# Bo Huff > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bo_Huff > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bo_Huff.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Huff > Source revision: 1346089363 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American custom car fabricator and designer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox artist | name = Bo Huff | image = File:Bo Huff in East Carbon (Dragerton), Utah 2012 - Photo by Loretta Pedersen and Jason Laurvick.jpg | image_size = | caption = Bo Huff in [East Carbon, Utah](/source/East_Carbon%2C_Utah), July 2012 | birth_name = Gerald Douglas Huff | birth_date = {{birth-date|March 12, 1943}} | birth_place = [Clarksville, Arkansas](/source/Clarksville%2C_Arkansas), U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|8|4|1943|3|12}} | death_place = [East Carbon, Utah](/source/East_Carbon%2C_Utah) | known_for = Hot rod customizing | movement = [Kustom Kulture](/source/Kustom_Kulture) | awards = }} '''Gerald Douglas''' "'''Bo'''" '''Huff''' (March 12, 1943 – August 4, 2015) was an American [custom car designer](/source/custom_car) and an influential figure in the American [Kustom Kulture](/source/Kustom_Kulture) and [hot rod](/source/hot_rod) movement.{{cite magazine |last=Orme |first=James |date= 2 July 2012 |title=A Custom Lifestyle |url=https://www.slugmag.com/community/a-custom-lifestyle/ |url-status= |magazine=SLUG Magazine |location=Utah |publisher= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=29 April 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mitchellfuneralhome.net/obituary/6010996|title=Bo Huff Obituary|last=|first=|date=2015|website=|publisher=Mitchell Funeral Home|access-date=2022-04-29}} He was known as the "Rockabilly King" in the American custom car scene for his promotion of [Kustom Kulture](/source/Kustom_Kulture) lifestyle, [rat rod](/source/rat_rod)s, and [custom car](/source/custom_car)s, and was identified as one of the top 20th and early 21st century American custom car designers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6101422/?ref_=nm_knf_t1|title=Bo Huff: A Documentary of His Life Cars, Music, and Girls|last=|first=|date=2022|website=Internet Movie Database (IMDB)|publisher=|access-date=2022-04-29}}{{cite book |last1=Mayes |first1=Alan |date=2009 |title=Old school customs: top traditional custom car builders |language= English |publisher= Motorbooks: Minneapolis, Minn. |isbn=978-0-76033-457-7}} ==Early life== Gerald Huff was born on March 12, 1943, in [Clarksville, Arkansas](/source/Clarksville%2C_Arkansas), to Junior Gervis and Corene Crossno Huff. He had a sister named Ada Jean. In 1951, the Huff family left Arkansas for [coal mining](/source/coal_mining) work opportunities in the town of Dragerton, Utah—a town that was later merged with the neighboring town of Columbia, Utah and incorporated as [East Carbon](/source/East_Carbon%2C_Utah).{{Cite web|url=https://eastcarboncity.org/about-us/|title=About Us|last=|first=|date=2020|website=|publisher=East Carbon City|access-date=2022-04-29}} Junior Gervis Huff would spend 23 years working in the [Carbon County](/source/Carbon_County%2C_Utah) coal mines. The young Gerald Huff first became interested in cars by reading fledgling [hot rod](/source/hot_rod) magazines of the 1950s and by watching older boys and men send sparks flying as they sped by in their lowered ["tail-dragger"](/source/Stance_(vehicle)) cars on the streets of Dragerton and [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City). Huff attended East Carbon High School, but often skipped class to go to Salt Lake City, which was an alluring hotspot with pretty girls and an active car scene.{{Cite web|url=http://www.shopbohuffcustoms.com/|last=Marco| first=Anna|title=Bo Huff|date=2022|website=Bo Huff Customs|publisher=|access-date=2022-04-29}} By age 18, Huff was listening to rockabilly music and had adopted what would become his lifelong signature fashion—[ducktail](/source/ducktail) hair, cuffed jeans, and [engineer boot](/source/engineer_boot)s. He had also begun working on one of his first cars, a 1950 [Dodge](/source/Dodge), modifying it with heated springs and [bumpers](/source/Bumper_(car)) that he had swapped out from a 1949 [Plymouth](/source/Plymouth_(automobile)). He also joined his first [car club](/source/car_club)—the now defunct [Scraper](/source/Scraper_(car))s of Dragerton. thumb|alt=Covers of two rat rod magazines featuring stories on Bo Huff|Bo Huff was frequently featured in popular rat rod and customs magazines [[File:Jason "Dante" Laurvick, Chance Fisher & Bo Huff - Dragerton (East Carbon), Utah 2012 - Photo by Loretta Pedersen.jpg|thumb|alt=Bo Huff stands with two car show participants on a grassy field with cars in the background |2012 Bo Huff Rockabilly Car Show, [East Carbon, Utah](/source/East_Carbon%2C_Utah) – Jason "Dante" Laurvick, Chance Fisher & Bo Huff]] thumb|alt=Flyer for Bo Huff Rockabilly Car Show 2018|Flyer for annual Bo Huff car show, featuring the tail-dragger car style of Huff's youth and the town name "Dragerton" that he insisted on upholding ==Career== By the 1970s, Huff had learned automobile body and fender work at a training institute in [Denver, Colorado](/source/Denver%2C_Colorado), and had become friends with Stan Robles, a [mentee](/source/mentee) of the renowned [George Barris](/source/George_Barris_(auto_customizer)) who had customized the [Batmobile](/source/Batmobile) and the cars for ''[The Munsters](/source/The_Munsters)'' [sitcom](/source/sitcom) in the 1960s. Huff soon found work in [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City), and then opened his own custom paint shop in [Orange County, California](/source/Orange_County%2C_California), a few years later. Huff spent some time in the 1970s touring the custom car scene around the United States, and then opened a custom car shop in [Lincoln, Arkansas](/source/Lincoln%2C_Arkansas). He later returned to [Carbon County, Utah](/source/Carbon_County%2C_Utah), and worked a brief stint in the same coalmines where his father had worked. Unhappy with this type of employment, Huff soon opened what became his permanent custom car shop in [Sunnyside, Utah](/source/Sunnyside%2C_Utah). In the late 1990s, Huff began organizing his own car shows on a regular basis. He became the annual host of the following shows, among others: The Bo Huff Rockabilly Reunion in [East Carbon, Utah](/source/East_Carbon%2C_Utah), the Rockabilly Route 66 Car Show, and the Rockabilly Extravaganza in [Riverside, California](/source/Riverside%2C_California). Huff himself was the winner of the esteemed [Grand National Roadster Show](/source/Grand_National_Roadster_Show) and achieved widespread recognition for his fabrication and custom paint skills. [SLUG Magazine](/source/SLUG_Magazine)'s James Orme wrote the following about Bo Huff's work: {{Blockquote |text=To call a Bo Huff custom a "car" would be like calling [Van Gogh](/source/Van_Gogh)'s [Starry Night](/source/The_Starry_Night) some swirls of paint. His finished products are rolling works of art. They seem to be the reason that the term "[hot rod](/source/hot_rod)" was created. ... Bo Huff has worked with clients and sold cars all over the world, shipping them as far as Japan. }} ''Street Muscle Magazine'' wrote that Bo Huff's "clients' rides would be nosed, decked, [shaved](/source/Lead_sled), etc. and he was a master at putting on [metal flake paint](/source/Metallic_paint) jobs."{{cite news|url=https://www.streetmusclemag.com/news/nov-27-cancer-benefit-for-customs-legend-bo-huff/ |title=Nov. 27 Cancer Benefit for Customs Legend Bo Huff | last=Draper|first=Scottie|work=Street Muscle Magazine News|date=22 November 2010|access-date=2022-04-29}} Huff became recognized worldwide for his custom cars, which were featured in custom car magazines such as ''Car Kulture Deluxe'', ''Hot Rod Mechanic'', ''[Ol' Skool Rodz](/source/Ol'_Skool_Rodz)'', ''Rod and Custom'', and ''Street Rodder'', among others. ==Later life and legacy== With his long silver beard, slick fashion, and candid communications style, Bo Huff became a familiar figure across the [American West](/source/Western_United_States) for his dedication to promoting [Kustom Kulture](/source/Kustom_Kulture) lifestyle and the 1950s rockabilly spirit. Over the years, he also fathered seven children. Huff worked on hundreds of cars over the course of his long career—strictly focusing on those produced from the 1930s to 1950s—and he also had several decades-long projects that he continued to perfect until the end of his life, including a 1936 [Ford](/source/Ford_Motor_Company) and a 1939 [Mercury](/source/Mercury_(automobile)). He died in [East Carbon, Utah](/source/East_Carbon%2C_Utah), on August 4, 2015, after a five-year battle with [multiple myeloma](/source/multiple_myeloma) cancer, just a month before his Dead [Sled](/source/Lead_sled)s car club 10-year anniversary car show.{{cite magazine |last=Grinney-Colomban |first=Anne |date= 10 June 2016 |title=Day Of The Dead Sleds |url=https://www.slugmag.com/community/a-custom-lifestyle/ |url-status= |magazine=Car Kulture Deluxe |location= |publisher= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=29 April 2022}} In the final years of his life, he had become the subject of the film ''Bo Huff: A Documentary of His Life Cars, Music, and Girls'', which was released the year after his death. He also appears in the 2020 documentary ''Bombshells and Dollies''.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6065988/?ref_=nm_knf_t2|title=Bombshells and Dollies|last=|first=|date=2020|website=Internet Movie Database (IMDB)|publisher=|access-date=2022-04-29}} Huff was inducted into the National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame, the Kustom Kemps Hall of Fame, and the Customs of America [Hall of Fame](/source/Hall_of_Fame) for his life's work.{{cite news|url=https://etvnews.com/bo-huff-selected-as-grand-marshall-for-community-daze/ |title=Bo Huff Selected as Grand Marshall for Community Daze | last=Draper|first=Scottie|work=ETV News|date=30 June 2015}} In addition to the Huffarama Car Show in [Ontario, California](/source/Ontario%2C_California), the annual Bo Huff Rockabilly Car Show continues to be held in [Sunnyside, Utah](/source/Sunnyside%2C_Utah), and Bo Huff's garage has become [Carbon County, Utah](/source/Carbon_County%2C_Utah)'s Bo Huff Museum, where the public can view his classic car collection and custom detailing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.carbonutah.com/attraction/bo-huff-museum/|title=Bo Huff Museum|last=|first=|date=2022|website=|publisher=Carbon County|access-date=2022-04-29}} Huff's son, Junior Huff, has inherited the Bo Huff Customs business and has cultivated his own skills as an award-winning [pin-striper](/source/pinstriping). ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.shopbohuffcustoms.com/ Bo Huff Customs] * [https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Bo_Huff Kustomrama Traditional Rod and Kustom Encyclopedia entry on Bo Huff] * [https://www.carbonutah.com/attraction/bo-huff-museum/ Bo Huff Museum] * [https://vimeo.com/252638092 Video trailer: ''Bo Huff: A Documentary of His Life Cars, Music, and Girls''] * [https://www.classicdigest.com/cars/ford/ranchero/110345 ''Classic Digest'' profile of 1957 Ford Ranchero 350 customized by Bo Huff] * [http://classiccardb.com/ford/32730-1929-model-a-roadster-very-well-built-magazine-cover-car.html 1929 Model A Roadster Built by Bo Huff] * [https://www.customcarchronicle.com/in-memoriam/rip-bo-huff/ Custom Car Chronicle Tribute to Bo Huff] * [https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/bo-huff-passes-away.986031/page-2 Jalopy Journal Tribute to Bo Huff] {{Kustom kulture}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Huff, Bo}} Category:American automobile designers Category:Car restorers Category:American car collectors Category:Kustom Kulture Category:Kustom Kulture artists Category:People from Carbon County, Utah Category:1943 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Deaths from multiple myeloma in Utah --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bo Huff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Huff) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Huff?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.