Hey, That's My Car!

A Labor of Love…

Owner: Lance Colton
Killeen, TX

In 2004, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lawrence Shane Colton’s unit, the Army’s 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, was deployed to Iraq. On Sunday, April 11th, Shane’s AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter was shot down west of Baghdad while protecting a fuel convoy, killing him and his fellow crewmember.

Before deployment, Shane had begun restoring a 1968 Camaro with his then 11-year-old son, Lance. The airing of Shane’s story in the CBS Evening News “Fallen Heroes” feature moved the principals at SoffSeal, a leading restoration industry manufacturer of replacement rubber products, to pursue the completion of the Camaro restoration. Their motivation? Shane gave his life for his country and it was the right thing to do. With Alex Tainsh of SoffSeal taking the lead, and with the support of the Automotive Restoration Market Organization (ARMO), a SEMA council dedicated to preserving and promoting the automotive restoration industry, the project is becoming a reality.
The car was moved to Central Texas College where the car was disassembled and the rebuild process was underway. Lance even lent a hand in the project by helping to remove the front clip. As word of the project spread throughout the aftermarket industry, donated parts began flowing in from across the country. Hobbyists also got involved as Camaros.net established a website to share the Colton story and help raise funds for the project. With this outpouring of support, a decision was made by ARMO to have the car ready in time to be presented to Lance during the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The countdown to the November show had begun.

As with any restoration project, there were roadblocks to get through. However, one could not predict that most of the senior class at the college would be called up for active military duty and deployed to Iraq. Given the looming deadline and the desire of those involved to see this project to completion, the industry again rose to the challenge. With the help of another ARMO member, Jim Barber of Classic Automotive Restoration Specialists, Inc. (CARS), the Camaro was moved to Forsyth Tech Community College (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) where over 60 faculty members and students volunteered to complete the project in time for the Show.

Editor’s note: As this issue of Driving Force is being sent to the printers, the project has less than three weeks to be completed. Visit www.semasan.com for updated pictures of the Camaro and its presentation to the Colton family.

Special thanks to Alex Tainsh and Gary Anderson of SoffSeal, Jim Barber of Classic Automotive Restoration Specialists, Inc., Camaros.net, ARMO, and the countless individuals and businesses for their continued efforts and contributions to this special project. After the project is completed, remaining funds will go towards a college fund for Lance Colton.

Thanks to all who have sent in or e-mailed us photos. Please continue to send us photos of your trail rides, restorations in progress, rod runs, car shows, charity events and drag races. Kindly submit pictures to: The Driving Force, SEMA, 1575 South Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765. You also may send high-resolution digital pictures (minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch; minimum 5 inches wide) by e-mail to carrw@sema.org.