we thought he was dumb for allowing Donnie to do that and then dumb to dump it on the cheap, but he might have been smart way ahead of the wave. the new owner probably not happy as they thought they were getting $130k of work for half off and turns out should have been 100% off.
I dont think he sold it on the cheap. A 328 is a 328, I don't care how much is spent on it, there's a ceiling. Especially if you are spending Donnie dollars that are about a 4:1 ratio to US dollars. It was based on what I saw a very good but not great car. And then there is the distinct possibility the work Donnie did was trash because despite Farrah Faucets claims to the contrary I think the guy is a hack. Putting a lot of money in a 328 better be a labor of love. No matter how much we like them spending 6 figures on them might as well have gone to hookers and blow as Dale likes to say.
And that is exactly why they would get involved. They are the designated agency for enforcement and an unlicensed shop is a valid enforcement action. Thats like saying California Highway Patrol would not issue a ticket because you had no drivers license.
Maybe................a few years ago on my residential block, a guy was operating a welding business out of his garage. Sometimes he would even leave a vehicle he was working on parked in the alley for hours. Lots of noise, fumes, and debris. I called the city and reported the guy. I was told there was nothing they could do, because he didn't have a business license, and legally wasn't a business. Anyway.......... shortly after the guy moved away.
If you're an illegal they wouldn't and you might even get a free cell phone and a credit card loaded with $2K
And you can never predict the lengths to which lazy civil servants will go to not do their jobs. However I have over 30 years of professional experience dealing with the California Bureau of Automotive Repair. Their status within the organization is based on how many they can fine into never never land or put in jail. It was designed to be a self funding agency. Under more recent state leadership it and a number of other agencies have been turned into an income stream for the state. Every month they publish a news letter gleefully reporting on their enforcement actions.
I was told that a few years ago he went to prison because he had a BAR mechanic license which he got under perjury since he did not disclose in the application that he had priors. He then went on to put a lien in a prototype Miura which was ilegal because his mechanic license was really not valid. He even asked some girl to keep the Miura parts in her garage because 'he was moving to another shop and he did not want the parts to get lost' (the poor woman had an unpleasant visit from the police) so it is not like he did not know he could not put mechanic liens in cars. He served a long time in state prison and was mandated to pay a lot of restitution (like in the hundreds of thousands) which to the best of my friend's knowledge he did not pay (would not that make the plea null and thus he would have to go back to prison just for that??) maybe some lawyers here can chime in. I also heard that his bail that time was also $400K thus this is the same movie with different players. A LOT of people got ****ed during that time, a lot. He is this clown still out there? beats me.
Well up north in Oakland he may very well have been given swimming lessons in the bay with a small block Chevy tied to his ankle. A lot less tolerance in the Bay Area.
Tom, Been trying to reach you. I'm directing the docuseries on this. Can you DM me? Would like to have a chat.
Circling back on this topic quickly because I recently watched Scott Nathan's interview with Jay Leno about his association with Donnie, and I want to give credit to Leno for handling this properly. Jay says at one point that he feels bad if anyone "got taken" as a result of watching his video with Donnie, and is making it clear that he never really knew anything about the guy, in the hope that no one else gets taken in due to Jay's video on Donnie's car. In doing so he acknowledges his sphere of influence and the misstep he feels he made around Donnie. Not hard, and very honorable. The only thing I'd hope is that Jay pulls the Donnie video down for good. He has no obligation to keep it up and it would go a long way to preventing what he says he hopes to prevent..
Amen to that. His words to me are pretty hollow and meaningless as long as they continue to give the guy a platform by having the video up on their YouTube and wherever else it is. Should’ve been taken down the moment he was arrested imo.
Agreed. I don't have an email for Leno, otherwise I'd make that appeal directly. If anyone has it and wants to DM it to me I will do so.
Speaking of Donnie Callaway, last Sunday at the Pasadena Concours as I was walking around on the corner of my eyes I saw Donnie Callaway standing in one corner talking to someone just standing there looking around I didn’t want him to see me as he knows me. I tried to avoid him by walking the opposite Direction away from him, I also did took a candid photo of him standing by himself to show my friends that knew him that he is out of jail as a free man.
I've met Hoovie in person, and he's nothing like his online persona - in fact he's quite quiet and almost shy.
