Easily the best part of being the editor of Vettes of Atlanta Magazine is meeting people in the Corvette lifestyle. Case in point.
On a beautiful winter day in December, we’re at Miller’s Ale House covering the Vengeance Racing “Toys for Tots” event.
We’re just hanging out talking to people from Gateway Classic Cars and enjoying the outpouring of toys for needy children in Atlanta.
In the group was YouTuber and content creator Steven Tasciotti, from Gasoline Vibes. Steve starts telling me about this video series he did on a C4 convertible.
If that wasn’t enough, he had an international Finnish phone number on his business card but sounded like he was from the west coast. At that moment, I’m intrigued.
So come to find out, Steve is a YouTuber who created a video series in Atlanta titled “Making The C4 Corvette Great Again” AND has a Finnish phone number?
Now I have to know more.
What follows is an edited transcript from our conversation with Steve. Enjoy!
Early Love Of Cars
Rod Worley – Editor – Steve, before we get into your C4 project and cool videos, I wondered about your automotive background.
Have you always been into working on cars? Where did you pick up the skills to do this project?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – Well, I have to take you back a bit to answer. I have been fascinated with cars since I was old enough to look out the car’s back window.
Which I think is strange since my father and grandfather ( my two mentors in life ) neither of which are car guys by any means. This passion only grew as cable network programs started to play shows like Dukes of Hazard and Knight Rider and soon Miami Vice.
By the time my friends started to get their driver’s licenses and cars. We were already trying to be faster than the other person.
My good friend Rocky and I were successfully making his 1986 Thunderbird Turbo coupe faster than Fox-body Mustangs and 3rd Gen Camaros at 15 years old.
He was going to Automotive Vocational School, and I soon followed.
Finland Connection
Rod Worley – Editor – Before we go any further, we have to talk about Finland. You surprised me when you handed me your Gasoline Vibes business card, and it had a Finnish international phone number on it.
You’re from Los Angeles and moved to Greenville, SC, when you were 12 years old. What’s the Finland back story here?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – Finland is a big part of my life because my amazing wife of 21 years is from there. I first started traveling there in 2003.
My wife has a huge family over there, and it just started to become more of my life. We moved there in 2005 for a short time of about a year and later returned to live again in 2013.
Currently kicking around the idea to come back to the states, this is what I was scoping out while doing some of these projects. I created the Youtube channel while working for a Japanese import car company.
I realized that it was a lot easier than I had initially thought to make cool videos. So the channel was born, and my good friend Alexander Von Arb came up with the name Gasoline Vibes.
Which is a great description of two passions we try to share with the fans: cars and music.
Best Bang For The Buck
Rod Worley – Editor – What prompted you to do this project with a Corvette and not a Mustang, Camaro, or Challenger?
How did you go about finding the right project car?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – Well, let’s start with why the Corvette. I must have been 9 or 10 when my parent’s good friend Sammy drove up in his C3 black Corvette.
I had never seen anything quite like it before. The lines, and pop up headlights, T-Tops, it was just the coolest thing I had ever seen.
Now fast forward to my late teenage years. My friends would describe me as a Ford guy. Fox-body Fords were my thing.
I must have bought and sold 4 of them by the age of 20. My two older kids shared the same 1991 C4 Corvette in high school.
I think it was a cool first car to have. I have been buying and selling cars since I was 15 years old, and to this day, I have owned around 75 to 100 cars.
This 1994 is only the second Corvette that I have owned. The first one I bought from an auction was used by the local police department in the DARE program to show how law enforcement can seize property in drug busts.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have it long and didn’t get to do any upgrades. It was cleaned and sold quickly.
So to make a long story short. The C4 is the best bang for the buck in the Corvette world.
Project Goals
Rod Worley – Editor – Before you started the project, what were the goals you wanted to achieve?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – I wanted to bring one back to the 21st century and do it on a budget without going overboard. So finding the right candidate was the most important part of this build.
I wanted a six-speed. It had to be the LT1 V8, and it needed to be in decent condition. So that was the criteria.
This one caught my eye on the Facebook marketplace, and it was in the budget. So my brother-in-law and I went to check it out.
Overall the car was in good shape. The interior needed some restoration, but the outside was okay, and the doors closed solidly.
Plus, it had a clean title and accident-free Carfax. The major issue was the clutch release bearing (AKA throw-out bearing).
I performed this job in a Fox-body Mustang a few times, several years back, so I thought If I could find a lift, I could attempt the job.
Getting The Video Right
Rod Worley – Editor – Your video series seemed so legitimate. What went into doing the actual filming?
Any behind the scenes stories you can share?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – Molsa Pictures, a professional videographer, did my first video. He did an amazing job and showed me the editing process.
I just started editing and doing everything myself. It took hours to find the right music to add to the feeling of the video.
I needed extra hands for the night time Atlanta video. We needed a camera car and driver, and someone brave enough to stick his expensive camera out the window at 65 mph.
That person is Chris Hicks from All Time Performance. It just so happens that he has the best camera car 2017 Grand Sport C7.
Equipped with its onboard cameras, it made a great addition to or camera angle options seen in the final podcast video. As far as behind the scenes, the video’s last shot where I get a little squirrelly and drive under the bridge took several takes.
Camera malfunctions, traction control on, traffic, and people crossing when we enter the scene, were all problems. We had Hotel Security and a mall cop come ask us what the hell we were doing and that we needed to stop.
I guess sliding around the same corner 10 times is enough to cause some commotion.
Gateway Classic Cars
Rod Worley – Editor – In the video, it looks as though you have the white C4 for sale at Gateway Classic Cars. Why Gateway vs. the other options for selling it?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – My mom and sister live in Alpharetta, GA. Every time I am there, I have to stop at Gateway to see their incredible selection of high-quality cars.
Their website gets over 8,000,000 hits a month, and they have a large community of buyers, a great staff, and a great location. I thought, why not give them a shot?
Personally, I happen to think I have one of the nicest C4 convertible six-speed Corvettes for sale. I also believe this is a great place to put it up for sale and cut all the hassle of tire kickers and low-ballers out of the equation.
Here is a link to the car on the Gateway site. 1994 Chevrolet Corvette convertible.
Gasoline Vibes
Rod Worley – Editor – Steve, can you take a moment and tell us more about your business, Gasoline Vibes? What kind of business is it?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – I would like to think that Gasoline Vibes has a little bit of something for everyone. There are European cars from Finland, JDM cars from Japan, Podcasts, Music, DYI, and goofing around.
I am currently working on some merchandise and hope to grow it into a self-sustaining business. There are so many costs involved in making videos.
I am at the point now where I should upgrade cameras and, most of all, the editing software and looking for sponsors.
Next Project
Rod Worley – Editor – What’s next on the horizon for you and Gasoline Vibes? Another project, Corvette?
Steve Tasciotti – Gasoline Vibes – Next on the list is a budget car in Phoenix, Arizona. I just recently accepted a job in Arizona and will move there beginning of February.
So I will need a car ASAP. I hope to get a C5, but I’m not sure I can find one in my budget. Whatever it is, it will be interesting, and we will see if we can “Make it Great Again!”
My daughter is a few years away from driving, and she also wants a C5. So I am sure that if I don’t find one in my budget, another Corvette is definitely in the cards for the future.
The next big thing I would like to do is a budget challenge between a couple of other YouTubers. If I had my choice, Rob Pitts@Rabbits Used Cars and Chris Hicks@All Time Performance.
Project Resonates
Being a content creator, regardless of the platform, is something that’s just in you. It means working long hours to put your project out there for total strangers to either appreciate, criticize, or ignore.
There are times when the raw, unfettered purity of the content comes through as it does here. Those times when it resonates with the audience.
We can’t thank Steven Tasciotti enough to see this long project through to the end and make this white C4 Corvette convertible great again!
Articles We Recommend:
Rick Ortman Shows How To Have Fun Racing SVRA
Why You Should See Georgia’s Racing Hall of Fame
Amy Ruman Has The Heart Of A Trans-Am Champion