If you’ve got the pizza icon’s original ’72 Camaro, there could be a cool quarter million dollars in it for you.

Last week, I was contacted by John Schnatter, the owner of Papa John’s Pizza. Actually, I was contacted by his “people,” being too low on the D-list to warrant an actual email by the man himself. Since I really dig the man’s pizza, and the fact that he’s a car guy, I said, what the heck, I’ll help him out anyway. The story goes that John sold his beloved ’72 Camaro back in 1984 to come up with the cash to build his first pizza joint in the back of his dad’s tavern. John has since built a clone of the split-bumper Z/28, and it’s even appeared in his pizza commercials and on millions of pizza boxes nationwide.

The email I got from his assistant mentioned that John Schnatter would be in Hollywood this Tuesday to make some special pizza deliveries to some big-name TV celebrities, and to do some TV appearances. No, he wouldn’t have time to meet with me, but he hoped that the national publicity would yield some clues to finding his Camaro. Basically, if you’ve got his Camaro, John will give you $250,000 for it, but it must include the title. There is another catch. John doesn’t remember the VIN number, so he’s hoping that some specific details will provide sufficient clues to uncover its whereabouts. Here are some key details to look for:

John sold the car in Jeffersonville, IN
The last insurance company was Bob Waiz Insurance
It has a sunroof
License plate: 10z 54 (Indiana)
Split bumper
Original speedometer read 10 mph too fast
Velvet interior, not vinyl
“Slap shifter”
BF Goodrich Tires
Positrac differential
No air conditioning

Papa John is really serious about finding his Camaro. He’s so serious about it that he’s created a website devoted to the quest, and you can log on to it at www.papasroadtrip.com. Basically, he’s taking a bunch of time off work (he can sort of afford it), and he’s driving across country to look for it. He’s even paying two hungry interns to document the effort. Whether they’re getting paid for it isn’t clear, but I’ll guess that at a bare minimum, the pizza’s free.

So here’s the deal, if you think you might have John’s Camaro, check out the website for more clues. If you do have it, we have just one suggestion, don’t just take the $250,000 and run. Hold out and make the man name a pizza after you, and get a lifetime supply of pies. Yeah, that’s the ticket. That way, when the money’s long gone, you’ll have a gift that keeps on giving!