Poor Boyd Coddington.....

[RickM]

I caught an epicode of Rides last night. Chip Foose was stylizing the Cadillac XLR and SLR (?) ...anyway, halfway into the show he introduces his new painter of three weeks....LOL...and it's Boyd's guy. Chip must have lured him away in early October.

Anyway, On American Hot Rods, I saw where Boyd baited the young kid, Bluebear, into a contest and ends up firing him.....What a big man.

[Rot 911]

The only thing I have gotten out of that show is that Boyd is an assshole and grade A prick. Oh and so are half the people that work for him.

[RickM]

LOL, yeah, I agree. I like(d) the painter and the Machine Shop supervisor. The old guy is a riot.

[asphaltgambler]

I'm a hot rod guy way-back and am familiar with his stuff. He does make some of the nicest cars and wheels around. But he gets big$$$$$ for everything with his name on it. IMO overpriced. There are a lot of other good builders/ fabricaters out there.

He had a reputation for being an ass back then. His business went bankrupt in the late 80's and he divorced his first wife. Funny thing is in the divorce agreement she kept her half of the business and still manages the business/ financials!!

Can youimagine going to your work everyday and dealing with your EX-wife?? Could be the reason he's so testy on the show.

[BGCarrera32]

The last episode I saw was when Boyd wanted his painter to spray the front office file cabinets as soon as the show car got done.

I'd have gone to work for Chip too...

[arcsine]

Lots of lipsmack about Charlie, Boyd etc. at the following link.

http://discovery.infopop.net/1/OpenTopic?a=frm&s=6941912904&f=7201946096

Charlie even logs in once in a while (or used to). Maybe he'll show up at the Rides or Overhauling message boards.

[creaturecat]

got to agree what a bunch of a##holes.

[RickM]

Good link, Gary.

Here's what Jo Coddington had to say about Charlie leaving:

"Charley is missed!
Our shop is far from falling apart, Boyd has been building Hotrod's for thirty years or perhaps I should say...a better part of his life. Ha!
Andrew chose to depart from our company the same as Charley, the reason....That is truly something you will have to ask them.
Andrew's stepfather (Rob, a child hood class mate of Boyd's) asked Boyd and I to assist him, to find a job for Bettle Bailey (nick name started because of his hat) Andrew came to us as a parts driver, had some interest and alot of talent between the body shop guys and Boyd he has proved true to his calling.
Wait unit you have the opportunity to see what AHR has in store for this season and next.....
The builds, the stress, the strife...yes I think that is why Discovery came to Boyd in the begining
He is cutting edge!
Our best wishes, from all 70 of us at Boyd Coddington's Happy Holidays!

Jo Coddington"

[KevinP73]

Originally posted by RickM
Good link, Gary.

Here's what Jo Coddington had to say about Charlie leaving:

"Charley is missed!
Our shop is far from falling apart, Boyd has been building Hotrod's for thirty years or perhaps I should say...a better part of his life. Ha!
Andrew chose to depart from our company the same as Charley, the reason....That is truly something you will have to ask them.
Andrew's stepfather (Rob, a child hood class mate of Boyd's) asked Boyd and I to assist him, to find a job for Bettle Bailey (nick name started because of his hat) Andrew came to us as a parts driver, had some interest and alot of talent between the body shop guys and Boyd he has proved true to his calling.
Wait unit you have the opportunity to see what AHR has in store for this season and next.....
The builds, the stress, the strife...yes I think that is why Discovery came to Boyd in the begining
He is cutting edge!
Our best wishes, from all 70 of us at Boyd Coddington's Happy Holidays!

Jo Coddington"

What a man.....even has his trophy wife defend him on the boards. I didn't know anything about Boyd (other than his rep as a rod builder) before the show, but I have to say He's NOT earned any respect from me in regards to his skills or his team of idiots.

[david914]

I have watched American Hotrods for a while now, and am constantly amazed at how hard Boyd works his guys on a seemingly regular schedule. Lots of O-T including weekends. Of course, that's could be just the projects that they use for the show, but he definitely doesn't come across as a nice guy to work for. Seems like he frequently commits his team to project shedules that are far too aggressive. Too much of that, people get burned out, and you lose them and evidenced by what's happened. His shop supervisor (forgot his name) is a flaming @sshole. He could use some better people skills as well. Too bad about Bluebear. Nice kid with some potential. Hopefully, he'll hook up with someone that'll spend more time teaching than barking...

Overhaulin' is a fun show, and Chip Foose seems to have a real talent for design. As a plus, he seems to be a genuinely nice guy.

[bryanthompson]

I think they probably like to portray boyd as more of a hardass than he really is, they try to make his ex-wife look more b!tchy than the is, and they like to make the workers look stupider than they are. Sure Bluebear looks like a moron, he might be, but I don't think he'd be working there if he had no talent or useful purpose--unless it was all for show.

I hate the Overhaulin' chick, she's annoying as heck. Just build the damn cars, get rid of the garbage. Same with OCC and American hotrod... we don't care about your stupid crap, just build the stuff.

[MotoSook]

Hey! Courtney is cool man Yeah they ham it up a little too much, but take it for what it is. Overhauling is amazing! Everytime I watch that show I wish Courtney would come prank me and Chip would finish my Bastard...please Chip..PLEASE! They do restoration like it's suppose to be done...the other end of the spectrum is "Pimp My Ride."

I saw those episode last night too, Rick. I was on and off the tube, but when I saw Charlie with Chip, I thought he was just contracted in on the project. I missed the introdution.

It's funny, when Boyd's foreman had a hissy fit over BlueBear's prank, Charlie was the cool headed one that tried to help the situ. And Charlie is the guy that would work until 3 AM sanding and painting by himself to make up for other's slacking! Now that is the kind of guy I would want to work for me.

BlueBear didn't know what he had in Boyd's shop. That kid took it too far.

I think they do cook up the personalities a bit on Am Rod totry and make the show interesting. Like Boyd's ex-wife screaming and yelling for nothing. I'd rather watch OCC. Yes, I like OCC, but Overhaulin is the the top dog these days on fab-TV. Every now and then "Rides" does a good shop. Troy from Manteno is shaping up to be their golden boy, and Chip is brought in to help....what a way to make a living!

I can see it now..."Damn Bastards" The show where we steal your 911's and bring out the bad boy in them!

Anyone a producer? I have a welder and some wrenches

[ZAMIRZ]

I can't fathom what it must be like to have your ex-wife and trophy wife both working for you at the same time.

The #1 thing I hate about all these shows is how dramatic they make the "deadline" out to be, they always seem to portray the deadline as something they're going to miss which will cause some catastrophic failure and the entire business to spiral out of control.

[Brillo]

I too only knew Coddington by his reputation. After seeing how his inept staff puts those expensive rods together, there is no way I would want anything of his.

Charlie was the only one that i thought had any real talent and really got things done. I am glad for him. I think Foose is first rate.

The old guy, Roy I think, is a crack up.

[Oh Haha]

AHR is about the only car show my wife will watch with me except for F1 races.
Ienjoyed Am. Chopper until they got big time. I mean, jeez, you can buy OCC crap in nearly every gas station and party store.
I too think that Charlie will be better off with Chip. Dwayne, the shop foreman, seems like a real d&*$. I f I spoke to my employees like that I would be in deep doodoo. BTW-anyone catch the latest episode of General Hospital?....

Relax, I am kidding!!!
Wayne

[techweenie]

Originally posted by Oh Haha
...BTW-anyone catch the latest episode of General Hospital?....

No kidding!

These shows asre produced to artificially add much more 'human drama' than likely exists in the workplace. We get a ten-minute edited version of each day, and that old boring stuff where everyone just shuts up & works is on the cutting room floor.

But editing aside, I've never seen a stupider employee than Blue Bear. I guess he's either a relative or the son of an old friend. He finally gets the axe and Boyd gets all choked up while millions cheer. What a spectacle.

[klaucke]

I think shows like American Hotrod/Chopper/etc need to involve the stress and interemployee relations so they appeal to a broader audience who doesn't just like chopper or hot rods. That doesn't mean I have to like it, but its hard not to get some favorite characters like Mikey or Charlie. The best is when people show off their real talents by shaping and making something with their hands and tools, not just grabbing off the shelf parts and putting together a combination that people haven't seen before. That's why its easy to watch Paul Jr. make a seat pan or Charlie shave bondo. Who cares that the foreman is pissed with someone.

[KevinP73]

Originally posted by techweenie

But editing aside, I've never seen a stupider employee than Blue Bear. I guess he's either a relative or the son of an old friend.

At one point in the show Boyd says that he "wishes he could just fire him", but didn't let on to why he felt he couldn't. I too got the impression there was something keeping that dork employed other than the likelyhood that anyone with any real skill wouldn't work for an Dork like Boyd.

[klaucke]

I liked Blue Bear, I thought I recall him as being a great welder?

[audi2.7t]

It's funny that this post should come up, just last night I was thinking what a bunch of talentless butchers those guys are at Coddington. I don't think any better of American Chopper, they don't really build those bikes, they assemble them... pre- made frame, wheels, fenders, tanks, suspension and bolt ons, someone else does the paint (Justin... very talented), they don't even know the first thing about the mechanics of a motor and were lost when they went to S&S to learn some engine building basics.They have great vision but they're not real "custom builders". IMHO, Jesse James has the only real shows of the bunch, that guy has talent and a great attitude (he also started with Boyd)
For the record, Blue Bear is a talentless, immature hack who learnt nothing during his time there, I'm glad he's gone, the painter and the old guy are the only ones with any skill and I'm sure the painter will do much better with Foose (also talented). All these guys advertise themselves well which is the key to their success. Also, I wouldn't consider Boyds wife "trophy" per-say, maybe compared to his ex and for a grubby, whinning prick like him she's not bad. Another great show with some building and fabricating talent is "Biker Build off" but even they are using a lot of "off the shelf" parts (they even use Jesse James fenders and rims !). One of my customers has a car that will be featured in a new custom build show in the new year in a shop in the Bronx and another customer (where I worked for 8 years fabricating) has signed to do a heavy truck build off starting in January, that should be interesting... Oh, and Blue Bear couldn't weld for *****.