Need $25,000 ?

Papa John’s founder John Schnatter will give you $25,000 of his dough if you help him find the 1972 Z28 Camaro he sold to launch his pizza empire.

Schnatter cruised through Atlanta Thursday — part of a national tour — to promote the search for his beloved car. He hasn’t seen the Camaro since selling it for $2,800 in 1983.

It’s gold with large black stripes, with a split bumper and sunroof. You can get more particulars at papasroadtrip.com. And no, he doesn’t have the VIN number.

“We’ve looked high and low for the car,” said Schnatter, 47, who now drives a replica of the Camaro, along with an Escalade.

“Somebody somewhere is going to think of something and they’re going to help me find that car. I love the replica but I want that car. You want to see a grown man cry? It’ll happen when I find it.”

Of course, the search doubles as a publicity stunt highlighting Papa John’s 25th anniversary.

“It’s got an element of that,” Schnatter said.

Schnatter was a 16-year-old dishwasher at a pizza place in Jeffersonville, Ind., when he bought the car for $1,600. He replaced the engine, brakes, and differential.

“That car got me through high school and college,” he said.

In 1984, Schnatter sold the car to buy used restaurant equipment and began selling pizzas out of a converted broom closet in his dad’s tavern, Mick’s Lounge.

“I didn’t have a choice,” he said about selling the car. “When the guy drove off, I couldn’t even look at it.”

Schnatter kicked off his road trip Wednesday at Papa John’s headquarters in Louisville. He’ll be in Houston on Friday, Dallas on Saturday.

On Thursday, he visited some of the 86 Papa John’s stores in metro Atlanta and rode the Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia.

“I got my tail kicked,” he said. “I hadn’t been on a roller coaster in 10 years, and I just wasn’t prepared for it.”


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