Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The (Hot Rod) King is dead

American Hot Rod host and reknowned car builder Boyd Coddington died early this morning. I don't know the cause of death. I know you're wondering, because we're all kinda sick that way. Whenever we hear that someone has died, the first question is always "how?" Well, I don't know, but I do know this guy was super good at what he did:


He designed and built CadZZilla, one of many customized ZZ Top cars. No, not the red one driven by ghost sluts in "Sharp Dressed Man". It was the one from that video off the Back to the Future Part 3 soundtrack. No.... not the Delorean, the black one at the end. Oh, nevermind. Enjoy this photo of the ghost sluts.

He used to be Chip Foose's boss. Chip Foose is a very talented custom car designer and the host of Overhaulin'. There are reports of an intense rivalry between the two men. I suspect it's because Chip is better looking.



He unburied The Buried Car in Tulsa, Oklahoma last summer. I don't know why the good people of 1957 Oklahoma decided it would be fun to bury a car. Time capsules were all the rage back then. Hey, it was a world without iPods, what the hell would you do? Is the world a better place because he dug it up? Meh.

Dupont named a car paint shade after him (Boyd Red). Say what you want, but that's pretty cool. I'll never have a colour named after me. (Prediction: Neither will you.)





Boyd Coddington acheived many honours in the custom car and streetrod world, the majority of which I don't really know, and you probably don't really care, but you can click on the links to learn more. Or not. You're the boss.

I didn't watch American Hot Rod very often, but when I did, I found Boyd to be a rather surly character. He was cranky and angry (on camera at least) to most of his crew, but he was "the Hot Rod King", so they put up with his crap. He was like the Dr. House of hot rods, proving in real-life that you can be a jerk if you're the best in the world at what you do.

Long live the Hot Rod King.

5 comments:

WendyB said...

I love the ghost sluts.

The Guv'ner said...

On a slightly different track, since I know nothing about this man or American Hotrod (May he RIP though), I once found a photo on a google search for something totally different, of a man who was equally passionate about cars. And by passionate I mean in a physical sense. And it gave me a whole new appreciation of what a person can do with an exhaust pipe and a little love.

Leonesse said...

Why can't I be a jerk just because I am not any damn good at anything?

How about I am the biggest jerk in the world at doing practically nothing?

Bill Pocock said...

Too bad.

I liked his show and appreciated how he got stuff done.

Thanks for the post!

pistols at dawn said...

Since I don't like car stuff at all, I'm just going to ogle the ghost sluts, too.