Well said, eticket.
Whether you like him, or his style of cars, or not, there's no doubt as to the contribution to hot rodding, Mr. Coddington, had.
And as far as the detractors of his TV show, remember, it was a "reality" show, they film for 24-40 hours, just to end up with about 30-40 minutes of actual footage being shown... there's a LOT a film editor can do, to make things look they way they want them, NOT how it actually came down.
God Speed, Boyd. Prayers go out to Jo and his family.