Yes, she's smart and attractive, but the more you learn about Jo Coddington, the more you realize Boyd found the solid-gold prize in the CrackerJack box of life. There's a lot to this lady. Even when you consider the professional crew, the great facilities at Boyd Coddington Garage, and his own prodigious talents, Boyd does not have an easy job. It would take an exceptional person to multi-task a life this full without a great mate standing, not behind him, but next to him.
We all remember the scene in The Godfather 2, when one of his former soldiers is testifying before a Washington hearing, saying that "Yeah, the Godfather had a lot of buffers around him." Without buffers around Boyd Coddington, and in particular a level-headed spouse who brings a lot of skills to the table, running the many aspects of the Body Coddington operation would not only grind out the creative juices of any designer/builder, but perhaps weaken his spirit as well. It's a testament to their relationship that when each is asked about the other, they answer the same, "Oh, I couldn't do it without her/him!"
Fans of Boyd's hot rods may be surprised to know that Jo's interest in custom and performance vehicles isn't just something she adapted to since the pair were married. "I was napping on a creeper as a kid!", she recounts. Her father and other family members had been in the automotive business world all her life. Jo's father ran late-model stock cars when she was young, until a bad accident caused his spouse to request a cessation of such activities, but Jo's enthusiasm for all things motorized was undiminished. She raced go-karts and, with the aid of two large pillows, could drive the family's '53 Chevy between home and the shop at a precocious 12 years of age. For some 10 years she raced sand-rails in hillclimbs and other events, where her combination of skill and light weight make her quick and popular. She wasn't always perfect with vehicles, though. "I got a little Honda 90 when they came out and promptly ran it into a tree!", she recalls with a laugh. This is our kind of woman, she just doesn't look like a "hot rod girl."
The wags of the advertising business would like us to believe that a person can sometimes be defined by what they drive. In Jo's case, they might be right, but it takes three vehicles to begin her definition. Her lowered, black Cadillac XLR may convey her sense of style and grace or her business acumen, but it runs on custom billet wheels that look like full Moon discs. Parked next to it in the family garage is her triple-black, Boyd-built '40 Ford coupe with hot-sauced Chevy V8 power and a show-winner from any angle. But you also might find her driving her go-anywhere, red-primered, "trad-rod" '41 Ford pickup. The vehicular trio neatly projects the serious, the adventuresome and the emotional sides of Jo Coddington. She sincerely loves cars.
Born in the Midwest as was Boyd, but raised in Arizona, Jo accumulated business skills at every turn in her life, from being her father's go-fer and parts runner to observing how a business operates. She took business and investment classes at Arizona State University. For fifteen years, she worked for the Rams Corporation, an investment-advisory business run by Ed Lovellette, whose mentorship she credits for much of her business savvy. Around the Boyd Coddington complex, she handles so many duties her business card should weigh five pounds. She deals with the crew in the Garage, the Collectibles store, merchandising, licensing, contracts, car-build proposals, and many more duties are addressed under her title as General Manager. It is said that she can be no-compromise tough with employees, yet she fully credits them with the success of the operation and takes it very hard if someone has to leave. One employee summed it up when she said, "Jo is no stranger to hard work, nothing in her day is either too simple to be beneath her or too difficult for her to tackle."
Jo met Boyd at the Hot August Nights show in Reno, Nevada through an introduction from friends. As a self-confessed "hot rod girl" she had sported Boyd wheels ("jewelry for cars", she calls them) on some of her cars before the two met. At the time of their meeting, Jo was a widow who was considering retirement, and Boyd was recovering from a disastrous financial turn with his company. She happened to be wearing a large diamond ring at that meeting, and Jo jokes about it today, saying, "Each one of us thought the other one had money!" She went to work for the Coddington operation in 1999, and destiny led them to the altar two years later, despite the event often being postponed due to conflicts with car events.
It's a rare woman today who would stand for a GoodGuys show taking precedence over her wedding, but there's nothing average about Jo Coddington. She's passionate about cars, about getting things done and done right, and one of her other sides is the deep compassion she has for people who need help and caring. She started the Coddington Foundation to support work for special needs persons of all ages, working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Elynn Foundation. Of the four special-needs adults who work in the Coddington Garage, Jo says, "They have given us so much more than we have given them."
As a team, Boyd and Jo Coddington are a force to be both admired and reckoned with. They love what they're doing, the people they work with, the customers their cars are designed for, and the people they meet at the car events they frequently attend. The tomboy who wanted to be a veterinarian has just turned 50 last December, and seems to have found the perfect niche to enjoy a fulfilling life.
