Custom Car Builder, Boyd Coddington, Dead At 63

I have to be honest…I may be a car guy, but if it weren’t for the show “American Hot Rod”, I wouldn’t have really appreciated Boyd Coddington’s rides. I knew the name. I knew it mainly for his wheels. But once I saw the show, I really began to realize that his designs were brassy and intrepid (not to be confused with the fugly car), and influenced other builders and manufacturers alike. The Hawaiian shirt, perfectly Flowbee‘d beard, and his testy attitude were always a kick to watch.

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.

Courtesy — Jeff Wilson, Associated Press

Here are a few of the cars he created and influenced over the years:

1965 Mustang GT Fastback

1936 Delahaye

Porsche Cayenne Turbo

1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air (aka, “Chezoom”)

1946 Cadillac Cadzilla for Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top

See more of Boyd Coddington’s cars at BoydCoddington.com

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