The Real Reason Wayne Carini Got Sued (And It's Not What Fans Expected)

And no, it wasn't because he flipped it for a fortune or scammed anyone. It was a boring, bureaucratic disaster: title trouble.

Here's what actually happened.

In the early 2010s, Australian collector Robert Richmond paid restorer Gary Dixo to buy, restore, and ship the Pierce-Arrow to him. The car never arrived. Dixo went bankrupt. The car floated around in legal limbo for years.

Then in 2017, Dixo — who no longer legally owned the car — sold it to Gullwing Motors. Gullwing asked Carini to appraise it. He did, valued it at "around one" (presumably $100k), and bought it.

Carini thought the title was clean. It wasn't.

Here's what happened next:

• Carini resold the car to RM Auctions for $250,000
• RM Auctions then sold it to a private collector
• That collector poured money into restoration
• Richmond resurfaced, said "Hey, that's my car"
• RM froze the deal
• Collector: stuck
• Richmond: furious
• Carini: in court

In 2020, Richmond sued everyone — Wayne's companies (F40 Motorsports and Carini Carrozzeria) plus Gullwing Motors — claiming the Pierce-Arrow was sold without his consent. And the court agreed.

What the judge ruled:

• Dixo's sale of the car was illegal
• Carini and Gullwing acted in good faith
• They still had to return the car and refund the money

So, no fraud, no malice — just one missing signature and a whole legal storm for a car that wasn't even worth what it cost to fight over.

Key financials:

• Original Pierce-Arrow value: approx. $100,000
• Carini's resale: $250,000
• Lawsuit year: 2020
• Court ruling: Return the car and pay back the money

Oh, and this wasn't the first time Carini's business faced heat. Back in 2010, a buyer filed a public complaint over an $8,000 Lamborghini Gallardo luggage package that never showed up. It was resolved quietly after some legal nudging.

Fans online had mixed feelings — some calling him a flipper, others defending his record. Forums lit up. Reddit had opinions. You know the drill.

But in the end? Carini wasn't sued for cheating anyone. He was sued for trusting a broken paper trail. A clean-cut dealer got caught in someone else's mess.

And if there's one thing the collector car world hates more than rust, it's a bad title. Wayne paid up, returned the car, and didn't ghost anyone. He didn't have to — the court said he acted in good faith — but he handled it. That's more than some dealers would do.