Boyd Coddington was one of the finest Hot Rod builders. Coddington became interested in cars at about the age of 12, and acquired his first vehicle, a 1931 Chevy pick-up truck which he swapped for his shot gun, at the age of 14. Before he left school, Coddington had built his first Hot Rod. After receiving his diploma from high school, Coddington took a three year apprenticeship at a machine shop in Salt Lake City and when he was fully trained, moved to Los Angeles to work as a machinist for Western Gear. In his spare time he began building Hot Rods and in October 1978 he gave up his paid employment and set up his own full time business. Any worries about making ends meet were soon vanquished, business was rolling in and word of mouth was spreading the news of Coddington’s Hot Rodding skills.

Coddington won a multitude of awards for his Hot Rods including the Slonaker award in 1981 at the Oakland Roadster Show. At this event in 1982 he won the highly acclaimed accolade; America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, a feat which he repeated in 1986 and 1990.

The car in the Mathews Collection was built by Boyd Coddington in 1990. The rear end has a Corvette center section with fabricated axles and linkage anodized to match the body color. Inboard rear brakes reduce unsrung weight and the blown small block Chevy motor makes things serious when the time is right.