Legandary Hot Rod Builder Boyd
Coddington Enjoys Being Part of the AMSOIL Family
Innovation
and a Passion for Cars
He was born in
rural Idaho, but you'd never know it by his trademark Hawaiian
shirts and the California lifestyle he exhibits today. His
older brothers and their friends were into the early Deuce
Roadsters and '32 Coupes, his first introduction to hot rods.
From his earliest memories car have been his passion, and
through cars he has expressed his genius. Even after a lifetime
of designing cars, building cars and driving cars, Boyd Coddington
still goes to swap meets and car shows when he has time off.
He loves being around both cars and the people who love cars.
This year his business,
Boyd Coddington Hot Rods and Collectibles, will celebrate
its 30th anniversary. Producing 12 to 15 cars a year in the
$100,000-$500,000 price range, Coddington's company in La
Habra, California employs 26. High profile owners of a Boyd
Coddington original include Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Van
Halen's Michael Anthony.
In early summer
2007 AMSOIL and Boyd Coddington formed a relationship that
united two pioneers and their groundbreaking companies. Coddington's
unique approach to building hot rods had a major impact on
the hot rod scene, and A.J. Amatuzio's innovative efforts
created the synthetic motor oil market for passenger cars.
It had been Coddington's
dream to move to Southern California when he grew up. After
serving an apprenticeship for a machinist in Salt Lake City,
Utah, the door opened for him to make the move. His machinist
experience enabled him to acquire a position at Disneyland,
where he learned welding skills and good machining skills.
"I actually worked on cars when I got off the graveyard
shift," Coddington said. "It worked out very well."
In 1978 he left
Disney to start his own business, Hot Rods By Boyd. "I
never dreamed it would be like it is today. We couldn't ever
find a set of wheels that we liked for the car, so in 1982
we made our first set of billet wheels."
Boyd and contemporary
L'il John Buttera, who made his fame building drag-racing
funny cars before getting into street rods, were both master
machinists who developed new aesthetics for rods. Rather than
buy a reproduction of a vintage Ford rearview mirror like
the other restoration gear heads, Coddington and Buttera would
use a lathe and mill to carve away at a block of aluminum
to give it the look of a mirror. Thus was borne the billet
phenomenon. Creating and customizing parts from scratch, Coddington
gained a reputation and established his name.
Like ripples in
a pond, others emulated the new concept but missed the point
of what they were doing. By using predesigned programs they
became mass production houses, losing the sense of art behind
the personalized craftman approach. Coddington's style was
to never mass produce anything.
His high standards
led to magazine coverage, which in turn resulted in enough
fame to attract wealthy customers from other states who made
their pilgrimages to Coddington's garage to obtain one-of-a-kind
cars that made a statement. Vern Luce's so-red '33 coupe and
Jamie Musselman's roadster became touring hits in the show
circuit, increasing his visibility and the appreciation for
his talents. His red cars were so eye-smashing that Dupont
created "Boyd Red" as a production color, followed
by "Boyd Hot Hue," Boyd Yellow Mellow" and
"Boyd Black in Black."
Coddington avoided
the loud ultra-flashy graphics that were making their appearance
in the effusive 1980s. Coddington's cars had an attitude that
set them apart from the herd. His personalized cars were unique
without being weird, stopping people in their tracks by their
beauty and style, not freakishness. Flawless metalwork and
paint were givens. Coddington had the ability to take an inner
vision and transform it into contours that subtly bring the
original design to a new harmonious line.
Cars built at Coddington's
garage have won the prestigious "America's Most Beautiful
Roadster" an unprecedented seven times and the Daimler-Chrysler
Design Excellence Award twice. Coddington has been inducted
into the SEMA Hall of Fame, the Grand National Roadster Show
Hall of Fame. In 1988 he was voted Hot Rod magazine's
"Man of the Year."
A lot has changed
since those earlier times. "What's happened with the
car culture today is that it has become a lifestyle. A lot
of people like that lifestyle and that's what they do. They
get up and live their whole lives around their automobiles."
he explained.
Though Coddington
says he hasn't really changed, he admitted there can be a
downside to fame. "You're going through the airport and
you're really late and a guy is standing there with his two
boys. You're late, you've got to catch a plane and the guy
says, 'We watch your show every week. Our boys love you and
we want to get a picture. What are you going to say?"
Coddington stops for the photo.
During the interview,
a father and his three sons from Oklahoma came over and asked,
"Are you Boyd Coddington?" To their delight it was
so. A few minutes later they returned with a camera and had
their photos taken together. They said they never missed a
show. "What we want to do is get back to people like
this," Coddington said after they left. "You don't
have to spend a lot of money to get back to people like that.
We're going to have a car contest called America's Most Beautiful
Home-Built Car. Guys like this, not professionals. These are
the guys who will never have one of those cars that we build
on TV. We can influence them."
AMSOIL began its
Coddington sponsorship with the Tulsarama, Oklahoma's 100th
anniversary celebration in mid-June of 2007. Coddington and
his crew were called upon to bring a '57 Belvedere to life
after 50 years preserved in an underground vault. The intention
was to install AMSOIL lubricants and filters in the classic
hardtop. Unfortunately, decades of water seepage resulted
in the Belvedere being unsalvageable. The relationship with
Coddington soon evolved and his next AMSOIL undertaking was
a Bonneville build. The aim would be to set a new record for
the fastest pre-1934 roadster, 3 liter/blown gas/modified
with Jo Coddington at the wheel. The building of the AMSOIL/Coddington
roadster, dubbed "Salt Fever," would be filmed and
shown on TLC's American Hot Rod.
Coddington was
well-acquainted with AMSOIL products before partnering with
the company. "I had heard about how good AMSOIL (synthetic
oil) was. We actually tried some for a break-in on a couple
of cars. We were told you can't break-in motors with synthetic,
but with AMSOIL you can," he said.
"I'm working
on a couple jobs for the government right now, and AMSOIL
made all the difference in the world. AMSOIL makes great products.
It's very exciting to see when I talk people into using it
as a break-in oil how fast the rings seated," he added,
declaring, "That's what I like. When you're talking about
something and you believe in it, you know it's good."
Coddington, who
has been inpressed at how knowledgeable AMSOIL Dealers are,
had the following advice for Action News readers:
"Be really honest, give good service and just believe
in your products. With those things you can't go wrong."
So, what is the
Boydster like up close and personal? He's serious but also
warm. His mind is ever-active, and he still has an undying
passion for cars.
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