Ford suing John Cena for flipping his Ford GT supercar
The Blue Oval is suing the pro wrestler for quickly reselling its limited-production supercar at a profit.
Ford is suing John Cena for selling his 2017 GT supercar. According to a report by TMZ, by buying and then quickly selling his $450,000-plus supercar, the pro-wrestler-turned-actor violated an anti-flipping clause in the vehicle's purchase contract. The contract, designed to discourage opportunistic buyers from driving up GT values by quickly reselling the in-demand vehicle for a profit, stipulates that new Ford GTs cannot be resold for two years.
The suit says Cena took delivery of the vehicle on September 23, 2017, and the company learned that the vehicle had been sold by October 20, 2017.
When reached by Roadshow for comment, a Blue Oval spokesperson said "Ford does not comment on legal or individual customer matters. What we can say is that all Ford GT customers sign contracts, which include an agreement not to sell the car for at least two years – common for very exclusive vehicles."
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Michigan, states "This is an action for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment arising out of Mr. Cena's improper and unlawful resale of a custom-made, model year 2017 Ford GT sports car, in violation of the Ford GT Application Program and contracts pertaining to same."
In the suit, Ford says that it reached out to Cena directly after learning of the sale of the GT, whereupon Cena apologized and admitted that he sold the vehicle "to liquidate for cash to take care of expenses."
The automaker says it even attempted to "facilitate a buyback of the vehicle at the price for which Mr. Cena purchased it and that they could discuss how to address the profit he received from the unauthorized sale." The suit goes on to say that Cena "has not 'made it right.'"
It is not immediately clear how much profit Cena is alleged to have made from sale of the vehicle, but the suit does state that the amount "exceeds $75,000."
Cena was selected from a list of applicants and granted the right to purchase the limited-production GT in part because of his celebrity status and his promotional abilities. Cena is a well-known car enthusiast who featured the GT in his YouTube series, "John Cena: Auto Geek."