Resurrect Tweety, the 32 Roadster

        Happy Days, the true story of Jim and Tweety        Rodding and Restyling Magazine August 1958                         Hot Rod Magazine November 1958                       At home in Austin, Texas August 1956                     Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah 1954
                                  Kerrville, Texas 1953               Oklahoma City NHRA Natioals 1957
In the picture above, Tweety is the 4th car down from  the top                         
    I,  Jimi Lovejoy, want to share this story with every hot rodder and car enthusiast out there. This is the true story of that post war generation that set the grounds for what is considered  the standard of what is cool even to this day. This story is what dreams are made of, and I'm lucky enough to be a part of it. There is a time and a place in a man's life to choose family over any posession and to put things where they belong over any dream he had with what he owned.
                                 Austin, Texas   1958
The extremely kind and caring Jim Govro came into my family when he married my mother Evelyn (widowed) in 2001. We have become very close over these past years. I have shared my enthusiasm of cars and hot rods, which both of us have had our own share of. He told me of a little '32 Roadster he built in 1951 while he was still attending high school in Austin, Texas. With no way to get the money, Jim sold his 1932 roadster in April 1962 to help pay for his first child's birth. It was an incredible sacrifice to do this for his growing family but a real man does what it takes to care for them. He had said he wanted to build another hot rod someday.
 Jim holding his trophy from the 1st drag races held at
                                   Kerrville, Texas 1953
So we began looking for a car - from Model A's to whatever else came along. Finally, we ended up with a '32 Ford Truck in rough condition. But at least it was a '32! Since the cab is the same as a pickup, it was a good start. The lady who owned the truck had a garage full of unrelated old car parts (which she sold to us for $50.) The Boerne, Texas swap meet was our first opportunity to unload a bunch of these parts so we packed up the truck and trailer and headed out there. There were lots of people there but few buyers. I sold a Model A shifter to a guy and as he walked off his cell phone rang. He answered it and said something that that made my heart skip a few beats."We need to move the Model A out of the garage and 'Tweety.'" I tapped the man on the shoulder and asked "is Tweety a 32 roadster?" My heart again skipped a few beats as he replied, "yes." I asked him to come back and talk with my step dad for a few minutes. Jim's eyes perked up as he talked with the man (his name, as we later found out, was Andy). Jim pulled out from his truck the November1958 Hot Rod Magazine which featured him and his beloved car Tweety. Andy looked at Jim and said, "Jim, I own your car, Tweety." They then sat down and started going on about what happened with the car and how it got to where it was.
                           This plate is the original from one of the car clubs                                  Jim was in  circa 1950's     Tweety with it's Caddie motor and 4 duece intake          Always taking trophies at every car show
     Another original plate from a car club Jim was in                                                   circa 1950's
               Jim with his Dukes car club jacket on                                           Andy had bought the car from a man named George Walker about 10 years prior. George had taken Tweety completely apart to redo the suspension and paint. It remained in pieces until Andy bought it. Andy had started raising the 7-inch channeled car back to the stock height among various other modifications. Over the next five years Jim and I went to the Deuce reunion in Texas and each time I saw Andy I would ask him, "when we can come pick up Tweety?" He would always reply with, "it's getting closer every year."
                                 Kerrville  Drags 1953
      Jim had a restored '57 BSA motorcycle and a '54 MG TF in fairly good shape. I was trying to convince my mom to convince Jim to sell both of those vehicles to try and buy Tweety back. Jim wouldn't sell the MG unless my mother would say it's OK. One Sunday morning at church, Jim came to me and asked if I had been speaking to my mom about Tweety. I said yes , and to my surprise Jim started talking about selling the MG and trying to get Tweety back . Jim said, "when I get home I'm gonna call Andy and see if he would like to sell it back!"
That afternoon I went over to their house and as I walked into the dining room Jim was on the phone with Andy and he gave me the thumbs up. Again my heart skipped a few beats. A deal had been struck to get Tweety back. Andy gave Jim no deadline to raise the money for the car. We still needed to sell his MG and motorcycle  to raise the funds to get Tweety back. It took 2 years  to sell them. The day after we sold the MG we set out to Kerrville to pick Tweety up. It took two trucks and trailers to bring Tweety's disassembled remains home. It was April 2012 which is exactly 50 years to the month since Jim had sold the car. The car has now come nearly full circle and it feels so right bringing Tweety home.
             My first time I saw Tweety April 2012   Andy had gathered most of him before we got there
  Jim trying to figure out how the camera works
 Jim still trying to figure out how the camera works
Loading Tweety's remains in Kerrville, Tx April 2012
           Tweety's home in it's Texas size bird house
Andy has three other 32's and other various vintage cars. He did not have to sell Jim the car but he knew how amazing it would be for the original builder to have the car back in his life. Two awesome men in this story, the man who gave up his car for his family, and the other who gave up what he owned to make another man's dream come true. The entire Govro & Lovejoy family thanks Andy and his family for doing this.
                       Home coming party June 2014
          Jimmie Vaughan and Jim deep in thought                                      Hot Rod Heaven        Pauly's A with the same caddie motor as Tweety

After nearly two years we had a party (it was delayed due to my mom's and Jim's health issues). About 120 people came along with more than 40 hot rods. Many big names in the hot rod community were there. Vernon McKean, who did Tweety's custom interior, and we still have it to pattern the new interior for Tweety. Norm Jones who was on his honeymoon in 1957 and talked his new bride in going to the NHRA Nationals in Oaklahoma City and has 8mm footage of Jim drag racing the car there. Singer/songwriter Jimmie Vaughan who passed up a chance to nab Tweety in the 80s flew back early from a gig to be at the home coming party. The rumbling sounds of hot rods was amazing! Many friends of Jim's came who had not seen him in over 60 years.
        A few nice Rods at Tweety's coming home party    Time is flying by so fast and I think this car laid down the foundation of what street rods are even to this day. I'm trying to reach out to the public  and hot rod comunity to help me put Jim behind the wheel of his car. It took all the money from the sale of the BSA motorcycle and the MG to buy the car back. We were able to buy a caddie motor and a 4 duece intake like the one it had in Hot Rod magazine in 1958. We have about 98% of Tweety now.  My dad, Jim, as I call him, turned 80 this year and is having issues with his hands and arms, making it difficult to do any manuvering that car restoration requires. I've been pushing to start on Tweety but he is such a perfectionist. He wants his shop to be in perfect order before starting. It's a HUGE task to take on for him and it took 2  years of pushing just for the party alone so it will take much longer to get Tweety on the road again. Health problems have been the biggest hiccup. And with the way things are going Jim may not live to see and feel what it's like to drive Tweety again.
                      No paint needed on this fine ride        I told Jim I was going to take Tweety just like it is, all apart with it's  history to the Lonestar Roundup car show. I wanted to show Jim just how special Tweety and he are. Steve gave us a awesome spot by the dragsters to display Tweety. The responce was out of this world. So many people shared their stories of when they crossed paths with the hot rod Tweety. There was even  in a low budget movie that  the car starred in. Such a boost for Jim  to feel like he was now the coolest kid on the block.  Piero, of Mad Fabrication was passionate about the love of this car and how important it is not to change what is so perfect of the mind set of the 50's hot rodders. I can't express how much everyone that came by those 2 days lifted Jim spirits and for many days since.
Duncan handing over a movie starring Tweety circa                                                     1970's                            Lonestar Round Up 2015                  Piero and Bob of Mad Fabrication      Tweety is an awesome survivor of early 1950s hot rod history. I'd really like to help Jim have his dream come true and his car back together. A kinder man I have never met than my Papa Jim.  I am trying to raise the funds to put Jim back inTweety. It has been 53 years since he was behind the wheel of Tweety. Donations even from $1 to how ever much can make a great difference in this story to come full circle.  Tweety and Jim are true icons of Hot Rod History and Austin, Texas. Thank you all.   Jimi                                                                                                                                 Oklahoma City NHRA Nationals 1958