WorldWide News

Hot rod legend Boyd Coddington passed on

2008-02-28T02:21:00.008+01:00

It's a very sad day to see this old timer has passed on at only 63 years of age, I was shocked to read this on the net. Just this afternoon I was watching the show on Discovery, its hard to get my mind around this. I've only known him from "American Hot Rod". But I absolutely loved the show. The edgy remarks and tension in the show all added to a good and sometimes funny TV show.

A lot of people could not stand him and his management style, but it is what made the show. Part of me thinks it was part of the camera's involved, but some of his decisions were controversial. I did find it quite disappointing that he didn't support his empoyees view on some things. Most of the time he gave them freedom to be creative, but after a while pulled the leash and changed things to his liking once more (The word "Boydster" comes to mind). His cars look awesome of course, but more variety would be nice from the guys (employees) themselves would be nice.

All the things he has done for hot rod development and getting the word out on hot rods is a big part of him and his family. He is one of the top legendary hot rod builders out there and also a very big player in the hot rod industry.

R.I.P mr. Coddington, you will be missed! My sincere support and condolences go out to his family.

(02-27) 11:43 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Car-building legend Boyd Coddington, whose testosterone-injected cable TV reality show "American Hot Rod" introduced the nation to the West Coast hot rod guru, has died. He was 63.

Coddington died at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in suburban Whittier at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday. His La Habra office spokeswoman Amanda Curry wouldn't disclose the cause of death.

Coddington, who started building cars when he was 13 and once operated a gas station in Utah, set a standard for his workmanship and creativity, with his popular "Cadzilla" creation considered a design masterpiece. The customized car based on a 1950s Cadillac was built for rocker Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

"That was a groundbreaking car. Very cool," said Dick Messer, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

"This was your modern era George Barris," Messer said. "He did things to hot rods and customs that weren't being done by anyone else. But the main thing is he designed cars that were drivable."

Coddington was a machinist by trade, working at Disneyland during the day and tinkering with cars in his home garage at night and on weekends. His rolling creations captured the imagination of car-crazy Southern Californians and soon he was building custom cars and making money.

Most often, he customized 1932 Ford "little deuce coupes."

"It was one of those things when a hobby turned into business," Messer said, noting Coddington was also "one of the first guys to get into the custom wheel business."

Wheels by Boyd were fetching $2,000 apiece, which was unheard of two decades ago.

Coddington also surrounded himself with talent. Alumni from his shop include Jesse James and Chip Foose, who went on to open their own shops and star in reality TV shows.

Coddington twice won the Daimler-Chrysler Design Excellence Award and he was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame, the National Rod & Custom Museum Hall of Fame and the Route 66 Wall of Fame.

Always dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, Coddington said he loved his "American Hot Rod" Discovery Channel show, which featured ground-up construction of $500,000 hot rods.

"The viewers are ... people who lived in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and loved these cars. Now, they have money," Coddington told The Associated Press in a 2004 interview.
source

Piggybank outlawed in the Netherlands

2008-02-22T15:44:00.025+01:00

Knorbert

My dad told me about this and my first reaction was: "Sure dad good joke". Problem is if my dad is not joking and I think he is, he gets mad. Imaging my reaction when his voice turned unfriendly...

Fortis, a bank in the Netherlands (Holland) has pulled the plug on Knorbert. Kids who opened their first savings account at Fortis would get Knorbert the piggybank as a gift. There were also a few Knorbert games on their site the kids could play. This discision was made because of ethnic minorities complaining about a pig being an unsanitary animal. Well this is quite true, but their meat is still quite tasty. Last I heard the meat is cleaned before it is cooked or shipped to your local stores. I mean that is the standard procedure with any meat, also this is not a pig but a piggybank.

I don't know about you but I have never tried to eat a piggybank, but something tells me that if I did try I would be seeing my dentist a few minutes later. Another thing, this is a piggybank. haven't seen them on National Geographic as a newly discovered animal. It's not rolling around in mud and it's own filth. Its just sitting in the closet not getting dirty at all. Unless kids take it outside and put it in mud, the own filth part is still quite impossible...

Now it is my understanding that the piggybank is a quite well known phenomenon and cultural icon, also widely accepted into the western culture. Fortis PR would rather not speak about this "killing of Knorbert". All that was said was the following:

"After 7 years, Knorbert was finally going to be retired and set aside for a new gift. You have to keep the people and customers happy"
Dutch to English translation

There were only a few complaints, wait a minute... Isn't it true that in a democracy, the majority rules, so howcome these "few" complains are the discisive factor. Sound like lazy research to me.

Perhaps it is time to show Fortis that the people are no that happy at all with this dicision. Maybe to emphasize this, they could move their money to another bank. Or simply open their kid's savins account at another bank, the Netherlands has quite a few candidates who would happily take in their customers, I think.

Justin Bruening the new Knight Rider

2008-02-18T06:25:00.008+01:00

Justin Bruening will be the new Knight Rider. He will play the son of Michael Knight (David Hassehoff). K.I.T.T (Knights Industry Two Thousand) will not make a reapearance as the famous Trans Am, but as a Ford Mustang GT500KR, I personally would've liked it to be the original Trans Am, but times change and the Ford is also a very nice looking car. I guess I'm just more for nostalgia then changing something close to my childhood.

As a kid I loved Knight Rider, so I hope they keep the legend alive and don't screw it up. I think they made a good choice, picking the Ford.

K.I.T.T's new look

Photography: Ray Wert and Wes Siler