farewell to Boyd Coddington

Boyd Coddington died at the age of 63 Wednesday.

Many of us watched the Discovery Channel’s show American Hot Rod as his dysfunctional crew produced fantastic vehicles that Boyd designed and always in less time than humanly possible.

As fantastic creations rolled out of the shop there always seemed to be collateral damage in the form of staff leaving or being fired.  While it was fascinating to watch the creative process it was often agonizing to watch the destruction of people’s dreams as they left Boyd’s shop.

Two of the most notable former employees of Boyd’s were Jesse James (Monster Garage) and Chip Foose (Overhaulin’).

Boyd was known for some artistic custom versions of classic muscle cars as well as completely hand built hot rods.  At one point his business was growing dramatically as he had a custom wheel business as well as custom car business.  For a brief period he had a line of car care products that were sold through Auto Zone and a few other parts outlets.  I liked the wax and shampoo so much that I snatched up every item I could find when I heard that it was coming to an end.  At one point I even contacted someone about the possibility of buying the product line.  Unfortunately the follow through from the seller wasn’t there.

What ever you thought of Boyd’s management style you had to be impressed by his design sense and the remarkable vehicles that his shop produced.  Boyd and his Hawaiian shirts will certainly be missed.