The Rosebud Restorer

By Michelle Pawelski

At 14, Cody McNaught had a plan to start his own business. He had an idea, a name, and, most importantly, a drive to accomplish everything. His life has taken many twists and turns since those teen years, however, now at 37, Cody is making his childhood dream come true.

“I had a little dream, and I’ve been making it happen day to day, every day,” said Cody leaning again his newly restored 1959 Chevy El Camino. He opened Paha Sapa Customs and Cycles in December 2020 and, in less than a year, the entrepreneur has enough work to keep him busy seven days a week. “I get to wake up every day and come out here and spend 10 – 12 hours a day, sometimes longer, working on cool stuff and making a living out of it. You rarely get to do that in any field especially automotive.”

Born on the RosebudReservation and a member of the Sicangu Lakota, Cody said he was born a car guy. “I just came out loving cars, loving motorcycles. It

has always been a huge passion of mine and to now doing this for a living is astounding.” While his family are mostly ranchers and farmers, his dad and grandfather had a love of motorcycles which helped fuel Cody’s passion. “My grandpa owned a Harley [Davidson] dealership in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and my dad always rode motorcycles,” Cody said. “And growing up around the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally you can’t help but grow a passion for motorcycles.”

Andy Greenman

He grew up in Rapid City and began tinkering on his own cars, reading up on everything from motors to paint jobs. “I would sit in the garage with my friends and customize cars as much as we could.” His vision of starting Paha Sapa Customs and Cycles took a slight detour when his daughter Hannah, now 13, and already helping her dad restore cars, was born. “It was my dream towork on cars, but I had to do something, I had a kid on the way.” To help provide for his family, Cody began working at a pizza shop while working with vehicles on the side. However, in 2009, determined to fulfill his teenage business plan, Cody enrolled in Western Dakota Technical Institute’s automotive technology program. After graduating from the two-year program, he began working at Rapid Chevrolet slowly moving up in the company. “I started cutting in fenders and hoods and painting the inside of them. I would do that for experienced techs. That’s all I did for a year and then they moved me up to junior painter.” He worked with Rapid Chevrolet for four years and then left to pursue his goal of restoring cars. “That is really what I wanted to do and the reason I got into the field of automotive.”

After leaving Rapid Chevrolet, Cody’s path led him to Glen Olson, longtime owner of Olson Auto and a local legend in the car community. “I met Glen Olson back in 2014 and started working for him,” Cody said, adding that his job application was doing one complete paint job for Olson. “That day I met him I did the complete paint job and after he said, ‘when do you want to start?’” Cody showed up the next day and every day after. “He taught me everything I know about restoring a car. Before I was just spraying the fender, spraying the door. It got boring, so I came here and started working, and it basically changed my life. He made it fun, and I absolutely loved it. It led me to be able to live my dream in life.”

Cody helped Olson restore more than 40 cars that now sit in a barn on Olson Auto’s former property, now the home to Paha Sapa Customs and Cycles. Olson opened Olson Auto in 1968 using wood scraps he collected as a garbageman. He retired three years ago and continues to be a mentor. “He guided me every day to show me these old cars. Without him I don’t think I would have been able to open my own shop.”

Despite having his decades-long dream became a reality, the leap was a scary one. “I had one paint job, and I didn’t know what was coming after that.” However, after that first job on a 1969 Road Runner, people started to notice Cody’s artistry. “Then I worked on a ’71 Cadillac Coupe DeVille and everything started going from there and getting busier and busier.”

Cody said a complete restoration takes at least a year. “It is not an in and out process,” he said, adding that it is similar to working on a piece of art. “You do metal work like an artist. You weld; you fabricate with your hands. You make it look like it was prior, or you make it into something different. Artistry has always been a big part of my life.”

Cody runs his business with his cousin Dustin McNaught. “We always have all kinds of stuff going on. Every day will bring something through that door that is cool,” Cody said. This fall he is getting a fleet of old cars from

Cody and his cousin Dustin McNaught

Andy Greenman

Arizona. They are currently working on 1959 Chevy Apache brought in by a man whose brother owned the truck in 1962. After his brother passed away, the man searched all over the country to find it and buy it back. “It’s been a huge labor of love,” Cody said of the job. They are preparing to custom paint a 1986 Corvette C4 and just finished a custom flame paint job on a 2014 Harley Bagger. He hopes to soon purchase and restore one of his dream cars – a 1968 Cadillac Coupe DeVille convertible.

While he has only been in business for eight months, Cody already has 2-, 5-, and 10-year plans which include starting a junior entrepreneur program focused on Native American and low-income youth. He hopes to teach other teens to never give up on their dreams. “Growing up it may be so hard to get a hand up on things,” he said stressing that challenges will arise, but it’s important to overcome and move forward.

He is already mentoring one youth – his daughter Hannah who has spent much her life watching her dad fulfill his dream. The fatherdaughter team restored a 1960 El Camino. “She already knows how to paint and do body work. I got her in this body shop when she was 7. She grew up in here – in this building, in this industry." Hannah hopes to take over the shop one day continuing Paha Sapa Customs and Cycles, and her dad’s dream, for another generation.