Johann Gyver - Owner
Johann Gyver is Owner, Chief Master Craftsman, and, Master Builder at Alter Ego in Sierra Vista, AZ alteregomc.com. His vocation and avocation is Designing and Building Handcrafted Motorcycles, and, Building/Restoring Vintage Luxury Automobiles, Muscle Cars, Street Rods, Restomods, and all other Classic Cars.
He also offers his own Signature Line of Parts and Products, which he designed and manufactures in his shop in the U.S.A. using American-made materials.
As a small child, Johann Gyver had a whetted appetite for what would grow to be a lifelong love affair with Elegant Motorcycles and Luxury Vintage Automobiles.
Clearly a highly kinetic and gifted adolescent with a bright personality to match, his racing mind and mensa like intellect needed perpetual feeding.
His Maternal Grandfather encouraged the thrill seeker in him, and primed the colorful palette of this vibrant youth's imagination in many ways - not the least of which was perching him on top of a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle he was way too little to stop - quite literally.
Johann's feet couldn't touch the ground.
This was start of his Adventures in Motorcycling.
A bit of daredevil was in the family DNA, it seems, and, Johann's Grandfather would fill the Harley with gas, lift his grandson onto the seat, and, away he went on dusty Midwest country roads - until the gas ran out, it tipped over, and, the youngster hiked his ride back to the house - to have that tank filled again and again and again...
Johann's Father was a collector of Vintage Automobiles in his spare time, and, Johann remembers quite vividly, repetitiously scrubbing white-walled tires until they sparkled without a single smudge or speck of dirt.
He learned, early on to do everything with perfection using good old-fashioned work ethics and elbow grease, as they used to say.
Fast forwarding decades later, Johann Gyver can see how, many life challenges and even some very harsh experiences, have been excellent school masters in patience. He knows that every event has been forming him into the man he is today.
This salted and seasoned Master Craftsman is one of a kind.
When he builds a Luxury Vintage Automobile there is never a smidge of filler in the body. The metal has been sanded by hand, to perfection, before any paint is applied. The quality of Gyver's painting skills are a bit legendary, and, months of labor are always lovingly invested in each vehicle he's had the privilege of painting with those highly skilled hands over the years.
The automobile Johann is pictured with in this profile, is a 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Henley Roadster in the Style of Brewster. The Elegant and Sophisticated Roadster achieved notoriety with the awards it was given, but, it also acquired a spectacular moniker by the Rolls Royce Owners Association - "The Best Rolls-Royce Phantom II, which has ever existed."
In his past having acquired a serious bout of lead poisoning from early-on Auto and Bike Building days, he followed the call to work in another area of The Arts for a few decades - in the Movie Industry and in Commercial Photography in Los Angeles.
It has come in handy as another piece in the puzzle in his lifetime love affair with wheeled transportation!
He loves Jazz, Fine Art, Gourmet Cooking and Food, Old Movies, and, Touring the Magnificent Open Roads of America.
For more details about the 31 Rolls-Royce, return to our Home Page at alteregomc.com, then hover on Project Cars which will pull down a screen. Then click on, 31 Rolls-Royce Henley Roadster.
You can view the variety of parts which were manufactured at Alter Ego MC to replace the obsolete parts in the restoration of the Rolls. If you double click on any photograph you are interested in viewing, it will greatly enlarge the photograph as well as provide a small narrative at the top left corner of the picture.
To view a sampling of Handcrafted Motorcycles Johann designed and built, return to our Home Page at alteregomc.com and hover your cursor over "Custom Motorcycles," which will bring down a screen of Motorcycles to choose from.
Perhaps all this talk of motorcycles and luxury cars has whetted YOUR appetite for more. If it's time to follow your dream, we can put you on the road with one. Perfectly.
Thank you for your interest.