1967 Chevrolet CamaroGM
Papa John's Pizza emporium founder John Schnatter recently handed over $250,000 to get back the car he sold 26 years ago to finance his first restaurant, and offered a free pie to anybody who turned up at the wheel of one.
What kind of vehicle generates that level of emotional attachment?
Just ask the more than three million enthusiasts who bought one of Chevrolet's iconic Camaros new, or the countless millions more who have acquired one used, since it first appeared in showrooms late in 1966.
You could also ask those Camaro fans who kept the faith after what was to have been the last of the breed rolled off the Ste. Therese, Quebec plant's line in 2002. And who are now waiting impatiently in an up to three month long lineup for one of the born-again Camaros they're working overtime to build in General Motors' Oshawa Ontario production plant.
You'll find the answer today, as it was back in the 1960s, is that the Camaro offers a unique blend of sporty good looks and serious bang-for-your-buck.
The Camaro story actually began in the design studios of rival Ford where the wave of a magic scraper over some modelling clay turned a plebian compact Falcon, like Cinderella's pumpkin, into one of the coolest looking and hottest selling cars on the planet, the 1965 Mustang. The "pony car" breed was born. GM's designers responded by standing on the gas hard and powered out a pony car of their own a year later.
Based on the compact Nova it was to have been called the Panther, but by announcement time had become the Camaro, a made-up word suggesting comradeship. But which, tongue-in-cheek, Chevy marketing brass said meant: "A small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs."
Like the Mustang it came as a coupe or convertible and could be had in show-but-no-go versions with 140 hp sixes, or in dressed up and powered up RS and SS editions with 327 and 396 cubic inch V-8s producing up to 375 hp.
Casting an even more image-enhancing halo-glow over the lineup was the first Z28 with sports suspension and 290 hp, 302 cubic inch V-8. It was the Z28 that Chevy (with Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue) took Trans-Am series road racing, fighting ferocious battles with the Mustang and the other pony cars of the day. Meanwhile the big-bore-motored cars did battle on the drag strips and everything in between settled pony car herd leadership issues between stop lights.
By 1969 Camaro could be ordered with an option package that among other things stuffed a 425 hp, 427 Corvette L72 engine under the hood, which led to the creation of some rare specials by dealers, including the famous Yenko Camaro.
The second generation Camaro arrived in 1970, bigger, heavier and with more in-your-face styling and still packing unbridled V-8 power, which faded as the decade unfolded and emissions strangled V-8 output to a dismal 145 hp.
The third generation Camaro was introduced for 1982 and lasted ten years, along the way acquiring upgrades such as fuel injection and more power. It paced the Indy 500 in 1983 and a special edition followed, and in 1985 luster was added with the intro of the IROC-Z (named after a series called the International Race of Champions).
The fourth, and what might have been final, generation appeared in 1993 with sleekly fashionable bodywork and higher (but not much) levels of sophistication. It was pace car at Indy again that year, and was soon available with serious power, 330hp-plus, once again.
Interest in the Camaro was fading fast, however, and in its final year just over 40,000 were produced - including 35th anniversary special editions. But now - it's baaa- aack - and badder than ever.