Well, I guess that this wouldn’t actually qualify as a “barn find”, but the collection being offered for sale does seem to be really dusty and includes some cars that most folks haven’t seen in years. And, if it helps folks get excited about them we could always claim that these cars were found in a locked barn down in Portugal...and not in SoCal...but no matter how you look at it, this is an interesting find.

The guys over at Bring a Trailer are handling the sale of a collection that is currently in the hands of a lifelong racer out in Southern California. His fairly extensive collection includes a sweet ’51 Ford, an Austin Healey 100-4, and several more…just keep in mind that all but the XK140 Jag and the classic Triumph motorcycle in the photos are up for sale.

It looks like they are all too rich for my wallet, but they are still interesting to look at, so I thought I’d post a few links.

Enjoy,
Matt

The listing includes:

1954 BN1 Austin Healey 100-4

1951 Ford Club Coupe Shoebox

Alpha Romeo GTAm Tribute Car

1946 Alpha Guilia Sprint Vintage Race/Rally Car

While I only had the pleasure of shaking Boyd Coddington’s larger-than-life hand on one occasion, I can’t deny that my brief encounter with the boisterous, Hawaiian-shirt wrapped bear of a man, had an impact on how I viewed the world of hot rods and the folks that build ’em.

After bumping into Boyd and his crew out in Tulsa last year while the world’s attention was focused on the circus that surrounded the digging up of “Miss Belvedere,” no longer was I be able to merely associate the world of custom Hot Rods builders with tattoo-covered wrench-jockeys who have a tendency to throw caution to the wind in their quest for stripped-down speed. Or even with top hat wearing eccentrics like “Big Daddy” Roth…Nope, now I was left with a nagging desire to storm out of the garage at the drop of a hat like Duane Mayer, buy orange shirts with bright green and yellow parrots or simply give myself a cool new nickname like “Blue Bear,” or maybe even “Arkieditor.”

Having watched hours of entertainment unfold on Boyd’s reality show, “American Hot Rod,” on TV, I guess that it should really come as no surprise that the drama would continue to unfold even after he left this world to go show St. Peter the finer points of doing a proper burnout.

However, I have to admit that I was surprised to read earlier today in the Orange County (Calif.) Register that Boyd’s empire had crumbled so rapidly in his absence.

According to the article, Jo Coddington is currently engaged in an ongoing legal battle that will most likely take decades to straighten out and will leave only the lawyers healthier, wealthier and wiser, since Boyd apparently never got around to putting pen to paper and writing out a will.

While the briefcase carrying vultures are left to fight over the scraps of his once shining empire, Boyd’s southern California shop has closed and most of his other businesses ventures have been turned over to others.  Despite her initial struggle to hold all the pieces together, it seems that Boyd’s Hawaiian-shirt was simply too big to fill for his widow Jo who has been left spinning her wheels as she peddles custom rims over the Internet.

I guess it is only the natural progression of the modern business world that somebody was left holding the bag. And unfortunately in this case, she doesn’t appear to have a “Golden Parachute” waiting for her as the paint covered walls come tumbling down or a hope and a prayer that Congress will step in and offer a “bailout” plan like they are working on for the rest of the automotive industry.

Since I don’t want to steal all the thunder from the folks over at the Orange County Register, you can click here to read the entire article.

What do y’all think…are the days of big-builders like Boyd Coddington over? And what does the future holds for Boyd’s empire, his cars, and his legacy?