Collector sues over LaFerrari Aperta denial

I was hoping the court case would proceed - not because I thought it had a lot of merit, but I thought the discovery phase would be enlightening.

>8^)
ER

 

Has anything been heard about the promised press statement?

 

Leave it alone! Who cares about a jilted old alcoholic with too much money. Let's stick to cars

 

Alcoholic?

 

Poor ol' Preston has had more fun than any 40 people you can imagine, and lived 8 life times in one.

Let's get back to cars. Here are a few of his beat up old timers...

These are some great photos of Jason Thorgalsen you can see a few more on GTSPIRIT - Luxury, Supercars, Tuning & Lifestyle
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Seems harsh - first off you're not the arbiter of the topics here, second it's a pretty rude comment you've made and finally Preston Henn has owned and raced enough cars to more than qualify as being worthy of discussion on this forum as evidenced by the number of posts in this thread.

 

The only thing close to being accurate in that post is "old" and I think any of us would be grateful to be around and as active as Preston is at his age.

 

Amen.

 

Please forgive me if this has already been posted elsewhere, but I did not see it.

Racing Legend Denied a LaFerrari Aperta Drops Lawsuit, Says Acura NSX Is Better than LaFerrari Anyway

Preston Henn sued Ferrari after he was denied an allocation for a LaFerrari Aperta. He's now dropped his first lawsuit, but not without some choice words for the Italian marque.

The man who owns what could be the most expensive car on earth has called an end to his lawsuit against Ferrari. A new and different lawsuit is expected to replace the first.

With a standard LaFerrari already in his possession, Preston Henn, renowned racer and car collector, sued the Italian auto manufacturer earlier this year when his desire to purchase a limited-edition LaFerrari Aperta was met with cool disinterest by the brand.

Through court documents, it was learned the 85-year-old owner of the Florida-based Swap Shop flea market empire made bold overtures to acquire the open-top Aperta. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the flagship Ferrari marque, first learned of Henn's interest for the LaFerrari Aperta after receiving a personal letter with a $1 million check included as a down payment.

Henn says Marchionne returned the $1 million with haste. The rejection, received as a personal slight, led the immensely wealthy Henn to get his lawyers involved and sue Ferrari "for reputational injury and the mortification caused by declaring him to be not qualified to purchase a LaFerrari Aperta," according to the complaint. "The publication of the statement that Preston Henn is not qualified to purchase a LaFerrari Aperta is an untrue statement which harms Henn's reputation, and holds him up to ridicule, disrespect, and disrepute in his profession, trade, occupation, avocation, and among his friends and business and social associates."

"Well, I'm very unhappy with Ferrari," Henn told RoadandTrack.com . "And the reason the lawsuit was dropped, actually my lawyer sued on the hurting of my reputation. After we got all in it, I said, what do you think our odds [of winning] are? And he said zero. Because they said they had offered to settle, it cost a quarter million dollars to retain this outfit, to sue me. And I said, if you say zero, I don't want to go through with it. I said, can we sue them on other things? He said, yes. We're going to sue but on a different thing. Which I don't know yet what it is."

The self-made maverick is a throwback to a different time in America. An abstract forerunner of PayPal founder Elon Musk, Henn amassed his fortune renting space to flea market merchants across three massive properties. With decades of income generated by facilitating hand-to-hand sales of everything made available today via digital transactions on eBay, Henn has been blessed with the power and means to race throughout the globe and acquire every car that catches his interest.

The proud American has little time for those—including a revered manufacturer like Ferrari—who stand in his way. Henn comes from a time when if you could afford it, you could buy it. There was no application process involved when buying a supercar, and the act of being "selected" by a manufacturer for the honor to buy its latest creation had yet to be conceived. What Preston wanted, Preston got, which makes being barred from the LaFerrari Aperta, especially when he already owns many Ferraris, a stinging encounter.

An overall winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Henn's collection of cars he raced and others he couldn't live without sit center stage at his Swap Shop headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. The price tag to purchase the entire lot--which isn't for sale, by the way--would run well past $100 million.

As the owner of Ferrari 275 GTB/C chassis No. 6885, which carries an estimated value of $80 million or more on its own, and a fleet of supercars from every imaginable brand, Henn expected that he'd have no problem acquiring a LaFerrari Aperta. That's obviously not the case. As a result of the LaFerrari contretemps, Henn says a 50-year relationship with the Italian firm has met its end.

"I have no feeling for Ferrari at all, zero," he added. "And since then we have discovered a lawsuit going on in Palm Beach County, a fraud lawsuit where this very, very wealthy guy [who] used to be president of Sara Lee, he put out a lot of money and will get an Aperta, when he didn't deserve it. It's a big lawsuit with the dealership there and everything."

Despite the newly litigious nature of the relationship, an invitation to attend last weekend's Ferrari Finali Mondiali at Daytona International Speedway was extended to Henn. Taking a page from Marchionne's reaction to his LaFerrari Aperta letter, the Daytona invite was joyfully rejected.

"I got some type of invitation … of course, obviously I didn't go to Daytona," Henn said. "Not really knowing Marchionne but knowing how smart he is, he's got to try to figure out, he does, what made Ferrari as famous as they are because he is going down a different road. He's not doing the Formula 1 worth a ****. And he can't cut off his best customers. And he has done it. Not only, I figure, am I a good customer, forget that I'm a Ferrari customer, but I am the best customer any guy like him is going to have because I buy every top car."

The pursuit of Marchionne and Co. through the legal system has become a personal matter for Henn. Although the specifics of the next lawsuit related to the LaFerrari Aperta snub are unclear, Ferrari would be wise to prepare for an ongoing fight.

"Yeah, this isn't going away," Henn confirmed. "It ain't [about] the ****ing car."

The arrival of a brand-new twin-turbo V6 Acura NSX has also led Henn to reevaluate his attachment to the standard LaFerrari.

"Here's something that may be hard for you to believe, but I got that La Ferrari and it was delivered to my house… and I didn't like it," he declared. "And I got here and I couldn't get out of the car. I had to call the police to get me out of the car. What happened is I didn't realize that door was as heavy as it was. Once I realized it, they could pull the door and get out and I had no problem. It is just not a comfortable car.

"In fact, I just sent a letter [to Acura] about how I like the NSX. It is the best damn car I have ever had. It is unbelievable. It is really, really a great car and it is $200,000 versus… well, the last Ferrari I got from them, not the La Ferrari, the last one I got, I forgot what it's called, it was a Spider, whatever it is, but it was $750,000. And this is so much better at $200,000."

Maybe there's a personal resolution in this outcome. Henn didn't love the LaFerrari, so it seems unlikely that he'd love the LaFerrari without a roof. And if he loves the Acura so much, he's found a car that's checked all his boxes, saved him money, and he didn't have to get into a legal battle to get one.































Henn's defamation suit, which sought $75,000 in damages, was halted at the end of November due to the exceptional costs involved.

 

You're about a 185 posts late.

 

Pissed-Off Racing Mogul Drops LaFerrari Lawsuit, Also The NSX Is Better Anyway

Did no one tell him he needs to unlock his door before opening it? A big + to Ferrari for letting him save over a million on a car he wouldn't have liked anyway. They might have suggested to him most people of his age drive hondas instead.

 

All money, no sense.

 

The story may not be new, but that is a new article with additional details that R&T just posted yesterday as an update to the earlier headlines.

Was probably wrong to ignore the invitation to Daytona - he could have had a nice chat with Sergio while he was there.

>8^)
ER

 

Ferrari should've just made as many Apertas as coupes and offer them to the original LaF owners. It would've avoided upsetting not only those that missed out again on the first LaF but then people like this that are owners. Makes no sense to build as few as they did. Make as many as people demand less one says Enzo...

 

I thought I saw his FXX with Swap Shop stickers on it while I was there. Was I mistaken?

 

It's amazing that people with tremendous wealth don't know how to act.
This Henn fellow seems obnoxious.Sending a deposit check to Sergio without first
having a serious conversation. Like SM suppose to fall over after seeing a check

 

I think Ferrari is correct in allocating fewer cars than the coupe... It is the car for the 70th anniversary and it needs to be exclusive! Personally I think that sticking to the initial plan of 99 cars was better... People like Henn only buy the valuable appreciating Ferraris, the Aperta instead is a reward for those who not only buy those cars but also the less appreciating/standard ones... Just my 2 cents!

 

So what color will yours be and when will you get it?

 

Yellow, depends on some options I asked for that are currently non available... I would imagine Spring '17

 

You're not imagining anything. That FXX was indeed present at Daytona, but as he noted in the article Preston did not attend the event. Don't know how the car got there, but it obviously wasn't driven.

I did think it was noteworthy that his prized 275 GTB/C Speciale wasn't there, especially to stand alongside the new Special Projects 275 RW Competizione. I figured its absence was likely related to this drama. A shame as it would have been great to see the pair together.

>8^)
ER

 

I can see that as a reason whey they limited it as such. If they were really keen on making as much revenue as possible due to "stockholders" some have referred to here and in other threads, they should've just made as many as were ordered. They shouldn't state how many will or will not be made and only build a car for those that pay them upfront in full...and have them tailor made the way the owner wants.

 

Always make one fewer than you can sell...

 

But why was he even rejected at first? Was it because of his 1 million dollar cheque arrogance?

 

He bashed Ferrari in public (before this incident).

Just like publishing performance measurement without authorization from Ferrari that gets you on the black list of people they don't sell cars to anymore.