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.
Wow, what a shock. He was so young.
I couldn’t watch shows like his, but I liked his art. He had a sense of balance and taste. That his pieces of rolling sculpture actually worked, and performed, is amazing.
Paul
I simply am aghast. Boyd was so young. I enjoyed his show and loved his cars. It is Art. I have heard by another customizer who knew him that he was not anything like his persona he played on his show. He will remain with us in the “Hot Rod Hall of Fame,”
i am so sorry i likt his shows ferry much.
i wish al the best for his wife,en the team.
boyd coddington lives for ever we wil not forrget you
To say I am gutted is an understatement, BOYD CODDINGTON was a genius in my eyes and will be sadly missed by all true HOT ROD fans in the UK, Love to JO please keep BOYD’S memory alive, while he is up there already starting his next project and looking down smiling.
BOYD CODDINGTON WILL LIVE 4EVER.
I am still in disbelief.
I hope he will live on forever, he will in my eyes
BOYD WAS A TRUE ARTIST,STYLE KING, PERFECTIONIST,INFLUENST BY YOUNG AND OLD,WE’LL MISS YOU BOYD….NEW ZEALAND..
i watch the show every night.he will be sadly missed.love to jo and sympathies.
russ hillman
I just heard about it (23.8.2009) , Unbelievable!
Just now! Really? It happened a long time ago.
I am so sorry he will be sadly missed watch the show on quest channel so shocked when i look him up and found out he had died very sad he was a great bloke , a geart team and lastly great show bye byod.