Maroon 5 lead singer and noted car collector Adam Levine has just filed a $1 million lawsuit against a classic car dealer that allegedly swindled him out of two rare vintage Ferraris for a fake Maserati.
Back in 2020, Levine (or strictly speaking, his living trust – that’s rich people stuff right there) agreed to trade a 1968 Ferrari 365 GTC and a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4, collectively valued at $950,000, in exchange for a rare 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Litre Spyder SS, plus $100,000, with classic car dealer Rick Cole.
On paper, that seemed like a fair deal – only around 45 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Litre Spyder SSes were ever made, and the one Levine thought he was getting was one of only a handful with that coveted bigger 4.9L V8.
Back in the day, the 4.9 Litre Ghibli SS made 246kW/480Nm and could do 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds, making it the fastest Maserati road car the famed Italian marque produced at the time.
Except now Levine alleges that the Maserati is a fake – or rather, that it has incorrect VIN stampings. Apparently, another vehicle with the same VIN exists, and has been in Europe for years, Carscoops explains. Awkward…
Adam Levine’s fake Maserati
The lawsuit alleges that the Maserati that Cole traded to Levine was pulled from an auction in 2015 after questions were raised about its authenticity were raised. That is, there was something suss about the car. It then goes on to say:
“Cole purported to have found an authentic Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Litre Spyder that he described as being ‘as good’ as an authentic Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Litre Spyder with a clear and indisputable identity that a representative of the Trust had seen and drove in Monterey a year or so earlier, and which was valued at over $1 million.”
Read between the lines there: Levine drove a similar Maserati Ghibli, liked it, and Cole said the one he had was just as good as the one Levine drove in Monterey… Except that in reality, it wasn’t, not from an authenticity perspective.
To make matters worse, once Levine had the car, Cole allegedly advised him multiple times not to sell it, the lawsuit says, because he “obviously feared that if [Levine] marketed the vehicle, [he] would eventually learn the truth concerning its lack of authenticity and corresponding decrease in market value.”
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In short: he was sold a dud and now he wants his money back. I mean, I don’t know why you’d want to trade two Ferraris for a single Maserati anyway. You know what they say: the only thing better than one Ferrari is two Ferraris. That’s just common sense.
Adam Levine’s car collection
Thankfully for Levine, he’s got more than two Ferraris. A lot more. Not only does he own a couple more Ferraris, but he’s got a whole fleet of rare and cool cars.
Some highlights of his car collection include a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, a 1966 Ford Mustang GT convertible and a 2019 Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge. Guess he really likes convertibles, huh?
On the Ferrari front, he also owns a 2017 Ferrari F12 TDF and a 2021 Ferrari Roma.