A popular YouTube car show started as father-son bonding for a Huntingdon Valley family

Andy Vitek would love for his YouTube car show to turn into a TV program or a wildly popular online series.

But regardless of whether that happens, Vitek said, he’ll be happy. After two seasons, Turn 1 has a couple of episodes with more than 100,000 views, and its following is growing. But it has already served its true purpose, Vitek said: bonding with his sons over a shared passion for cars.

“Turn 1 was created for a few reasons. The first was to create something exciting that would keep my boys and I together, having a common interest and purpose," he said. "The second reason Turn 1 was created was to bring exciting, interesting videos to a public thirsty for car adventures.”

Vitek’s son Alex, 20, added, “For me at least, being involved with my dad’s projects has brought us closer together, and for me and my brother, it has added a whole new dimension to our relationship.”

Andy Vitek and his sons — the other is Drew, 24 — created Turn 1 with the help of producer Dave McDonald, a communications professional and former neighbor who lives in Jenkintown.

Over the show’s two seasons, the crew has filmed in Ireland and Croatia. The Viteks have driven rare and iconic cars, including a Ferrari Testarossa, an Audi R8, an Aston Martin DB9, and a Corvette Stingray. Next season, they plan to shoot in Rome and to drag race a car the crew has never seen or driven before, Andy Vitek said.

“What we enjoy is showcasing other people’s cars,” he said. “We hand-select cars that would be of interest, educate the viewers on the vehicles.”

Andy, a financial adviser, and his wife, Melissa, an eye doctor, live in Huntingdon Valley. For years, Andy and his former neighbor McDonald talked about teaming up for an online car show. When they had young children, the timing never seemed quite right. But after Alex went off to Fordham University and Drew moved back to Philadelphia to work as a product consultant, Andy said, he decided he wanted to pursue the idea.

The group first filmed together while in Galway, Ireland, for a friend’s wedding.

McDonald was elated to finally get to work with Andy Vitek.

“He’s very passionate about automotive stuff,” McDonald said. Turn 1 “combined my passion for storytelling and his for cars. It was the perfect fit.”

Andy’s fascination with cars started when he was a child growing up near Scranton.

The youngest of four boys said his father always encouraged his sons “to be mechanical," and he quickly developed an affinity for all kinds of vehicles.

By age 7, he said, he was driving his grandmother to church. By 11, he was buying and selling cars, often from in front of his parents' restaurant. He drag-raced in high school, then attended college at a Pennsylvania State University regional campus, where he majored in economics.

In the 1990s, he and his wife moved to the Philadelphia area and started a family. As a hobby, he still raced, worked on, and bought and sold cars. He began road-racing in the ’90s and became licensed as a semi-professional in the early 2000s.

He said he never pushed his boys to develop the same hobby. But, raised around their father’s car collection and his racing buddies, both sons said they were naturally drawn to that world.

“Growing up, I was absolutely obsessed with planes and trains and such,” said Drew, recalling how his dad let him shift gears from the passenger seat of a second-generation Corvette convertible at age 4 or 5. “It’s been my life ever since.”

Alex said he was initially more inclined to play soccer or baseball. But the family always bonded over car videos on YouTube. As a teenager, Alex said, he became more passionate after working on his brother’s BMW.

Alex and Drew said they jumped at the opportunity to work on Turn 1. In the show’s credits, the three Viteks are listed as hosts.

As he worked to balance his studies in New York, Alex said, he wasn’t always able to be as involved in the show as he would have liked. But he contributed ideas and support. When he’d come home for the summer or school breaks, the crew would get together to brainstorm or film.

“As it continues to grow, I definitely want to be more involved,” he said.

Drew, now living in Brewerytown, Vitek said he loved seeing the show’s growth up-close.

At first, he said, the show focused more on the specific attributes of each vehicle.

“As time went on, we focused on making the best experience out of each episode instead of just focusing on the car,” said Drew, who’s also passionate about film and photography. Now, the crew tells viewers more about the venue they’re driving in and any guest drivers in the episode.

McDonald said he also tries to showcase the Viteks' personalities, which can attract viewers to their show on social media or elsewhere.

To Andy, it’s McDonald’s expertise and experience that has helped elevate Turn 1 – and that could propel it even further.

“The goal, obviously, through Dave is to bring this to a higher level,” he said, “to keep making the episodes more refined, more professional.”

There are plenty of car shows on cable, McDonald said, but he hopes that Turn 1 will find its niche. But he’s realistic, too, and focused on the reason the crew started making the show in the first place.

“It’d be great to turn this into a TV show. If not, that’s fine," McDonald said. “We’re in it for the fun.”