John Gastman/Roanoke Profile

[Jimbos1980]

This was just posted on Viper Headquarters on 8/1. A nice profile on Roanoke Motor Co.

http://www.viperheadquarters.com/me.../john-gastman-viper-headquarters-profile.html

 

[viperdrummer]

Great video of a great guy.

 

[runin1320]

Great video! John is such a great guy and is really the main reason that I ended up buying the Viper. My wife and I went in there one night, grandma was watching the girls, so I said..."let's drive over to Roanoke and check out the Vipers." We got there and it was kinda late and when they greeted me I said that we'd like to check out the Vipers. The lady said that John was the one who deals with the Vipers and that he had already went home. But she quickly said that she'd call him in. I explained that it wouldn't be necessary because we were just looking and that I didn't want to bother him after he had gone home. She explained that it wasn't a problem at all and that he loved showing the cars and talking to people about them. Was she ever right....he arrived shortly and spent a great deal of time with us and even insisted in digging out the one I was interested in that was literally buried behind three other Vipers. It really meant a lot to us that he would invest so much time with a young couple "dreaming" about owning a Viper. His enthusiasm and passion for the customers and cars is truly amazing!

About three weeks later I went back and got it....

PS....It is the Red/Silver Stripe GTS in the Video!

 

[Photog1]

Great video of John. That good looking blue/silver stripe Viper sure looks familiar.

 

[JonB]

I love this small-world story: in 1996 the winner of the Indy-500, Buddy Lazier, won a 96 GTS from Dodge. His team owner Ron Hemelgarn was new to Indy (IRL) and when he wrote Buddy's contract Ron did not know that pace-car tradition to the winner....or Ron would have KEPT the car. So he HAD to have a replica, and set about to get one. (Remember, all were PRE-SOLD on vouchers.)

John Gastman located one at a fair price, trimmed it out as a Pace Car Replica GTS, and personally delivered it to Indy to Ron's office there. But MANY Viper buyers, not just Indy Winners, get the same service from John. Including Me. Including Doris. My sister Sue..........THANKS JOHN G....deserved recognition.

 

[Jimbos1980]

Agreed. I live a little over 2 hours north of Roanoke over the Wisconsin border. I have visited Roanoke several times over the years hoping to, one day, become a Viper owner. My wife and I visited in June 2006 to look at snakes and even though that wasn't in the cards at the time for us financially we did purchase a new Durango from him. Fast forward to fall '10, we were in the market for a new Viper and found a dealership in Ohio that had a bumblebee coupe, a graphite coupe, and the snakeskin/black coupe that we eventually bought. Big mistake. Love the car but you can definitely tell the difference between dealerships that simply sell the car and one that takes care of you after the sale. We had our car shipped out to us but it wasn't cleaned, and had a quarter tank of gas, among many other things. I won't use this format to bad mouth a dealership as they chose to remain nameless (Bob & Chuck Eddy in Youngstown Ohio) . I had John get me a few plate frames (need to get business cards also)
so I could advertise for him up here to make up for being a stupid buyer.

 

[SmoknTires]

I buy all my cars from John and our club supports him fully as a member and sponsor. He's held the club on his shoulders for years and now we hold him on ours. He's a stright shooter, a good friend, and a great business man.

 

[georgethedog]

Great piece on John. I bought my first Viper from John several years ago (1994 RT/10). He spent a lot of his time explaining to me what a Viper is and how it is built. For those of you who come to the annual Mopar show at his dealership you will remember the banners that everyone signs. Well, one of the banners has a 1970 Hemi Orange Super Bee. That is the car I traded for my first Viper.

Not only have a bought a couple Vipers (including my current 2003 SRT-10) from John, but this summer he made us an outstanding deal on a 2010 Challenger SRT-8 that my wife drives. John has also helped me from time to time with opinions on different cars/mods, etc. He has also helped me with some parts... Thanks John! Hats off to the best car dealership I have ever dealt with. Now John is more than a dealer, I also consider him a friend. Just how many new car dealers can you walk in and talk directly to the owner??? Hats off to you, John. Oh, and I can't forget the best Viper tech "Dave". He has helped me numerous times and has always taken the time to answer my questions. What a team John has and I am lucky cause he is only 45 minutes away!