A few months ago, the founder of the Papa John's pizza chain began a quest to find his first car, a 1970 1/2 Camaro. He sold it way back in 1983 for a little extra money to keep his father's restaurant in business while he opened another on his own.

Today he's a multi-millionaire, so he offered $250,000 to the current owner of that very Camaro to return it. After a cross-country search he found the guy and handed over the money as promised.

By the way, he's also offering a free pizza to all Camaro owners tomorrow, so dig out that IROC and get yourself a free pepperoni.

AP

Prior to the big Pebble Beach concours on Sunday, all the contestants are invited to a cruise through the Monterey peninsula to show off their priceless rides on the road as they were meant to be seen. This most often goes by without a hitch as nearly all the cars are impeccably maintained. This poor car was not one of them.

Sports Car Market

Are you a Honda fan? How about a fan of Honda's Facebook page? If so, you may already have seen these teaser images of the 2010 Honda Crosstour due out this fall.

In typical Honda fashion, they don't reveal much. In fact, the spy photos we've already posted show far more detail about this upcoming Accord hatchback-type thing. If anything, the release of these teaser shots is a good indicator that Honda is about to finally let loose with all the details.

  
Spy Photos: 2010 Honda Crosstour Spied

Testing on the 2011 Ford Fiesta sedan is continuing in the Mojave desert. This image reveals some of the changes in store for the front fascia of the U.S.-bound version.

As you can see, the updates appear to be evenhandedly subtle. The blacked out grille has a slightly wider opening while the bumper gets a new shape that's more American-license-plate friendly. The changes out back are equally minimal.

Still no official word on a four-door hatchback version, but we're pretty sure that Ford has come to its senses by now and decided to give it a shot.

Last week a Asian business paper reported that Suzuki was working on a hybrid version of its new Kizashi midsize sedan. According to a follow-up report in Automotive News, a Suzuki spokesman confirmed the hybrid plans but gave no timetable on its release.

The Suzuki Kizashi hybrid is expected to arrive sometime in 2011 and will most likely use GM's hybrid technology. Suzuki doesn't plan to offer a V6 version of the Kizashi.

IL News: Suzuki Hybrid in 2011

The 2010 Honda CR-V is getting a minor anaplasty according to the company's website. A preview image has been released prior to the vehicle's official debut September 17th.

Other than a few minor cosmetic changes there doesn't appear to be much going on. A Honda spokesperson said it's just a "minor model change" and the vehicle should be in U.S. dealers next month.

IL News: Facelifted: 2010 Honda CR-V

It's barely been out a year and the Hyundai Genesis is already getting a facelift. Not that it's looking dated or anything, but once Hyundai decided to bring in its Equus flagship it figured the two sedans should share common styling themes.

Say goodbye to the "GM" badge. You know that little square on the quarter panel that reminded all Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and Pontiac owners that they were part of one big happy General Motors family?

The General has decided that the general public might not see that as much of a plus these days, so it's planning on slowly phasing out the small silver squares. Few people are likely to notice, but the fact that GM is that conscious of its public image says quite a bit about where the company is right now.

So is this new 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport the new king of performance-per-dollar when it comes to sports cars? Senior Editor Dan Pund drove one at GM's Milford proving grounds to find out.

After a few laps on the Milford road course, Dan figures this replacement for the Z51 package is well worth the price. Sure, it still doesn't have the exotic aluminum frame of the Z06 or the monster motor of the ZR1, but come one, this is still one of the faster cars around and the Grand Sport looks the part. And all for roughly $56,000. A good deal no?

First Drive: 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive chromatic and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate usage of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and entrepot editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic.

Cash for Clunkers officially ended exactly one minute ago. Sad. A real shame. Now what is America's trailer trash going to do? Where's their next handout going to come from? Meth isn't getting any cheaper, ya know. Not even in this down market. Obama better get busy figuring out another way to give away my tax dollars.

Oh wait, that's right, his health care system will supply the great unwashed with plenty of my hard-earned money. Something to look forward to.

One good thing about Cash for Clunkers is how quickly it rid the world of Pontiacs. The brand just had its best few months in years. It's practically sold out of the very same crapmobiles it couldn't give away before Obama prefabricated Bubba's rusting lawn art worth $4,500.

What's that? You need a Pontiac G5 for target practice (basically the only thing it's good for), well you're out of luck. Some big-bellied, chain-smoker with beer on his breath and food stamps in his pocket just traded in his 1992 Bonneville SSEi on the last one. He's a guest on The Jerry Springer Show tonight and wanted to arrive in style.