$130k service cost on 328 true?

How do you think the Donnie paid for his European holiday?

 

https://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/docket/CriminalCourtCases/caseInfo.asp?caseNumber=CR2024-115322



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I don’t know California law, but in many, if not most, states, landlords have certain rights depending upon the terms of the lease with respect to assets on his property particularly if there is a default. He may have rights of set-off on assets that belong to the lessee which should be relatively easy to sort with titled vehicles. The tricky part will be accounting for parts from cars that are partially disassembled. Given donnieboy’s apparent work practices there may be parts all over the place…..or missing.

(I had to face this myself five years ago with a car in a paint shop and the painter drank himself to death. Literally. Some things worked to my advantage….the guy was in his grave, not in jail, and mine was the only car in the shop. He had no family who cared, so there was nobody to speak for him. Still, the shop was locked, the rent was over a year delinquent, I had to hire a lawyer, go before a magistrate and get the sheriff to oversee the opening of the shop and removal of my property).

I’d be interested in knowing if he made bail.

 

Brian:

That's my former car. Last I heard (and saw in photos) it was still there. Did you hear something different?

I have had to evict tenants from properties that I own in CA. With vehicles, the DMV requires you to send certified mailings to the last registered owner. If they don't claim them, you can line sale them for storage fees. (over simplification of the process but generally that's it). Problem could be if they are not properly titled. Also as mentioned, the parts.

 

The Sharks are already circling the sink to pick up the scraps. Looks like Donnie has a couple of lifts, tools and the signs and memoribilia have quite a bit of value. If he was a little smarter he should have kept it more low key especially with his record. This will get way uglier before it gets better.

 

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Paul, Ferrari mechanics the world over know Ferrari rods are junk. We have been fixing blown up engines our entire career.
If you really think the TT car made 1100 HP I have a bridge to sell you. There is no way the gear box ever took that kind of power.

 

Multi state career criminal, drug addict, wife beater. It just gets better and better.
Yeah, I really want to pay stupid money so he can fix my car.

 

I guess everyone better start replacing rods as a matter of course at their next major then and shame on Bob for putting stock rods in that twin turbo engine.

 

He’s a mess of a human being.

I’m going to put in a public defense for us rubes who got entangled with Donnie. Nobody I know personally who has had dealings with Donnie went in thinking they couldn’t wait to pay exorbitant amounts of money to him and deal with his bs for years while struggling to get their car back. Everyone went in based on a lot of promises on his part. Once he had the car, reality hit hard and we all got stuck in a bad spot trying to undo the whole mess. The only person I have ever met personally who sent a car back to Donnie after one time is the Internet personality I previously mentioned. That I don’t get, even given some speculative ideas about why he’s doing it.

There may have been too much naïveté on our parts, but the vintage car world is full of shops who overcharge and don’t get the job done right, or claim more knowledge or experience than they actually possess. Unfortunately sometimes you only learn who those people are the hard way.

 

I have picked all nature of service providers in my life and I have been a service provider my entire adult life.

Ask former clients. If as you say only one person has used him twice that would have immediately been revealed.
Everyone good or bad has someone who swears against him but when 99% swear against him its a sign.
His obvious ego and many comments about how he goes about things was enough for me but this business is full of them. He is also not very knowledgeable about the cars.

 

In my world he'd still be in prison for prior offenses but I guess I have a different view of things. Growing up in Oakland you get a certain appreciation for street justice.

Donnie could have woken up in a body of water with a small block Chevy ankle bracelet.

 

Vintage Ferrari Owners’ Favorite Mechanic Charged With Theft, Fraud
Donnie Callaway had become the go-to name for some blue-chip car collectors.

The hood badge of a derelict 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C Alloy. Classic Ferraris are rarities that only a handful of well-trained mechanics can repair.

By Hannah Elliott
April 11, 2024 at 5:51 AM EDT

Few mechanics post photos of themselves on Venetian canals, brag about buying $30,000 artworks or frequent the George V Hotel in Paris and Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.

But this was the life Donnie Callaway portrayed via social media to wealthy clients, who sent him their vintage Ferraris and Alfa Romeos for his reportedly magical mechanical touch.

On April 1, Callaway found himself booked in the Lower Buckeye Jail in Arizona’s Maricopa County on charges of theft, trafficking stolen property, forgery and fraud.

The 60-year-old mechanic had been arrested hours earlier after he allegedly attempted to sell a Ferrari Daytona and Ferrari 512BB to an Arizona collector who apparently had come to suspect that Callaway did not rightfully own the vehicles he was selling. The collector set up what people close to the matter described as a sting operation. The collector could not be reached for comment. The people close to the matter did not want to be identified so as not to affect potential future lawsuits, they said.

Callaway is being held on a $400,000 cash bond, according to the Maricopa Sheriff’s Office. An arraignment hearing is scheduled for April 17; a trial is scheduled for Aug. 14.





A Fall From Grace
Callaway was boosted in recent years by such influential automotive commentators as Matt Farah and Jay Leno, who featured him on his popular car-themed YouTube show. Now, some of California’s most affluent Italian-car enthusiasts are scrambling to pick up the pieces of vehicles they had entrusted to him.

“Not many mechanics in the US can work at this level,” says Steve Serio, a broker who sources blue-chip cars for collectors that include Jerry Seinfeld. “There might be 20 people in California, but there certainly aren’t 50. It’s a dying business. It’s hard to find capable people.”

No one seems to doubt that the repairman knew his way around the engines of the cars he kept in the airfield hanger that doubled as his workshop and residence in Lancaster, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. He would often post images of his projects, such as a half-built Ferrari 512 engine, on social media. (He isn’t related to the family that owns and operates Callaway Cars, according to company president Pete Callaway.)

“His work is beyond reproach,” Farah said in a phone interview on April 5. “He gave me a fair rate for excellent-quality work.”





Others report a similar experience. Alexander Knox, who goes by @thego_getter on Instagram, wrote a post on July 21, 2022, that described Calloway as a “Ferrari savant” with an extraordinary skill set “who happens to be incredibly humble.” He continued: “I am most grateful for his wisdom, shared life experiences, advice and lessons.”

“A true class act” is how Dyuna Morgan described Callaway in an Instagram post on June 13, 2022. Morgan, who goes by @thegentlemanofleisure, appeared to have joined Callaway in Venice in 2021, according to his Instagram posts. Knox and Morgan did not respond to requests for comment.


But among many positive comments posted on the prominent Ferrari Chat news and commentary website are those from users complaining about Callaway’s opaque fees and propensity to overcharge.

“This guy should be SHUNNED—not to be made out to be some super mechanic,” one called versamil wrote in a 2023 thread about a $130,000 service bill on a Ferrari 328.

Another, under the name Nuvolari, agreed: “Prices like the ones shown are what give mechanic shops a bad name and discourage people from owning Ferraris. They are monstrously high even by the standards of a Beverly Hills Ferrari dealership let alone a one man show operating out of an airplane hangar in the middle of nowhere.”





The Backstory
Callaway’s history reveals legal skirmishes dating back more than two decades, according to legal documents obtained by Bloomberg. He has been charged with multiple instances of theft and fraud and had a burglary conviction in 2001; a possession of a controlled substance conviction and a grand theft conviction in 2003; a domestic violence conviction in 2006; and perjury and extortion convictions in 2012, among others.

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On Feb. 21, Thomas Shaughnessy, a longtime Ferrari consultant and historian, filed a legal declaration with the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego stating that, at the Retromobile car show in Paris, he had witnessed Callaway trying to sell a rare Ferrari Monza owned by someone else. Callaway was selling the Monza as if it belonged to him, the declaration stated. The declaration appeared to be related to a separate ongoing lawsuit against Callaway. The lawyer retained for that suit declined to comment.


Meanwhile, a new Instagram account has appeared under Callaway’s name, describing him as a “swindler.” As of April 10, the only posts on it were screenshots of his mugshot and criminal case history. It is unclear who created the account.

Another lawsuit, filed on Aug. 11, 2023 by Arthur Teerlynck of Kuurne, Belgium, alleged unfair business practices, violations of California’s automotive repair act, breach of contract and fraud, among other allegations.

That lawsuit requests, among other things, restitution of a 1973 Ferrari Daytona valued at $950,000; a 1961 Maserati 3500 Spyder Vignale valued at $825,000; a 1986 Ferrari 328 valued at $100,000; a 1995 Rolls-Royce Flying Spur valued at $40,000; and various parts and titles. It seeks compensation for overcharges, plus fees and other damages, and a trial by jury.

“Plaintiff has paid over $1,465,989.00 to Defendant Callaway for brokerage fees and repair services performed on his vehicles,” the lawsuit says.

It claims, among other things, that Callaway did not have the license legally required to work as an automotive repair mechanic. It alleges that Callaway wrongfully assumed control over the plaintiff’s vehicles and was actively trying to conceal the vehicles. It also alleges that, on a trip to Belgium, Callaway was left unattended in the plaintiff’s repair shop and intentionally placed small metal pieces in the spark plugs of a $200,000 Ferrari Testarossa, causing the engine to fail.

“After [Callaway] had departed from Belgium, Plaintiff noticed [he] began to make posts on social media regarding the Testarossa, where [he] made such statements, ‘Never to be seen on the road again,’ and ‘It’s [sic] Last Drive,’” the lawsuit says.

Through his lawyer, Teerlynck declined to comment. Callaway’s lawyer in the Teerlynck matter also declined to comment. A court hearing on the status of the case is set for May 14.

 

Wow! It just amazes me how some of these people keep swindling folks without any fear of getting caught! This one reminds me of a run-in I had years ago over a '64 E-type. I visited the guy's shop in Hartford, Connecticut, looked over the car, and agreed on a price, which included finishing some bodywork. He later called me to ask if I wanted in a a "special deal" for an interior, which I jumped on. The delivery date kept getting pushed back with excuses and I never got the car. I sued him and won and collected $0 for my efforts, as he had transferred all of his business assets to his wife. It turned out that he "sold" the car to 5 other people, two of which contacted the feds about his activities, since it was interstate commerce. He ended up spending several years in the federal pen. I never got my money back. That goodness somebody blew the whistle on this clown!

 

that’s the correct way to do it, of course. And what I usually do. Just foolishly jumped the gun in this case.

I do think that people often stay quiet about this stuff out of embarrassment, until they know you’re in the same unfortunate club. Once people knew I was having a negative experience with Donnie, people started coming out of the woodwork to tell me what they knew about him…and my thought was often “why didn’t you tell me this 3 mo the ago!” Lol

 

The last time I was at Donnie’s garage he was putting Magnus’s 308 GT/4 back together and complaining bitterly about Magnus (as he did with many other clients in my presence). So apparently Magnus fell for it too. At least for a bit.

 

Glad to see the article but I’m disappointed there were so many attempts in it at continuing to legitimize his abilities and knowledge- which is no where near what he claims or what Farah says- and to redeem his character. Much more of that than of the comments from people who have had negative experiences. And there are many more people who had negative than positive experiences I guarantee.

He gave Farah a fair rate because Farah sent him so many clients and publicity. Farah told me so himself.

 

I noticed several charges were already dismissed assuming Im reading it correctly.

 

I think they were “dismissed to grand jury” meaning the state is now going to present the case to a grand jury for a formal indictment

 

Agree. In my case, he did not fix my car. If I wrote out the whole saga it would be a novella. Suffice to say the work he did do ended up being superfluous to the issue. In fact the overheating issue was worse when I got it back from him.

Initially I thought he was simply disinterested in fixing it because I made it clear there was no more money to be had from me. I ended up with the opinion that he was actually incapable of diagnosing the problem.

I suppose Hannah has to be fair and write both sides. Especially since Magnus sent his car to Donnie.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-11/vintage-ferrari-mechanic-donnie-callaway-charged-with-theft-fraud