The car in the background...
The car in the background is Buz Di Vosta's Roadstar, designed by Foose and built by Dave Willey at Boyd's.
"In August 1976, my dad built a '26 Model T project that was on the cover of the Mar. '76 issue of Street Rodder. It all seems like a blur after that. In the 25 years that followed, we would watch our dad's hobby move from our garage to a 110,000-square-foot building and grow into a multimillion-dollar business.
"Our weekend outings visiting the local shops and going to the local car shows and swap meets soon became an elaborate road show with two 60-foot semis crisscrossing the country, endless sales calls, trade shows, and domestic and international business flights. Our corner ice cream shop visits were replaced with the many events where we would witness our dad receiving awards, honors, and being inducted into various automotive halls of fame. Even though our outings became longer and our conversations started to come more by way of cell phones and e-mails, my dad always found the time for his family. The life lessons he had always shared would never stop.
"My dad took pride in his many accomplishments, but there is one accomplishment of all he achieved that made him a truly happy man-that was his family. As a father of three sons, five grandchildren, and no question more to come, my dad lived for the accomplishments, joys, and sorrows of his children.
"When someone passes, it causes us to take a moment to think about that person and the impact they had on our lives. I have done that and have concluded that life won't be as exciting, our collection of friends won't be as full, and our resources for someone we can call and 'touch base' with, advise us, and just listen won't be there as it was before my dad's passing.
"The legacy he leaves and the impact he made on our industry will never be forgotten. Many people might think we have lost a builder, an innovator, and an industry pioneer. For the Coddingtons, we lost a husband, a father, a grandfather, a man of great family values, my best friend, and my hero, but he has left a legacy."
Artist Dave Kurz painted this...
Artist Dave Kurz painted this mural for Boyd.
Son-in-law Ronnie Capps on Lil' John
"We were on our way from California to Ohio for the Street Machine Nationals. It was the first road trip for the new silver roadster-actually, it was the first trip anywhere since, as per usual, we had just finished it hours before we started out.
"Lil' John and I were rolling across country when we hit a rain storm from hell in Missouri. With rain gear on, sweatshirts, and ball caps, we were soaked. Driving about 40 mph so we could see, we were passed by a big-rig trucker going 65. At the same time, there was a low spot in the road full of water, and the big rig ran through it, creating a wave you could have surfed on. For about 60 feet, water flooded right into the car. We stopped at the next overpass, opened the doors, and water poured out as we stood there laughing and soaking wet now. John said I didn't have my snorkel, and I thought I was going to drown. It was so funny, and we were so drenched all we could do as laugh at each other.
"After many one-liners, we got back in the car and drove on. What a trip!"
Journalist, co-founder of Street Rodder magazine, and "father" to an entire generation of hot rod journalists, Tex Smith on Boyd and Lil' John
"I heard of Boyd Coddington from rodders in southern Idaho, years ago. Lots of enthusiasm, they said, but still his efforts were referred to as being 'cobbled by Coddington.' Oh, how things changed. From main street in a dusty little farm town to the bigs! Through it all, Boyd never seemed to lose his small-town intensity, nor his enthusiasm. A few years ago, we both ended up on the main street of the Lincoln, Nebraska, fairgrounds for an initial Rod & Custom Americruise. Early one morning, as I was getting my book company products ready for the day's activity, Boyd came bounding across the road, exclaiming, 'Tex, my company has just gone public! Who would have thought such a thing when I came to California?'