Tried to post this earlier. www.sonsofboyd.com
Printable View
Tried to post this earlier. www.sonsofboyd.com
Hope some of the people who rate Boyd by the idiotic TV show will go to the site when it's fully operational to see what Boyd really did!!!!!
Boyd built some nice as well as some interesting cars. His TV show had some good points if you got past the BS. Boyd could never have been the idiot shown on the show or he would never have been as successful.
Unfortunately, what I see in this S.O.B. website is crass commercialism by his well fed sons or someone else trying to cash in on his name.
The show was moronic, he must have needed money bad to let that image of him be portrayed. Boyd and I have mutual friends and they thought the world of him.
i am real good friends with boyd jr . there is money to be made from boyd so why not his sons ? who better to cash in on his name other than boyd jr ? i dont see why people think this is a bad thing , boyd sr was a leader in this buisness . boyd started the modern movement of streetrodding if boyd had not assembled a great team of foose,buttera,budnik,and others we would still have 15x10 stuck outside of the rear fenders !
the only thing i have to complain about is if i see a boyd shirt at the " GAP " i will shoot jr myself !
It used to be an honor if your son's perpetuated the family buisness, carrying on the family name. Now we are suspicious people thinking everyone is out for a buck. I'm sure his kids would rather he was still alive. I'm glad they are honoring him, and trying to keep the buisness alive. I don't know much about how involved they were in his buisness, but I do know he struggled for quite a while, and that the tv show helped keep the doors open. I respect his innovation and dedication to our hobby, and wish his sons well with the buisness.
It's too bad that Boyd will be remembered by most folks as the bumbling dolt on the TV show. The guy was an idea man, and did put out some of the most original vehicles on the planet.
Is that site really an honor? Not in my opinion. What would be an honor would be to continue or resurrect the business and make it even more successful, perpetrate the name on wheels, not the knock off American Mags (and I believe manufactured 'elsewhere') that are branded Coddington. Build some great cars, expand into supplying parts like TCI - frames, suspensions. But a website selling prints of photos?? Eventually hats and T shirts and whatever? Nah, that's not an honoring of a father and a name.
IC2
I know what you mean also. Yet teeshirt sales may be keeping the buisness a float. I met a young guy who built the wooden windows to my house. He was a profession punk rock musician who was contracted on a major label for a few years, until his group decided to disband, rather than change their sound they way the studio wanted to be more pop. He told me he was going into the t-shirt buisness with some ex band members. I guess they sold around 50 k in teeshirts a year, and they were a no name band, compared to the big chart groups. If his son's can generate that kind of cash, it may keep the doors open long enough to get some new hot rod stuff out there, and remind people of Boyd. Mixed feelings on this one.
We had a weeks when we were racing that T-Shirt sales is what kept us racing, or at least tow money to get there and back!!!!! Used to be some really kewl Boyd shirts, the site sez they're going to be resurrected, and one car on it's way in '09.... Who knows what the future may bring for the boys?????
Quote:
Originally Posted by kennyd
Let's hope his legacy fares better in the hands of his kids than that of Kenny Howard in the hands of "bandits" (IMHO). I was walking out of a restaurant a few weeks back down in Vegas and saw a teenage kid standing there with a T-shirt emblazoned with the Von Dutch logo. I asked him "Hey, what's a Von Dutch?" just to see what kind of response I'd get. His reply said with the utmost of confidence and sincerity? "Oh man, he was a custom motorcycle builder." SIGH!!!!:rolleyes:
Any person who attains any degree of celebrity takes on the burden of exposing themselves to anyone who has an opinion about them. Boyd was no different. Some people love his work, and some think it was terrible. No different than people's opinions about Foose, Jesse James, Barris, etc, etc. But how many of us have attained anywhere near the level of popularity, celebrity, or recognition that Boyd did? Who are we to really judge his work or his life?
But that is what happens when one of these Celebrities signs an agreement to put their lives right out in the open via a reality TV show. Suddenly we all have the ability to critique what we see during that one hour. They came into our living rooms, so I guess that gives us some right to do exactly that.
I didn't care for some of the drama and things that happened on that show, and I think it may have done more to tarnish the image of Coddington creations than it did to boost it. It seemed that every car turned out was a cluster with a lot of people rushing around complaining about how things were being done during the build. But on the other side of the coin, Boyd must have had something going for him and his shop, or he wouldn't have been as successful as he was for so many years.
As for the Son's doing this venture, I think it is fine. His legacy should live on, and if it is done via a T shirt or signature products, I have no problem with that. I just hope it is done in a respectful, tasteful manner.
Don
Good luck with your new shop, boys. My dad passed away the same morning that your father did. I have tears in my eyes as I write this. Here are some pictures you might enjoy.
Well someone will sell the shirts and make the money, might as well be his family, instead of the debacle of Kenneth Howard as mentioned (BTW I read he did build some motorcycles)
I think the Boyd wheel business might have went a different direction after Boyd's financial problems, maybe got sold off?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...y/VonDutch.jpg
[QUOTE=willowbilly3]
I think the Boyd wheel business might have went a different direction after Boyd's financial problems, maybe got sold off?
American Racing bought them about 2 years ago( it was the theme of one TV show)
http://www.americanracing.com/boyd_coddington.asp
I think that was the second time Boyd sold off a wheel business. The first time was when he went bankrupt,
Jack, that's correct. American Racing is the current owner (or the third or....) If you watched the show, it showed a 'tearful' goodbye by his ex (and tho it didn't show, probably a gleeful parting by his then current - howinhel could an ex and a current wife even work together - I know mine wouldn't???)Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Rifle
From what I have read on the hamb, American Racing wheels are now made by the chinese. Does that mean Boyd wheels are also made there?