Introducing the Zac Hartwell/Ryan Dunn Tribute/Memorial Project: Project Top Secret

[navyflyer72]

I apologize for not posting on Lateral-G.net earlier, I have posted about this project on Pro-touring.com and Camaro5.com for the last 2 months.

Let me first say that this project is a direct result of 2 major incidents in my life from the last month. First and most devastating was the loss of my brother Zac Hartwell. Many of you may recognize his name vaguely and are wondering where you have heard it before. Well he was the passenger in Ryan Dunn's (of the movie "Jackass" fame) Porsche GT3 that crashed and killed them both on June 20th.

I was deployed to Afghanistan when I received the news and the Navy got me home in time for Zac's funeral. The Marine Corps got my brother Ted home from Helmand in time also, my other two brothers who are Navy Chiefs with the Navy Special Boat Units made it as did my sister who is a USMC Radio Operator. All of Zac's 7 brothers and sisters made it in time for his funeral in West Chester, PA. Zac too was a veteran with 6 years of honorable service in the Navy as a Gunner's Mate who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom twice.

While home on emergency leave after the funeral I took several brothers and sisters and nieces to Washington DC to see the museums and monuments. We chose July 3rd to avoid the craziness in DC on the 4th. On our way home from DC we were slammed into by a drunk driver who ran a red light. Thankfully none of the injuries we sustained were life threatening. But both vehicles were totaled.

As a result of these two incidents I have started a project (well redirected one project that has been in works for a decade) in conjunction with my Navy Command, and soon potentially the entire US Military, and I am soliciting sponsors from a number of areas, to assist me in completing 2 Camaro builds. My 1967 RS Pro-touring Camaro and my 2010 SS. To take on a country-wide tour the purpose of which is below.

The mission is to create two mirror image Camaros that will tour the country and visit every major military installation, car show, automotive event, SEMA, Power Tour, etc... In addition I am soliciting a number of high profile celebrities to attend these events. The purpose is threefold:
1. To highlight the dangers of drinking and driving.
2. To pay a fitting tribute to Zac Hartwell and Ryan Dunn, two serious auto enthusiasts, and
3. To raise money for the two charities that their families have asked donations be made in their names:
-Wounded Warrior Project for Zac Hartwell, and
-Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids for Ryan Dunn

I wanted to post this here first as this has been a forum that I have frequently read to see what great ideas there are out there for our Camaro's and I have also found solid support of the military here. Since heading back out here to Afghanistan I've been relying on the internet to make my projects a reality. I'm working through the US Navy to get the "traveling responsible drinking roadshow" established, and I have been working through a number of personal contacts to get the celebrities onboard for their part of this project. I welcome any other assistance that Lateral-G members can provide in the way of sponsorship, or sponsorship development, or media interest to help publicize this endeavor. I do not however request any money. If you wish to donate money, please go to the Wounded Warrior Project website and donate in Zac Hartwell's name.

I look forward to logging in as often as possible downrange and posting as many pictures of these projects as they begin to take form.

Standby for other exciting updates that I already have, but I wanted to keep the introduction as short as possible, so more posts will follow rapidly.

Regards,
LCDR George Hartwell, USN
__________________
The Zac Hartwell & Ryan Dunn Tribute/Memorial Camaro Project and Tour
Benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project & Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids

[tmadden]

God Bless you all. Good Luck with the projects.

[intocarss]

It's a great thing you're doing and thank you for your service. Let me know if you'd like me to post this on other sites God Bless

[camcojb]

I've made this thread a sticky so it stays on top of the page. I am very sorry for your loss. This a great project, good luck.

[navyflyer72]

Thanks, I think with the way things have been going in the past month the project is going very well. We should have some pictures to look at very shortly. Here is the approximate state that my '67 is in, although it is at Prodigy right now having a bunch of mods being done (mini-tubs, DS&E subframe connectors and DS&E front subframe).

The '67 will be radically different from this when this project, but this is the current starting point, I'll post up pictures of the "original starting point" from back in 2001, which was pretty rough shape on the build page (I'd post them here, but I odn't have them on this computer).

It started as a Black on Black 327/210 Saginaw 4 speed, California Black plate car. It ran, but barely. My wife and I drove it from Cleveland, OH to Jacksonville, FL with a stop in Kentucky for the Florida-Kentucky game. Almost made it too, about 10 miles from home the distributor gave out, a new cap and we got her home.

I had considered a stock rebuild, but then I saw Mark Steilow's "The Mule" build when thumbing through Popular Hot Rodding in the local Barnes and Noble and I was immediately bitten by the Pro-Touring bug. So the Camaro was stripped., here I am 10 years later and I have managed to put about 600 miles on the car, before sending her off in a car hauler with one of the Pro-Touring God Fathers, Frank Serafine at Prodigy. That was in 2008, just as I was leaving for my last Afghanistan deployment. I was hit by a financial stall (which basically means my wife realized what I had signed on to do and said you'd better find a way to get that in cash! So the project stalled right when it was ready to take off. So then here I am at the end of 2010 and I have cash money saved up to finish the project, and I am called up by the Navy and they say, guess what, time to deploy again. This time for a year. And so off I went.

As you saw in the intro post, I was called back to the US for my brothers funeral at the end of June and I returned to Afghanistan in the middle of July.
While home though, I called Frank and explained that I was ready to move forward again and that there was a project in the works. When I come home in November for my R&R leave I'll be in Florida and will visit Frank at Prodigy (his new bigger facility) to go over the new direction with Frank, thankfully what we had lined up and what has been done already flows nicely with the new direction also. So it is not a huge departure from the base that we have put together.

Hope you all like the project and I will get the build website linked here as soon as we launch it.

Regards,
George Hartwell

[navyflyer72]

I should also post that we have started a Facebook page, just search "Zac Hartwell Tribute Camaros Project" and friend me. As soon as we launch the build webpage we will link the build page to Lateral-G.net and to the Facebook page.

My plan is nce the tour starts next year, I will conduct live video blogs rom the road, showing the trials and tribulations, as well as the ups and downs of life on the road when touring the states with a mission like ours!

It should be interesting to sya the least, but I think some events, especially things like the Power Tour and SEMA will prove to be the best for video clips! We'll see.

Stand by one minute, I'm going to post some information from the last month that includes some VERY exciting information. It will hit the post here in a few minutes!

Regards,
George

[navyflyer72]

I had a unique opportunity yesterday when a USO tour arrived in Afghanistan with three Astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan) and David Hartman, how does this relate to this build you ask? Well after meeting the astronauts I got to talking with David Hartman (he was the original host of the Good Morning America Show) and after describing the project to him and my endeavors to get publicity for our project and our cause, he took my email and wants to get me in touch with some Executives he knows in TV. So I am hoping for big news on that front as soon as their USO tour wraps up.

Also, Kris Horton has signed on to do the renderings of these two builds! As many of you know Kris is well known in the pro-touring circles as well as the toy car industry. If you didn't know Kris was brought on at Mattel to design a pro-touring/muscle car line of toy matchbox cars! Very cool. Anyway, to see his amazing work, check him out at http://krishorton.com

I am also VERY pleased to announce, (Thanks to the dedicated efforts of one of our own) that the Zac Hartwell and Ryan Dunn Tribute Camaro Project has our first Official Parts Sponsor!

I'll reveal who that sponsor is on here very soon! Also, I have seen some of the artwork that is being done by one of our very own and it is Unbelievable, I am very excited to bring that to you all VERY SOON!

I can't thank everyone enough for the efforts that are going on behind the scenes while I am over here. So since everyone likes pictures, I am going to post some shots from yesterday's foot patrol we conducted through the second worst Police District in Kabul. (And you thought you were getting some Camaro pictures!... soon, I promise, soon). Just conducting what General Patreus likes to call a COIN (Counter-Insurgency) mission. Engaging the local population and finding out what they need. On this patrol we visited a school to find out what they need since my wife and kids have started a donation drive in Southern Maryland called "Peace through Play" to get donations of toys and school supplies that will be sent out to this school for us to distribute.

I will post more pictures when we distribute the donations. We have done this on a much smaller scale with candy and you should see the kids faces light up. I can't imagine how they will react to soccer balls and toys! It will be the fun part of being over here for our guys for sure.

I also posted a pic of us at the range getting ready for our next trip down South. Wish us luck, that trip is this week. I'll be offline until next weekend, but when I get back up here to Kabul, I'll post some updates! Hopefully by then I can announce a second sponsor! Hope you all have an uneventful 9-11and if you area of the country was affected by the recent string of natural disaster weather that you start to see a silver lining.


Regards,,
George

[navyflyer72]

Thanks for all the PM's, I will be out in the field from today until next Sunday, so as soon as I get back here to a computer I will post an update. I potentially have a pretty big name in Hollywood joining the project, if it solidifies I will post the announcement next week!

Take care and take a moment to reflect on 9-11 today. For those of you who lost loved ones on that day my thoughts go out to you and your families.

Regads,
George

[70rs]

Thank you for your service George. Good luck on your trip south. Stay safe.

[intocarss]

Thank you for your service George. Good luck on your trip south. Stay safe. What he said :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[navyflyer72]

I am halfway back from the furthest reaches of Helmand Province Afghanistan, the deadliest Taliban stronghold, and despite being out where we didn't get showers for 5 days and hot food was a pipe dream, I still found a way to move the project forward. Even got to spend almost a full day with my Marine Corps Corporal brother, granted I made him patrol back from an Observation Post to the Patrol Base to hang out, I think we both got some motivation from seeing each other out on the very front lines of the war. Amidst mortar rounds and machine gun fire we played a game of catch with a football in the small center area of the PB in honor of the recently started College and NFL football season.

As soon as I get back to Kabul I will post the pictures I took, and an exciting update to the project!

Hope everyone is safe out there and enjoying football season!

Cheers,
George Hartwell

[intocarss]

Thank you for all that you do and Stay safe !!

[MaxHarvard]

An excellently worthy project!

Good luck and I hope it goes well.

Thank you again,

~Eric

[70rs]

Mortar rounds and machine gun fire and you worry about updating us? Man, keep your head down and fill us in from a safer location. Lol!

That is really cool you got to see your brother out there. I hope you both are safe and come back soon.

[coolwelder62]

Mortar rounds and machine gun fire and you worry about updating us? Man, keep your head down and fill us in from a safer location. Lol!

That is really cool you got to see your brother out there. I hope you both are safe and come back soon.X2.Please say THANK YOU for me to your other Brother's in ARM's.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :cheers: This Bud's everybody in the Service of this great Country.

[navyflyer72]

Back from visiting the real warfighters in Helmand Province, spend about 12 hours with my youngest brother Ted at a Patrol Base in likely the nastiest place for Taliban, the Patrol Base and outlying Observation Posts (one of which my brother was manning) were attacked at least 6 times that day. These Marines spend 210 days straight manning these. I was amazed by their positive attitudes and demeanor, they motivated the heck out of me. Add to that the professional manner with which they work, while living in dirt, it was nothing short of amazing.

Big news coming up for the project, standby!

The below pics are from my trip out to Helmand last week, got to visit my youngest brother Ted and some seriously tough Marines. It was a good trip. The first pic is Ted and I, The second is Ted and I playing football while the heavy mortars are engaging Taliban attackers about 100 meters away, and the third picture is me taking a break from football to smoke a cigar (they wanted me to, it was peer pressure) with some seriously tough Marines, the nearest Marine was shot through his upper right thigh, got patched up and came right back out! The scar was awesome!

[navyflyer72]

Stand by, rendering artwork to be posted shortly, I also have a few interesting pots and pans in the fire right now. Should have more info soon! In the meantime check out the renderings when they get posted and let me know what you think!

[waynieZ]

George I just went through your thread, first let me say I'm sorry for the loss of your brother Zac and his friend.. I'd also like to thank you and you whole family for your service to this county and for protecting me and my family.
You've got a great project going here and for a great cause.. Good luck with it, and God bless and keep your family and all our troops safe.

[navyflyer72]

George I just went through your thread, first let me say I'm sorry for the loss of your btother Zac and his friend.. I'd also like to thank you and you whole family for your service to this county and for protecting me and my family.
You've got a great project going here and for a great cause.. Good luck with it, and God bless and keep your family and all our troops safe.

Thanks Wayne, I hope when these two are finished they live up to my vision and that the project gets through to at least one person, my message of responsible drinking is more moderate than many organizations and so I hope that by taking a middle road I can reach more people who will put just a few seconds of thought into their decisions when going out. It is such a waste when you realize just how fast people can disappear from this earth the way Zac and Ryan did.

Thanks again and believe me, the Hartwell's really enjoy our jobs in the military, and we appreciate your support!

Also, I'm adding new pictures to the first post right now, check them out and let me know what you all think!

Regards,
George

[waynieZ]

The renderings look good, and I like the design on the badges.

[frankv11]

First and foremost I'm sorry for your loss and thank you and all your family for serving and keeping us safe here at home and thus giving us freedom.

I'm sure you will accomplish you goals of spreading awareness to your cause.

can't wait to see more pictures of both projects.

see you out here at Del Mar Good Guys

[navyflyer72]

Thanks Frank, I hope to see you there too!

[navyflyer72]

Leaving Kabul, heading up North for almost a month, hopefully I will have internet access to keep everyone appraised on our progress. More soon I hope, but this time I'll be reporting from the Northern Border region of Afghanistan. I'll post pics if there's anything worth seeing, but I highly doubt anyone up there has a PT machine. haha

[navyflyer72]

I am back, and in one piece. Spent almost a month bouncing around the mountains of Northern Afghanistan hunting down former Hezb-i-Islami insurgents, and even found a few. The mission was interesting, but being out of internet comms stinks. It is good to be back in Kabul to check out what has been going on here on C5! Lots of interesting ZL1 info that I missed. Almost makes me want to buy one, if it weren't for the fact that my wife would either kill me, leave me or castrate me. Not sure which one would be worse.

Anyway, as I dig out of my email inbox I will leave you all with a few pictures of my recent trip, enjoy, oh and if you want to see the article in the New York Times about some of these guys, check it out here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/ma...pagewanted=all

will upload some pics as soon as I resize them, remember bandwidth out here is SLLLLOOOWWWW, so these things take time.

[navyflyer72]

or you can go to my post here where I posted a bunch of the pictures, but I will post them on here also soon! I promise!

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159079&page=3

[frankv11]

Hey there George good to see you Staying safe out there.
Keep us posted.
Tried to look up NY times for story but no luck.
Keep up the good fight and be safe!

[navyflyer72]

Hey there George good to see you Staying safe out there.
Keep us posted.
Tried to look up NY times for story but no luck.
Keep up the good fight and be safe!

try this link, should work:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/bad-guys-vs-worse-guys-in-afghanistan.html?scp=1&sq=bad%20guys%20vs%20worse%20guys&st=cse

[cees67]

Wow great stuff george....as said before suffering a loss like that is one of the toughest things in life....you truly are making the most of it . Cant wait to see more updates ............Again thanks for your service:hail:

[CRCRFT78]

Watched the Ryan Dunn Tribute on MTV and was glad to see that they also mentioned your brother. Sorry for your loss. Let us know how the build is going.

[Sonar Chief]

George , I just caught up on this thread and I would like to say thanks for your family's service! Additionally, I will send condolences out to all that lost a loved one. Your hard work is appreciated.
I retired from the US Navy, Sonar Chief Submarines, I didn't get to see my boys that much when they were young with all the sight seeing in the Med and N Atlantic - HAHA! So .... after retiring I set out to raise my boys the best I could, lead by example and tell the truth - so far so good.
Thanks for your service,

STSC/SS Michael Avery

[zleehw]

I am sorry to hear of the accident, with being deployed and in training...I dint even know of the accident. I am a Chief Gunner's Mate on-board USS John C. Stennis and have been serving for 12 years. This project is something I will watch due to the meaning of it and that I am a avid car guy and adrenaline junky. Sorry for your loss.....I cant even imagine. Thank you for you and your families service and if you need any help and motivation rely on your fellow car junkies and military members.

V/R
GMC Douglas R. Wheeler
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
G-2