Hot Rod

AMBITION REALIZED

When I mentioned to Stanley Chavik we’d be taking pictures of him while he worked, he replied wryly in his thick Eastern European inflection, “Good, because I’m busy.” Stanley’s Thor-esque stature, his thick wavy hair, gnarled beard, and flames of ink shooting up his arms make him look like an extra from Sons of Anarchy. But his gap-toothed grin and smiling eyes reveal his true character. This is a man content.

A 1950 DeSoto Diplomat Deluxe convertible coupe with a front spike, a toothy front fender, and wheel-hub weaponry lethal enough to make Ben Hur blanch hardly seems like the car to inspire a career. But the pale yellow rarity used in the Italian B-movie I predatori di Atlantide was the first hot rod Stanley ever saw. It was love.

For over a decade, Stanley

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