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American Hot Rod was a reality TV Series on The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. The crewmembers in the show built hot rods and custom cars in Boyd Coddington’s shop located in La Habra, California. The series showcased the crew of Boyd Coddington, along with their constant struggles to build custom cars under extremely tight deadlines. The show was also well known for its regular firings and constant turnover of crewmembers.
Some of the cars featured in the show were: the Alumatub, Silver Bullet, Vern Luce's coupe, Cadzilla and many more of Boyd Coddington's custom creations. In July 2007, a new series of episodes showcased the build of an Elvis Tribute Car – a 1957 Cadillac sponsored by the Reese’s Company.
Boyd Coddingtons shop closed its doors for the final time Friday June 20th 2008 [1]
[edit] Crewmembers
| Person |
Position |
| Boyd Coddington Sr. |
Owner |
| Duane Mayer |
Shop Manager |
| Lee Hayes |
Metal work |
| Ralph |
Body Work |
| Brad |
Fabricator/assembler |
| Dan Sobieski |
Fabricator/assembler |
| Al Simon |
Chassis/Fabricator |
| Bernt Karlsson |
Body Work |
[edit] Past members
- Chad "Bluebear" Geary: During the Rat Rod build-off, Bluebear insisted on building the car without boxed frame rail as in old school hot rods, against Boyd's orders, and was fired for insubordination before the build was completed.
- Charley Hutton: During 42 Woodie build, Charley Hutton decided to work with Boyd's competitor Chip Foose to win an upcoming Ridler Award, then return to Boyd's workshop. After completing the 42 Woodie, Boyd rejected Charley's offer to return. Charley was later shown in the TLC show Rides that he had worked for Chip Foose and won Ridler in one category. Later Charley appeared on another TLC show, Overhaulin'.
- Al Simon (chassis builder) retired after the Rat Rod build-off and has now returned.
- Thomas Loddby (fabricator) left to start a shipping business and has since returned to work parttime.
- Mike Curtis (machinist) was fired for designing wheels for competitor Chip Foose. he would later appear on TLC's Overhaulin as well.
- Roy Schmidt, veteran metal worker, died ending his long battle with lung cancer. He was 64.
- Scott Parker (fabricator) set out to work for himself and ended up working for Chip Foose.
- Andrew "Beetle Bailey" Petterson left with Hutton to work for Chip Foose.
- Willie Johnstone (custom painter) has since returned to New Zealand and opened his own custom paint shop in Tauranga.
- Boyd Coddington died on February 27, 2008 from complications that were brought on from a recent surgery.
- Liz Miles left the company, as claimed by the company's statement, after the show's producer set Liz up to work on Jo’s Hot Rod.[2] According to Liz Miles's own biography, Liz was asked to leave the company because of issues with Jo Coddington.[3] She subsequently went to Popular Hot Rodding as Tech Editor.[4]
[edit] First Season: (2004)
| Image |
Title |
Original Airdate |
|
"Junkyard Dog Pt 1" |
January 13, 2004 |
| On this episode of American Hot Rod, Boyd Coddington and his crew resurrect a classic '56 Chevy. Rescued from a rust bucket grave yard, but turning this Junkyard Dog into a high end Hot Rod, pushes tensions to breaking point and puts the Coddington crew's metal to the test. The talents and the tempers, the drama and the drive. |
|
"Junkyard Dog Pt 2" |
January 24, 2004 |
| Episode number 2 of the series finds the team dealing with extensive metal work problems particular to a car brought forth from the junkyard for resurrection into a hot rod. |
|
"Junkyard Dog Pt 3" |
February 6, 2004 |
| The "Junkyard Dog" has taken shape. The body is nearly finished and for once they look like they're ahead of schedule. Charlie starts to paint the car but his Dad is ill and passes away he has to leave. The team celebrate Tommy's birthday with a party at Boyd's house. |
|
"Junkyard Dog Pt 4" |
February 13, 2004 |
| The paintwork is finished, the body remounted and the car is off to Gabes to have the interior done. Gabes pulls out all the stops and finish the car early. The car gets back to Boyd's for the final touches and Charlie arrives back |
|
"Alumatub" (5 Parts) |
2004 |
| The team build an aluminium hot rod from scratch. |
|
"32 Hi-Boy Roadster" (4 Parts) |
2004 |
| Boyd resurrects a 32 Coupe 'the Coupester' as an educational exercise for the crew. |
[edit] Second Season: (2004–’05)
| Image |
Title |
Original Airdate |
|
"65 Ford Mustang" (3 Parts) |
2004 |
| The team rebuild a classic Mustang 2+2 fastback rescued from a barn. Boyd names it Crazy Horse. It was to be a birthday present for Scotty Gray's wife Nancy. The crew judge a bikini contest at Hooters bar and help with "Paint Your Heart Out, Anaheim". New members of the crew Sean Dooley and Jimy "Tig" Krauss are both dismissed during the build. |
|
"Rat Rod" (4 Parts) |
2004 |
| Bluebear and Boyd compete to build Rat Rods. During the build, Bluebear is dismissed. |
|
"42 Woodie" (3 Parts) |
2005 |
| The team rebuild a 42 Woodie. Fed up of the tight deadlines, Charley leaves to join Chip Foose. Boyd views this as unforgivable disloyalty. |
|
"63 Chevy Corvette Stingray" (3 Parts) |
2005 |
| Sean Dove asks Boyd to build a Stingray that will serve as a street car, a show car and a race car. With no one to run the body shop, Duane must supervise both shops while Boyd paints the car himself. Lee joins the team as Roy's assistant. |
|
"Bud Light Car" (3 Parts) |
2005 |
| Boyd builds a car for the Budweiser beer company for the launch of the new Bud Light product. He converts a 36 Coupe into a Roadster. Bernt Karlsson joins the crew as manager of the body shop. Al leaves to pursue his own projects. |
|
"Hildebrandt Car" (3 Parts) |
2005 |
| Vern Hildebrandt asks Boyd to restore his 34 Roadster. His father Dennis "the Menace" Hildebrandt originally converted it to a Hot Rod in 1954 and raced it. Mike is given the task of leading the restoration. |
|
"59 Chevy Low Rider" (4 Parts) |
2005 |
| Boyd buys a 1959 Chevrolet Impala Bel Air and helps the crew to transform it into a California-style speedster. Rocky Walker intends to present the "Ghetto Princess" and its matching motorcycle at Camp Pendleton to the US Marines heading for a tour of Iraq. During the build, Mike is found to be moonlighting for Chip Foose and is dismissed. |
[edit] Third Season: (2005)
| Image |
Title |
Original Airdate |
|
"Make-A-Wish Car" (3 Parts) |
2005 |
| Boyd's crew build the “MaxHEMI”, a street rod designed by 16 year old Max Cohen, who is fighting leukaemia. The car is based on a 1963 Dodge Polara shell with a 572 CID Hemi crate motor. During the build, Duane gets a tattoo dedicated to Max and Thomas takes part in a gravity race at Monterey in a soapbox racer built by the crew in their spare time. Thomas leaves to concentrate on his shipping business. |
[edit] Fourth Season: (2006)
| Image |
Title |
Original Airdate |
|
"54 Corvette and 55 Chevy" (3 Parts) |
2006 |
| The team struggle to complete not one, but two cars for the annual SEMA show, a 1954 Corvette and a 1955 Chevrolet. On top of that, they have to help Boyd's son Chris to complete a Honda for the same show. Thomas returns to help Boyd as he is short on men. Roy passes away during this build and Boyd dedicates the '54 Corvette to him. |
|
"56 Chevy Convertible" (3 Parts) |
2006 |
| Boyd Coddington gets an order from John Sullivan to make a Boyd Coddington style on his '56 convertible.
Boyd hires 3 new employees. One of them was Tony and "Screwie-Louie" Biegler, the new sheetmetal man.
|
|
"61 Impala Bubbletop" (4 Parts) |
2006 |
| Description |
|
"40 Ford" (3 Parts) |
2006 |
| Description |
|
"36 Roadster" (3 Parts) |
2006 |
| Description |
|
"44 Woodie" (3 Parts) |
2006 |
| Description |
|
"31 Truck" (3 Parts) |
2007 |
| Description |
|
"57 Chevy" (3 Parts) |
2007 |
| A 1957 Chevrolet is turned into a Hot Rod by Boyd and his crew for the 50th anniversary of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Company. The car was sold at the anniversary and all the money was given to charity. |
[edit] Fifth Season: (2007)
| Image |
Title |
Original Airdate |
|
"Hershey" (3 Parts) |
July 2007 |
| Build of a 1957 Cadillac Coupe de Ville as an Elvis tribute car for Reese's |
|
"Sobe" (3 Parts) |
August 2007 |
| Description |
|
"59 Corvette" (3 Parts) |
August 2007 |
| Description |
|
"Bonneville Racer" (3 Parts) |
September 2007 |
| Description |
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
United States
