LMan

Subject: Boyd Coddington
>
>By ANDREW GALVIN
>The Orange County Register
>
>
>Boyd Coddington, a La Habra builder of custom cars and star of the
>Discovery Channel's "American Hot Rod" show, is expected next week to
>plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of submitting counterfeit vehicle
>titles to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
>
>The allegations against Coddington present a window on a "systemic
problem
>with title fraud" within the hot-rod industry that has cost California
>hundreds of millions of dollars in registration fees, said Robert
>Morgester, a deputy state attorney general who is prosecuting the
case.
>
>After having investigated for four years, Morgester estimates that
70,000
>custom-built cars are registered in California based on fraudulent
>out-of-state titles.
>
>These phony titles misidentify or undervalue the vehicles - stating,
for
>example, that the cars are much older than they actually are, allowing
>owners to avoid registration fees and smog restrictions.
>
>Some hot-rod enthusiasts have disputed Morgester's findings, saying
that
>only a small percentage of hot rods carry illegal titles.
>
>However, Coddington's attorney, Chris Wing, said Morgester's estimate
of
>70,000 illegally registered vehicles is "probably conservative."
>
>Wing will appear Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, where
he
>is expected to plead guilty on Coddington's behalf to a single count
of
>making a false statement to the DMV.
>
>Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Coddington will likely be
ordered
>to pay $3,000 in restitution and perform 160 hours of community
service.
>
>Coddington didn't return a call seeking comment.
>
>According to court papers filed by Morgester, Coddington obtained
three
>counterfeit Pennsylvania and New York titles for 1930s-era Ford
>automobiles, then presented the titles to Cherrie Fowler, a
DMV-licensed
>verifier. Fowler then submitted the fake titles to the DMV's Placentia
>office, the papers say. The DMV issued legitimate California titles
based
>on the phony out-of-state titles.
>
>The California titles were assigned to brand-new, Coddington-built
>vehicles that were stylized replicas of 1930s-era Fords. Coddington
used
>the titles to sell the vehicles or award them to contest winners, the
>papers say.
>
>As part of his community service, Coddington is expected to help
educate
>the hot-rod community about the problem of illegally registered
vehicles.
>
>"What Boyd wants to do is he wants to explain to everybody in the
>business, because he's kind of a high-profile guy, how you can do this
>legally," Wing said.
>
>Morgester called for the DMV to offer an amnesty period in which
owners of
>illegally registered vehicles could rectify the situation without
facing
>criminal charges.
>
>Morgester also said that the DMV needs to change its titling
procedures so
>that it can better catch phony out-of-state titles.
>
>Bill Branch, a DMV spokesman, said his agency has "tightened the
process
>to identify vehicles using 'titling mills' or out-of-state
registration."
>
>Vehicles last registered in certain states must now have their VIN
numbers
>verified by the California Highway Patrol, Branch said.
>_________________

pakrat

I'm not even sure I can understand how this went on for so long undetected. I mean a title, false or not has a VIN that goes with it. I am understanding that his replica's so to speak are considered totally new cars which would have new vins and probably have to meet all requirments as such, so he is passing them off as antiques to get around the regulations? Is that correct?

I think the penalty is laughable, how can this be a misdemeanor? Community service is a joke too, he'll probably have someone dress like him with a fake ID and go instead. And now he'll have to educate folks on why this illegal action is bad? Like he will believe a word of it himself. How many times do we see stars facing drug charges so they go out and have to preach "Um children, drugs are bad mmmkay" just to wind up in rehab again a few months later, sheeesh.

future9er24

honoestly i am sick of boyd. the only thing on his show worth watching is that one old dude (whose name eludes me right now)

that show honestly does stink :notnice: do i smell a from TV?

pushrod power

that would be roy.
if boyd builds the car from the ground up it is new car and will be subject to all applicable new car laws. he will probably end up doing what shelby does in nevada and sell the bodies less then engine or have the shelby dealer have the engine installed so they can qualify as a kit car. shelby still puts a vin on the rolling chassis though.

NipplelessHorse

Don't a lot of people have their rebuilt or almost completely redone classic cars titled the original production year? I'm pretty sure most of the shelby cobra replica people get their cars titled as if they were produced in the 60s.

KungFuDan

[quote=future9er24,April 13, 2005, 11:09 PM]


honoestly i am sick of boyd. the only thing on his show worth watching is that one old dude (whose name eludes me right now)

That guys name is Earl and he is funny.......

future9er24

and he is also the only one!

well thers that one dude who says everything without moving his lips. thats kind of entertaining...

jes72mustang

I enjoy the show because I like to see what they are able to do and how they do it. I really don't care too much for Boyd though. At this point he is just the name that brings in the clients. He has almost nothing to do with the builds and he treats his employees like crap.

Like last week when he got pissed about people coming in a little bit late, when they are almost alway there until the wee dark hours of the night. He always gives the guys impossible deadlines, and then gets mad when they tell him that things are taking longer than planned. I bet he doesn't even pay they overtime.

I don't blame any of his guys that have left.

tricksixtyfive

boyd i s a $%&#in joke he looks like a zombie under that beard

flight96

It would be better if they actually showed some of the work on the cars instead of the soap opera crap !!! If I want to see that I'll go over to my mother-in-laws and watch Oprah !! :bang:

pushrod power

i hate the soap opera stuff too but if they didn't show it i'll bet the ratings would take a dive, no women would watch.
what surprises me is that even after the show is on the air he still gets business. he obviously can't schedule for s**t and all his builds seem to be rushed. i wouldn't want to pay top dollar then know i'm getting a car that had facet of the build either rushed or done by guys who's didn't care for the project and were at times working while sleep deprived. i'm sure the quality NEVER suffers though.
i can see why Foose and Boyd parted ways. foose doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who abides by rush jobs and short cuts. the car is ready when it's ready. Overhaulin' notwithstanding.

Zastava_101

I stoped liking American Hot Rod when Charlie left and after Boyd said all those things to him. But one guy I really hate is Duane. What is his job? To walk around and yell "Get back to work"? Or talking with Boyd how they're never going to finish project on time? Instead to talking with him, start working and project will be done on time. Only cool guy on the show is Thomas and that's it.

one2gamble

the difference is that they started with the original car, Boyd doesnt start with a car, he uses all new parts. If he used something as little as the original firewall he probably could get away with what he is doing.