Boyd and car owner Dennis...
Boyd and car owner Dennis Varni hold up the '92 AMBR trophy for the '29 highboy that can still be seen on the highway today, heading from one event to another.
"I remember a time when Chip Foose and Lil' John were working for Boyd when he asked me to take a look at some prototype wheels-each had made a set. Both sets of wheels were incredible, but John's was more to my liking. Feeling pretty good, I decided to approach John, who was whittling out a steering wheel. As I approached, I noticed another steering wheel lying on the shop floor. I picked it up, thinking this would be ideal to go with the wheels. I told John it looked perfect. I figured John would think this was pretty cool. Wrong! John proceeded to tell me, 'I said that f-king thing is junk. You want a wheel, I will make you one.' John made me a wheel."
Builder and manufacturer Pete Chapouris on Lil' John and Boyd
"Lil' John Buttera and Boyd Coddington have each, in their own way, left an indelible mark on the automotive industry in general, but more specifically in the drag-racing and hot rod world. You would have had to been living under a rock to not know this. So, when Editor Brian Brennan asked me to write a few words about my two late pals, I thought maybe a subject away from cars might be of interest.
"I met Lil' John in 1974 after he said goodbye to an amazing drag-racing career. And, ironically, in 1975, I met Boyd at Lil' John's place in Los Alamitos, California. Boyd was using John's machine tools, because he didn't have any. John introduced me to Boyd as his new 'pal' from Idaho and mentioned he was a 'fair machinist,' to which Boyd merely grinned. We hit it off, and that friendship grew to include our families, and others, as well.
"As time went on, in an effort to save my family from disintegrating under the demands put on me by the start-up of Pete and Jake's, we took up dirt-bike riding. Honestly, it was the first time my family and I had something in common, and we started touting how cool it was to just get away from it all and eat a little dirt.
"I found some of my hot rod business friends had the same issues and had interest in riding in the dirt, as well. So, in the spring of 1983, it was decided by our burgeoning hot rod family of misfits that we should hit the road on a Sunday for a little desert dirt-bike ride.
The Larry Erickson-designed...
The Larry Erickson-designed Aluma Coupe brought street rodding to new heights.
"Before I get into telling the story of one of the funniest days I had yet to witness, let's introduce the key players: Bob, Diana, Danny, and Brad Bauder; Lil' John Buttera; Boyd, Diane, Chris, and Greg Coddington; Pete, Carol, Nicole, and Peter Chapouris; Gary, Marlene, Leanne, and Scotty Lorenzini; Bob and Nitaya Hines; Jim 'Jake' Jacobs; and Tom Vogele.
"Most of us already had bikes but a few had to either borrow or buy new equipment. Lil' John borrowed a Yamaha IT, Boyd outfitted his whole family with Honda's latest ATCs (along with helmets, boots, gloves, and the like), Hines bought a new Honda XR 500R, and Danny mooched a monster Honda 250R ATC.
"We headed out at dawn, using every available trailer at our disposal and looking like a band of gypsies, more than anything else. Our destination was a high-desert riding area called Honda Valley. Unfortunately, the BLM had closed it to bikes, but we sneaked in anyway. Just about the time we had everything unloaded, a ranger came by and threw us out.
"Undaunted, we loaded up (not an easy task) and headed 10 miles northeast to another spot near Phelan. At last, a place to play and teach the novices the art of staying upright. Boyd spent the day teaching his boys how to ride, although young Greg never did grasp the function of shifting. So, after a few hours of low-gear, wide-open throttle, his engine seized.
"Lil' John riding the IT was something to behold. He was wearing a brand-new Goodyear nylon jacket, which was destroyed by the end of the day. The jacket looked like something off a homeless person, as there was lining sticking out of every place he hit the dirt-and he went down a lot. In one particular instance, while trying to keep up with Hines, he rode into a major rain rut and buried the bike up to the handlebars, with John sitting on the bike at about 2 feet tall, leaving no doubt as to his nickname.