Mecum Auction House and Ford Motors have reached a settlement in last year’s auctioned Ford GT.
Unlike most cars that become your property once you buy them free to do with as you please, Ford sells the GT under a strict contract that prevents the owner from reselling them for at least 2 years after the original purchase date. Ford believes that if someone were to up and resell the GT so soon after buying one that it would look bad on the company. Furthermore, there’s only a limited number of GTs to go around, and Ford doesn’t want anyone profiting on flipping their GT.
Buying a half-million dollar supercar from Ford is an oddly political moment, it seems.
Everyone signs a contract agreeing to these terms when they’re allowed to purchase a GT, but that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone abides by those terms. Pro-wrestler-turned voice of a cartoon bull John Cena famously sold his GT soon after buying it and got a lawsuit from Ford for his trouble.
Mecum Auctions also had the audacity to sell a 2017 Ford GT at their Spring Classic Auction in Indianapolis last May. At the time, the auction house thought they were in the clear because they weren’t selling the car on behalf of the original owner, and since they were one seller removed a judge ruled that Ford’s binding contract didn’t apply.
“The Judge did rule in Mecum’s favor, that we could sell this car,” said the auctioneer at the time. “And if Ford wanted it back, they were welcome to come here and bid on it. So this is a publically legal sale of a Ford GT.”
Well, not exactly. Ford still sued Mecum last July. The two entered into a settlement agreement last November, and that settlement has received the court’s final blessing this month.
RELATED: FORD SUES AUCTION HOUSE FOR RESELLING EXCLUSIVE GT
Now Ford is looking to make a statement to anyone else who thinks they can auction off a GT before its 2 years are up. Ford didn’t release every detail on the settlement, but they did reveal 3 key points:
“-Mecum will not accept for consignment sale any Ford GT owned by its original purchaser that is still subject to the two-year sales moratorium;”
-Mecum will consult with Ford regarding any Ford GT consigned with Mecum by any downstream purchaser (i.e., not that GT’s original purchaser) for the first two years following the GT’s initial sale to the original purchaser, and will not permit the auction sale of that GT during that time without Ford’s consent; and”
-Settlement proceeds from Mecum will be donated to the Ford Motor Company Fund.”
The message from Ford is loud and clear: resell a GT within that 2 year period--even if it’s not from the original owner--and it’ll cost you.
NEXT: FORD GT THAT SPARKED JOHN CENA LAWSUIT GETS SOLD AGAIN