Working in a body shop is not easy.

Imagine how hard the job would be for someone in a wheelchair. Even someone who shares that passion for the work and lets nothing stand in their way. Rodnie Pattison and his classic ’64 Chev­rolet Impala project came to our attention at SATA Canada through Thomas Gierens our western Business Development Specialist.

Rod’s story isn’t an easy one to tell, a near fatal car accident as a young man that left him para­lyzed, the result of a spinal cord injury. “The accident was a life-changing moment. I was in a high-speed rollover in my 1997 Cadillac Deville, which resulted in my paralysis. Initially, it was devastating, but immediately I knew I had to get home and back to my life. I used the strength within myself and support from my loved ones to continue my journey in the auto body trade.”

Growing up in rural Alberta, Rodnie was already building his own ride in high school, a ‘74 Lagu­na-S3. “I built a 383 stroker with the most radical cam you will ever hear!“ Rod attended NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) and was the youngest student in his class with the highest marks in his 4th and final year. He placed silver in the Alberta Skills Competition. Later earning his Red Seal as an auto body technician.

The accident didn’t stop Rod from working. As soon as he was able, he was back on the floor and in the booth. He and the shop had to get creative with tools to make the job accessible. “When on floor, we employed an extra sets of plastic ramps, so vehicles could be positioned up higher, so I could work on cars from my chair. I even repurposed an old semi-truck mirror, that I could slide under the vehicles to see where all the bolts were. I could pull entire bump­ers off by myself if I had the car an extra 8 to 10 inches above the ground. I also set my phone to video to see what I am working on if I can’t get into position under­neath the car, a great little trick.”

However, the enormous strain on his upper body took its toll. Due to overexertion and a few bad falls, Rod tore two tendons in his left shoulder. Ten months ago, he broke his right shoulder and spent another month in hospital.

Despite his injury Rod kept working in the industry as an online arbitrator for an auto auction company. Finally it was time to get back to work on the Impala. This car has been Rod’s labour of love for the last two years. „Unfortunately, I can’t paint the car all in one shot. Being in a wheel­chair I must refinish it in sections, risking the chance for adjacent panels not matching between shoots. But I can't just sit on my hands and wait for someone else to do it. I'll take the chance.”

Rod has even created his own shade of pearl red with the help of Mitch Peacock from Jus Cuz Customs in Edmonton, who gave him a new paint scale and the powder red pearl. „I spent five weeks chasing reds.“ Rod finally came up with the right shade of crimson, which he dubbed “Rodberry”.

“All I want to do is to get healed up so I can have the strength in my arm to finish paint­ing my Chevy! I'm an absolute diehard for this industry and love what I do, with passion and conviction to create works of automotive art.” As Mitch says, “that boy is hell on wheels.” Rod customized and painted one of his manual wheelchairs the same shade of red, so when he drives to car shows he has the matching chair to go with the Impala.

Rod’s been a loyal SATA user, and we thought it fitting that he spray the Impala with our special edition SATAjet X 5500 lowrider gun, itself finished in shades of metallic red.

The Impala is the base 140-hp Turbo-Thrift 230 six with an automatic so he can easily operate it. Rod has already spent almost a hundred hours restoring all the original trim, picking, filing and wet sanding. And endless more hours polishing and painting to keep everything factory. “I have a homemade set of portable hand controls that can be adapted to any vehicle but for the ‘64, I'll make something a little bit cooler and try to use some antique parts and equipment to make the controls look a little bit classier.”

Let’s leave the last words to Rod: “Despite facing personal challenges, my love for the trade has only deepened over the years. I have my heart set on the opportunity to showcase my story to inspire others to overcome any challenges they are faced with to achieve what they love doing! A man without dreams is like a car without gasoline... It just doesn't go anywhere!”