Posted on April 14, 2015 by Hot Rods by Boyd

Good Guys Del Mar 2015

We attended the Good Guys Del Mar show once again. Not only to display our new product but to hand out a very important award for our family. Greg and I look forward to picking the winner of the Boyd Coddington Memorial award every year. We are thankful to Good Guys for having us and to all the nice cars that are present that make it really difficult sometimes to just pick just one winner. This year John Cowell’s 35 Ford 5 window stood out above all the rest. Very tastefully done and every inch of this car had some serious attention paid to it. John took the car to Keith over at Image Street Rods out of Santa Maria, CA in 2008 and it rolled out complete in 2010. The Smokn35 features a/c and heat, 4 wheel Wilwood discs brakes, 9″ posi rear end, House of Kolors paint, and leather interior done by Mike Wray of Cayucos ca. This car is definitely something my dad would have been stoked on.

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Hot Rods by Boyd

2014 Good Guys Del Mar and Boyd Coddington Memorial Award

Another great Del Mar Good Guys show. Definitely one of the best venues for a California car event. A stone’s throw to the beach, beautiful weather, and as always some of the best cars in So Cal come out for the event. Gregg and I were excited once again to hand out our father’s memorial award. This year the award went to a 1940 Pontiac woody owned by a member of the DuPont family. The award was accepted on behalf of Mr. DuPont by the shop that built this beautiful woody, Hot Rods and Custom Stuff out of Escondido, CA. This car caught our eye right off the bat. It’s rare to see these Pontiac woodies and to see one built to this level was amazing. The work done by Randy Clark and his team is just amazing. Interesting enough that the winner of the first Boyd Coddington Memorial award, Andy Meeh, does all the paint work at Hot Rods and Custom Stuff. Andy and his family drove the woody through winners circle to accept the award. I was happy this year to share the experience with my two daughters, Jenna and Stella. Once again a great time and we look forward to next year.

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Hot Rods by Boyd

2013 Good Guys Del Mar

Another year and another great car show at Del Mar Fairgrounds put on by the Good Guys . The weather was beautiful as usual and there were tons of people at the show. We had all our new wheels on display and got some really good response on the new designs. Once again Gregg and I had the task of picking the recipient of the Boyd Coddington Memorial Award. This years winner was Joe Kugel with his sleek and tastefully done 32 Roadster. We loved the paint and the dark Ferarri-esque interior on this car. The F-22 wheels on the Kugel Suspension just make this little roadster sit right. Congrats Joe on a well done roadster that we’re sure our dad would have loved too.
Overall it was a good show. True story. We had reports earlier in the week that some of our competitors were a little nervous about us showing up with our new product and made calls to Good Guys to try and stop us from coming. How silly is that? I guess that’s what happens when everyone else is doing the same ol boring stuff and we’re out there trying to push new designs and new finishes.
We’d like to thank the Good Guys organization for allowing us to pay tribute to our father and continue his legacy. Good Guys is one of the greatest car show organizations on this planet and their shows always deliver. We’ll see you again next year.

: No Chinese JYDs here. These are the OG original.

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Hot Rods by Boyd

Our Vern Luce Coupe Reunion and Adventure

A couple of days ago I received a call from Grant Peterson and Thom Taylor from Hot Rod Magazine. The Vern Luce Coupe was in town and they wanted me and my brother Gregg to drive if out to the LA Fairplex in Pomona, CA for the Hot Rod Magazine Homecoming. Stoked beyond words I accepted without hesitation. For those that don’t know the Vern Luce Coupe was the car built over 30 years ago that launched my father’s career and started the Boyd Look and the billet movement. The car has been in Australia with it’s current owner for a number of years and Thom and Hot Rod Magazine made the arrangements to bring her out for the show.
So Gregg, Shane and I roll over to Hot Rods HQ and garage in El Segundo, CA. Hot Rod Magazine’s garage is a pretty cool set up but it was hard to check it all out once we walked in the door because we saw the coupe and were immediately distracted by it’s presence. I was only 6 years old when this car was built but I remember it well. Very little was changed from the last time I saw it and that was nice to see.
Gregg and I decided to toss a quarter to see who would drive it and he won the toss. Decked out his in vintage Grand National Roadster Show shirt featuring the Vern Luce Coupe and our dad’s old snake skin boots Gregg slid behind the wheel. It’s been at least 30 years since those boots touched those billet pedals. Sitting inside the cab brought back a lot of memories. Even being twice the size now as I was back when I last sat in the coupe it still was comfortable. Gregg fired the engine and we pulled in behind Grant with Shane bringing up the rear to venture out into LA traffic. For those outside the area this part of LA is pretty hectic. It’s really close to LAX and some of the nicer south bay beach communities and the traffic gets pretty bad. Once on the 405 fwy the car felt pretty good. I could really see the enjoyment in Gregg’s face as we merged into traffic and moved down the highway. So many memories of sitting in the passenger seat while my dad took me out for rides in his hot rods came to my mind.
We started to hear some noises and being a little paranoid about getting her there in one piece we pulled over. Nothing major just some noise we attributed to the drivers door moving a bit on the bumps. We transitioned onto the 91 fwy and about 5 miles down we saw smoke coming from the right rear. Not good. We safely pulled over to the side of the road and I jumped out. My first thought was “Oh NO, FIRE and no extinguisher”. Luckily I was wrong and as we ran to the back of the car we realized right away that the passenger side carrier bearing in the upright was blown. Not wanting to leave it on the freeway we limped it off down the offramp and parked it in a Best Buy parking lot. It was a bummer. A short lived trip and a bit of a disappointment as both Gregg and I wanted to see it all the way to the Fairplex in Pomona. As we sat in the parking lot waiting for the tow truck we got to really look the car over and just appreciate the history of it all. Thinking about how the car and what it did for my dad and our family and the hot rodding industry made me really appreciate everything. To think that my office is in the exact place that this car was built over thirty years ago and that I see the original Thom Taylor rendering that this car was built from made me really reflect on my father’s career and give thanks to him.
Thanks to Thom Taylor, Grant Peterson, Hot Rod Magazine, and Gary and Wendy Brown for letting Gregg and I drive 15 miles down memory lane.