‘An Important Car’
“It’s a car worth fighting for,” John Collins, owner of U.K. Ferrari dealer Talacrast, said by phone Thursday. “It’s an important car.”
A decade later, after both Swaters and Kleve died, a daughter of Swaters filed a suit in Ohio arguing that Kleve violated the sales agreement by withholding some of the car’s parts, according to court documents. That claim of ownership was followed by two others -- one by a fellow Ohio resident and the other by a U.S. citizen living in Switzerland.
In 2013, the four parties jointly agreed to “extinguish all claims and counterclaims” and allow Bonhams, one of the world’s oldest auction houses, to sell the roadster so they could split the proceeds. And so last June, after an extensive marketing campaign, it was sold to Wexner, the lingerie billionaire, at an auction at the historic Goodwood Festival of Speed in the British countryside.
But the bickering didn’t stop there.
Paraguayan Dealer
Wexner sued Bonhams after the sale, claiming the auctioneer had failed to inform him of unresolved ownership disputes and demanding a full refund plus damages. Bonhams, for its part, sued Kleve’s daughter, Kristine, for allegedly breaching the terms of their settlement deal prior to the sale.
And that’s not all: Bonhams is also suing a Paraguayan car dealer for deceit. The dealer, the company said in a complaint, sent a letter three days before the auction claiming ownership of the Ferrari. The auction house, anxious to avoid canceling the centerpiece of the Goodwood Festival, allegedly paid him 2 million pounds, according to the documents.
All four lawsuits related to the roadster in London have been folded together so a judge can settle the disputes once and for all. The next hearing is scheduled for September.
Lawyers for each party involved either declined to comment or didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment.