Boyd's Shop

[mikelo]

I just saw this on thier site from someone who works/worked there.

The Coddington Garage Closes their Doors One Coddington company closes as another plans to move June 16th, 2008--- La Habra, Ca Boyd Coddington Hot Rods will be closing their doors, Friday June 20th, 2008. After the untimely death of their founder, Boyd Coddington in February, the Coddington Garage team and family tried to continue on with business as usual. The battle they faced was too much to handle. After Boyd’s passing, his wife Jo took over the business. She had rather large shoes to fill in the absence of her husband. With the team of machinists, fabricators, and paint and body guys behind her, she gave it a shot. Unfortunately, running both the hot rod shop and the wheel shop was too much for her handle on her own. The cars and builds that are not complete at the time of closing will be moved to two new shops. Both shops are being run by former Boyd Coddington employees. Dan Sobieski, a fabricator and long time Coddington employee, will be opening his own shop July 1st. Sobieski will be taking a few from the Boyd Coddington team to his new shop in Anaheim, Ca. Abraham Rodriguez, a newer employee, will also be working on some of the vehicles at his shop. His specialty is in paint and body, but his shop will be able to do anything the Coddington Garage did. Jo will continue on with the wheel shop. There are plans for the company to move from their location in La Habra in the near future. For further information please contact Jo Coddington at boydsgarage@aol.com.

Here is the link...

http://boydforum.repspark.com/ShowThread.aspx?ID=3233

[abedooley]

POOR JO... CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING ALL THAT SITTING ON YOU?? That is so sad...Boyd's son must not be able to fill Boyd's shoes at all. On the show he kinda struck me as a desk jockey or just someone who was spoiled by Dad's riches and hard work. Its a sad time to be a hot rod enthusiast.

[James Flowers]

His wife was just a trophy wife anyway. Everone should have known she could not run the place. He keeped running his help away. I watched the show for awhile and got where I could not stand him or her anymore. I don't see how his frist wife worked there so long. I would say she could have keeped it going as she new what it was all about. Just my two cents worth

[abedooley]

His wife was just a trophy wife anyway. Everone should have known she could not run the place. He keeped running his help away. I watched the show for awhile and got where I could not stand him or her anymore. I don't see how his frist wife worked there so long. I would say she could have keeped it going as she new what it was all about. Just my two cents worth

Him and his first wife were PERFECT for each other! I didn't care much for the show after Charlie quit and Roy died... ROY WAS THE MAN!!! He may have been grumpy most of the time, but when he wasn't he was a funny motherf!@#%#!!!! I mean c'mon, he MOONED a train full of people!!! And he KNEW what he was doing!!!! I liked Lee too. Jo's a sweetheart, but I'm not surprised that it fell out from under her. Thats alot for anyone to deal with all at once... Even if his son or ex would have taken control they would have lost the company too... I'm a SOCAL SHOP fan anyway!! Never seen anything LESS than perfect come out of that shop!!! 8 week deadlines are bound to bite you in the a$$ sooner or later!!

Edited June 25, 2008 by abedooley

[sdrodder]

Well if there was a crying smily face my post would just be that. Well when i live in los angeles i went up to his shop. Well i met him he gave me his autograph and he was a nice guy. For those of you who say he isnt i dont know what u guys are talking about. When he died it struck me badly. Now his shop is closeing is even worse. I hope it opens back up but i dont see it right now. It is just sad no one could keep it open

[Dragon7665]

Jo's a Pretty Smart Automotive Cookie in her own right, it is best for her to Close up shop now, and Move it to the new location..... I wouldn't doubt that she doesn't get some people to run the Shop for her, and then rename it something like JC's Garage to get it away from the stigmata n other ###### that Ol' Foyd left behind.... Maybe then she will actually get the Garage back to building True Hot Rods, and not the Lame Cookie Cutter Garbage that it has put out in the last revamp....

Honestly I wouldn't Blame her if she Closed the Doors permately, and just took what money she could, it's not like she didn't earn it by putting up with Foyd for as long as she did.....

[Dragon7665]

Well if there was a crying smily face my post would just be that. Well when i live in los angeles i went up to his shop. Well i met him he gave me his autograph and he was a nice guy. For those of you who say he isnt i dont know what u guys are talking about. When he died it struck me badly. Now his shop is closeing is even worse. I hope it opens back up but i dont see it right now. It is just sad no one could keep it open

You're Right Florian, he was a Good Guy back in the early days, and he was more than happy to shoot the breeze with a fan..... Ofcourse as they say, With Money and Fame Comes Greed that bug had bit him hard, and he just let it consume him.... Jo was the only one that kept him halfway stable, and when she wasn't around, you did not want to be anywhere near him.....

[rickr442]

Florian, I totally agree.

I met Boyd almost 20 years ago at his old shop in Stanton, and was even invited to the rollout of CadZilla in '89.

Boyd offered assistance (free wheels/tires) for a project I was involved with a decade ago through a big LA ad agency. I saw the angst he displayed during the 'public' fiasco. The man was crushed by the failure.

I'll always remember his apology to me for not being able to follow through with the offer. He was a class guy every time I saw or talked to him.

I was a producer on the old Wild About Wheels series on Discovery in the early 90s, before car TV became a 'dramatic effort'. Our series was dry beyond reason at times, made with no budget. Now, though, with the current wave of popularity, the crews have show-runners who firmly believe they are 'the next Spielberg', requiring contrived drama in every frame. That only works if you have pros in the camera image... These people weren't actors!

Boyd probably let too much get past this time, or he had no control over the destination of the product with his name on it.

I liked him, respected his work, and will miss him.

Travel On, Boyd!

[tim boyd]

Florian, I totally agree.

I met Boyd almost 20 years ago at his old shop in Stanton, and was even invited to the rollout of CadZilla in '89.

Boyd offered assistance (free wheels/tires) for a project I was involved with a decade ago through a big LA ad agency. I saw the angst he displayed during the 'public' fiasco. The man was crushed by the failure.

I'll always remember his apology to me for not being able to follow through with the offer. He was a class guy every time I saw or talked to him.

I was a producer on the old Wild About Wheels series on Discovery in the early 90s, before car TV became a 'dramatic effort'. Our series was dry beyond reason at times, made with no budget. Now, though, with the current wave of popularity, the crews have show-runners who firmly believe they are 'the next Spielberg', requiring contrived drama in every frame. That only works if you have pros in the camera image... These people weren't actors!

Boyd probably let too much get past this time, or he had no control over the destination of the product with his name on it.

I liked him, respected his work, and will miss him.

Travel On, Boyd!

[tim boyd]

What Rick said.

I also knew Boyd and though I did not talk to him in quite a number of years, when I did know him he was a total gentleman and not at all like the TV series.

Boyd's true personality would have made for dull TV. That's the bottom line.

RIP, Mr. Coddington.

TIM BOYD

[Jantrix]

What Rick said.

I also knew Boyd and though I did not talk to him in quite a number of years, when I did know him he was a total gentleman and not at all like the TV series.

Boyd's true personality would have made for dull TV. That's the bottom line.

RIP, Mr. Coddington.

TIM BOYD

It's a shame what this reality TV craze has done to people. Very few families or businesses have benefited from having one in their lives. We can see what it did to the Hogan family. It paints very differnet pictures of what people are like in reality..........except for Ozzy. A lot of the drama that goes on is set up by the TV folks often to the detriment of the people involved. It's a terrible thing that the worlds view of Boyd was what we saw on TV. I got a chance to meet a couple of guys from his show at the Coddington trailer at the Goodguys show here in Jax, FL. They also mentioned that Boyd was a heck of a nice guy, and not at all like his TV persona. My best wishes to Jo and the rest of his family. I for one though am glad, that his hot rod shop is closing. Without Boyds creativity and work ethic, it's just another hot rod shop.

[bobss396]

Yeah, the TV show was a stretch to believe most of the time. Putting all the drama aside, he did turn out some creative cars. The shop was destined to fold up without strong leadership and a vision to keep the work flowing. Basically, no Boyd figure to run the show, no hot rods.

However, the wheel shop is the proverbial cash cow. They have an established product line so that should be the easier side of the business to keep going.

Bob

[MikeMc]

check out the $$$ history of the wheel shop.........not all that sucessful........FACTS not TV.

[torinobradley]

Just my 2 cents...

I never met the man, only what I saw on the tube. I admired his talent and innovation. His designs will always be a part of hot rodding and have martyred him. What I didn't like was how the show portrayed him. He was always at odds with his crew and ex. And those deadlines, hey, enough is enough. Give the crew a reasonable amount of time to do the car! It's not good to have to have your crew work long days and weekend on every build because you want it done sooner. Of course, I couldn't understand why he would let his best talent slip away like Chip and Charlie. I know, bad blood and all that... But hey, let him go paint the riddler and come back. At least that way, you may not have the riddler winner but you got the painter of it...

I wish I could have met him and known the man behind the cars.

And I understand the show will paint whatever picture they think will get the most ratings. I mean, how many of us watch American Chopper to see them build the bikes? (okay, maybe a few of us)

Long story short, good man, wonderful cars, nice kits, a legacy, fond memories and a huge, unfillable void in the hot rod community.