Papa John's founder embarks on cross-country drive to find his '72 Camaro, offering $25k reward
John Schnatter's 1972 Chevrolet Camaro – Click above for high-res image gallery
It's inconceivable that in 1984 there was any young man in America under 30 that did not love both pizza and the Camaro Z-28. John Schnatter had the Chevy. A '72 Z-28 in gold with black stripes, white-letter BFGs on chrome wheels, a sunroof and chrome-tipped duals. In other words, awesome. John felt a strong pull to try his hand at opening a pizza restaurant. To raise the needed working capital, the beloved Camaro had to go. As much as he loved his car, John loved his pizza plans more.
Twenty-five years later, John Schnatter sits atop his Papa John's empire, 3,400 restaurants strong. John's not the only corporate chief with a hankering for a gold sports car, but going on a quest for your long lost automotive love is certainly a pursuit that speaks to the passion with which the CEO chases his goals. Not satisfied to just hit the road in an assuredly great replica of the car we'll call the "lost Z," CEO Schnatter's off on a road trip, which is being covered comprehensively at the papasroadtrip.com web outpost, and his quarry is the very Z-28 he was forced to liquidate so many years ago. He may be able to get some help from the Lost Car Registry, and the $25,000 reward he's offering for anyone who finds the beloved car is certainly motivational. Along the way on his trip, Papa John will make time to deliver pizzas for local franchises, and his vintage Camaro is way nicer than the clapped out ride you'd normally expect to be wheezing up to the curb carrying your pies.
Gallery: Papa John's Z-28
[Source: Papa John's]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Cougs 11:08AM (5/29/2009)
That is a lot of money to spend just to get in on the cash for clunkers...
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Shawn 11:35AM (5/29/2009)
No matter how rich he is...Mr. Burns will always long for his Bobo the bear.
Epyx 11:39AM (5/29/2009)
Rosebud!
Alan 12:59PM (5/29/2009)
That is just what he is offering for anyone who finds it. I wonder how much he is willing to pay the current owner.
Undercover Soul Brother 11:08AM (5/29/2009)
Good luck to him! I hope he doesn't find those short-shorts though. Leave those in '84!
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hokieman09 11:11AM (5/29/2009)
I read about that car on a Papa Johns pizza box. I hope he finds it
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Erik 11:26AM (5/29/2009)
Man what a cool story! That's the kind of thing I'd do if I was a millionaire. I know where my first car is though. It's in a barn in New Jersey. After a year of pleading with the owner to sell it back to me, I gave up. Maybe some day. I hope when Papa finds his Camaro it is not in too rough of shape...
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Noah 11:29AM (5/29/2009)
It would be seriously anticlimactic if it turns out it was totaled. I imagine he did a bit of research and knows its not totaled.
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dukeisduke 11:46AM (5/29/2009)
Or that it's been crushed. Being in Indiana, it could have gotten pretty rusty.
Anyway, what's up with that license plate (10Z 54)? Was that some kind of special plate? It doesn't seem to have enough letters/numbers.
stan 2:58PM (5/29/2009)
@ dukeisduke, 10 = Clark County Indiana, Z = series of that run of plates, the runs start at 01 and go up through 9999. I don't know why it isn't 0054, but that's how they did it in Indiana.
Jay 5:49PM (5/29/2009)
@dukeisduke
In Indiana, most plates had three or four digits after the series letter, and usually they started at 100 (I don't think they did plates with a 4-digit number starting with zero). But you could pay extra for a VIP registration to have a number below 100 and a different series letter, provided they were available. Most people would just get a "1" or their birth year or something like that. With the most recent plate, they've gone to a more traditional ABC123 format.
tekd 5:32PM (5/30/2009)
Do we still get the 25K if we bring him a metal cube covered in rust?
Avinash machado 11:32AM (5/29/2009)
A great family reunion. A man and his long lost mechanical machine.
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Jrejre 1:19PM (5/29/2009)
Just imagine what the reunion would be like if it took place between the car and this guy:
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/27/tailpipe-emissions-man-admits-to-having-sex-with-1-000-cars/
Timothy Auhll 11:35AM (5/29/2009)
I don't have 25 grand but I'm looking for my 1966 Buick LeSabre vin # 454696c111220. Carfax tells you that there are not numbers in the vin. Any ideas?
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dukeisduke 11:43AM (5/29/2009)
CARFAX can only handle the newer standardized 17-character VINs.
artso06 11:47AM (5/29/2009)
If ya have the means to try and get it back why wouldn't you? Great story. Good luck to him!
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Jon 12:04PM (5/29/2009)
I wish him luck, I know my father's '70 Camaro was turned into a flower planter by coked out biker who stuffed and mounted is favorite pooch, roughly 18 months before he ate the end of his own shot gun. Thankfully no one stuffed and mounted him.
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Venom 12:04PM (5/29/2009)
John is super rich, they say he is worth about $500 million.
His house is super ridiculous with an awesome 2 story underground garage.
If you go to homesoftherich.net and type in his name you can see the house.
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Epyx 12:20PM (5/29/2009)
tard
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