ABOUT
Blood, Sweat, and Elbow Grease
Blood, Sweat, and Elbow Grease
Blood, Sweat, and Elbow Grease
Paint, sandpaper, muscle cars, custom builds, these are the things that have always peppered the life of Diva Mitchell. “My dad is happy to point out he drove me home from the hospital in his 70 Skylark convertible……….My dad’s always been painting, building or doing restoration of some kind….I’ve been around it my whole life.” Looking
Paint, sandpaper, muscle cars, custom builds, these are the things that have always peppered the life of Diva Mitchell. “My dad is happy to point out he drove me home from the hospital in his 70 Skylark convertible……….My dad’s always been painting, building or doing restoration of some kind….I’ve been around it my whole life.” Looking to escape the brutal Arizona summer heat, she went to visit "small town America" to spend time with her father. I happened to be staying with my dad in this tiny little town in Nebraska…..there was almost nothing to do….gyms and restaurants were 30 minutes away……so I took an active role in the shop……learning hands on rather than watching…..there was literally nothing else to do…..and that’s when I began doing these builds on my own…… I’ve always been a hands-on learner…….you don’t learn to weld by reading a book about it, you get out there in the shop, you get dirty, you try not to catch your hair on fire and for the love of god, pray you never ever get flash burns”
Ground Up Builds
Blood, Sweat, and Elbow Grease
Blood, Sweat, and Elbow Grease
The 1950s Chevy pickup is the iconic representation of post WW2 era America. These are the trucks working in the “Amber Waves of Grain.”
“I love this particular truck…..I live half the year in Nebraska and it seems like every farm from here to Kansas has one of these sitting out there in the field……they are synonymous with farm life”
Wor
The 1950s Chevy pickup is the iconic representation of post WW2 era America. These are the trucks working in the “Amber Waves of Grain.”
“I love this particular truck…..I live half the year in Nebraska and it seems like every farm from here to Kansas has one of these sitting out there in the field……they are synonymous with farm life”
World War II interrupted production of Chevrolet pickups and interestingly, Chevrolet was given permission by the government to produce trucks for "high priority" civilian use . Due to material shortages these trucks came with painted grilles, bumpers, hubcaps, and trim—known as the "blackout" theme. “We build these trucks the way you want them….from 3 stage custom paint -take it to Barrett Jackson to the blackout theme of painted grilles and bumpers to take into the fields.”
Our Builder
Blood, Sweat, and Elbow Grease
Our Builder
Arizona native Diva Mitchell, certainly did not envision her life as a custom builder. “Nope, never even occurred to me” she laughs as she brushes what she is convinced is rat poop out of the way before sitting in the cab of her most recent find, a 1953 Chevy 5 window pickup. This one straight from a working farm in south eastern Kansa
Arizona native Diva Mitchell, certainly did not envision her life as a custom builder. “Nope, never even occurred to me” she laughs as she brushes what she is convinced is rat poop out of the way before sitting in the cab of her most recent find, a 1953 Chevy 5 window pickup. This one straight from a working farm in south eastern Kansas. “This is the first step, I have to find these trucks, and not only are they just about always in a farm in the middle of nowhere……the characters I meet in these places……that’s another story…….did I mention the man that asked me if I wanted to do some pin-up modeling in the barn before I left ?? ….I didn’t see any cameras but I did see a whole bunch of chains hanging from the rafters….. I swear I’m not making this up”. But build she does, while making quite a name for herself in the late 1940s – early 1950s Chevy Pickup world. Originally with the guidance of her father, an award-winning painter in the 1990s, she has taken the baton of knowledge bestowed upon her and turned it into Represent Customs.
From tracking down these trucks across the Heartland of America; to tear downs, welding, sanding, fabricating and painting, Diva il Leoni is emerging as a builder to keep your eye on. Follow all her builds from start to finish
This Months Featured Trucks
1948 GMC 100