Ford Motor is taking WWE superstar wrestler John Cena to task and suing him for selling his 2017 Ford GT supercar.
Ford filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Michigan claiming Cena was promised the car for two years, and that he paid more than $463,000 for the car.
But Ford says it found out Cena sold the car – and made money on it – after he signed the agreement in January.
“In his application, Mr. Cena portrayed himself as an enthusiast of high-end automobiles, as well as the Ford brand, by attaching to his application, photographs, video clips, and web posts of himself in, and promoting, high-end cars,” the lawsuit says, USA Today reported.
“Mr. Cena is a known car collector, and referenced numerous limited edition and high-end vehicles that he owned and collected at the time of his application, including a model year 2006 Ford GT,” the lawsuit said, USA Today reported.
When confronted about reselling the car, Ford claimed Cena said: “I completely understand and as stated am willing to work with you and Ford to make it right. My sincerest apologies,” according to USA Today.
Cena would be open to selling the car back to Ford at the purchase price, the report added.
USA Today also reported:
But in selling the car at a profit, Cena “improperly benefited to Ford’s detriment by receiving a large profit from the resale,” the complaint said, adding: “Ford also has lost almost two years of ambassadorship and brand value that Mr. Cena would have offered by owning the vehicle for the contractually required time.”
The Ford GT was created to showcase the automaker’s automotive performance prowess. In the auto world, it’s known as a “halo car,” meant to burnish the image of the brand even if sales are low.
Ford only plans to make about 1,000 of them over the next several years. It has a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that develops 647 horsepower.
