Boyd Coddington Built 1932 Ford Cabriolet, 302 Motor, ALL leather $250,000 Build
1932 Ford Model A Description
Once in a lifetime opportunity to own the FINAL '32 Ford to ever leave Boyd Coddington's shop!
This is the REAL DEAL... allow me to tell you the story.
In 2006 French Fashion Designer Christian Audigier, flush with money form the sale of his Ed Hardy line of lcothing, started a new clothing brand. The brand would be called "VIF Speed Shop" and try and sell the SoCal Hotrod lifestyle to the masses. To create the lineup Christian asked his friend, famed French Rock Star Johnny Hallyday if he could buy one of his great 1932 fords, so that Christian could customize it to be the "Icon of the Brand".
Hallyday instead reccomended Audigier contact the builder of his 32- famed Hotrod designer Boyd Coddington. In late 2006 Audigier met with Boyd at the La Habra headquarters and detailed his needs for a cool '32 roadster that was "The Best of The Best". Coddington instead recommended a 1932 Cabriolet, as that body style would allow for a convertible top, roll up windows and could accommodate Audigier's height. A suitable REAL HENRY FORD STEEL vintage hotrod was found locally and the build began.
Boyd specified a clean and very elegant body and interior. Even if you're no fan of Boyds 80s stuff- you simply MUST be impressed by the restraint showed in this build. As Audigier was using investor's money- the budget was not an issue. Boyd brought in famed interior guru Gabe Lopez to do the clean but beautiful all leather interior and rear seat. Dennis Ricklefs did the Boyd logo and pinstriping, Bernt Karlsson painted the car and Duane Mayer wired and assembled it. Magnaflow came to La Habra to custom fit an exhaust system. This is what you do when money is no object. The car was getting very close to completion when Boyd passed away in early 2008.
Duane and Bernt moved on to West Coast Customs and the car was trucked over to that shop in April of 2008 and over the course of the next 3 months was finished there. The car was included in WCC's Sema Show exhibit outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center in October, parked right next to Paris Hilton's Pink Bentley and received worldwide attention.
Audigier received the car in November and it was extensively photographed to create the new fashion line. In fact every single piece of clothing features THIS EXACT car somewhere on it. After I bought the car in 2011 I reached out to Audigier, now running a Los Angeles based clothing company called "Lord Baltimore". I send numerous emails, left a dozen messages- nothing. No reply. So I gave up and forgot all about it.
One day my cell phone rings- It's Audigier... "You have ze car... You have MY car!" he bellowed. I got a bit nervous- then he let out a big laugh. He told me that Boyd designed the car, that Boyd's wife Jo worked with him to finish the car when Boyd got sick, and Ryan at WCC helped to get it finished to show at SEMA. He told me it cost "Far too much" and had "too much horses!". He told me he and Johnny took their otrods out one day just to be photographed by "ze paparazzi", and he never drove it again. We had a nice chat and then he abruptly hung up. One week later I received a box in the mail with four "VIF Speed SHop" shirts- all featuring THIS CAR!
So that's the story. I have emails from Jo Coddington confirming the provenance. I have emails with Bernt Karlsson comfirming this story in it's entirely. I have a Coddington VIP badge and four VIF shorts showing the car. I am including a photo of the car on display at SEMA with the original VIF paint job. This is a PROVEN no BS Coddington original build based on a real 1932 HENRY FORD STEEL car. Not a brookeville or rod bods. NOT an 8 week TV build- Not a fiberglass Boydster, this is when Boyd could spread his wings and bring the royalty of the hotrod world in to make a really special, original work of art. This is the FINAL 1932 Ford to leave that shop in La Habra, and ths I consider this to be a real piece of Hotrod history.
There is a canvas top, adapted from an MGB that stores under a vinyl boot. It securely latches to the header and velcros to the back- it has a rear window. The doors house glass windows that are electrically controlled and are FAST. The trunk has been fitted with a leather rumble seat and is electrically operated.
The car has a Ford Motorsports 302 with a C4, Lokar shofter and pedals- Boyd gauges, 9" rear end. The Gabe Lopez interior and trunk treatment are pure artwork. I had Gabe go over the car and repair and handling damage in 2011. There is a kenwood radio installed under the seat- I assume it works but I have never used it. The car has maual Wilwood 4 wheel disks. It shows 250 miles on the clock. It has basically been on display. I loaned this car to the Saratoga Auto Museum in 2014 where it was on display for one year and gained international recognition.
If you want the best- this is it. If you want an original piece of American artwork- this is it. It is in basically "AS NEW" condition. It has 250 miles. It has been stored in climate controlled facilities and very delicately handled for it's entire life.
I have set a price that I believe is too cheap for my asking price- and included a "Make Offer" button. If you've followed Boyd's real steel builds- not the quickie TV builds, you'll see that prices have routinely been above $200,000. I think this car is probably worth that. I will look at all offers and consider them- but please be aware I have set the listing to automatically reject lowball offers. In no rush and not desperate. If you want to buy this car and go resell it for a profit- be my guest.
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