When Ford revived the GT supercar for another generation slated for model year 2016, the world's wealthiest gearheads lined up, eager and ready to drop $500,00 or more on a car that looked to carry the GT's legacy into the future. One of those wealthy gearheads was none other than John Cena, the wrestler and well-documented car guy who has an extensive collection focusing mainly on American classics.
Ford got to be just about as choosey as Ferrari in keeping the new GT's owner list extremely exclusive, though Cena made that list—because of course he did. It wasn't too long after, however, that Cena sold the car for a huge profit.
And of course, it wasn't too long after that that Ford promptly sued both Cena and the dealership that sold him the car, leading Cena to countersue and all the lawyers in the world to cheer because, after all, when it comes to any lawsuit, the lawyers always win.
But how did this whole mess get started in the first place? Well, therein lies a story.
Cena's Side Of The Story
John Cena has been a car collector for many years, even starting his own YouTube channel, John Cena: Auto Geek, to document both his love for internal combustion-powered vehicles and his extensive collection, which includes incredible cars ranging from limited-edition Corvettes to the iconic Plymouth Road Runner Superbird, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and even a 2005 Ford GT.
So when Ford announced the revival of the GT nameplate for the 2016 model year, Cena had to have one. Luckily, being immensely famous and wealthy from his wrestling and acting career, Cena quickly found himself owning a brand-new Ford GT supercar.
No one could blame Cena for jumping at the opportunity to purchase the new GT, which took everything great about both the original GT40 generation and the early-2000s variant and upped the ante. The result is a long, sleek, futuristic supercar with a twin-turbocharged V6 mounted amidships in a lightweight carbon fiber tub and spinning the rear wheels with 647 horsepower and 550 lb-ft of torque. A Getrag seven-speed stick shift, carbon fiber body panels, Gorilla Glass for the windshield, and an inboard suspension system all help the GT stand out as a legit sports car par excellence.
The new GT was even so impeccably engineered that Ford took it to the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race and took first place exactly 50 years after the original Ford GT40, largely the subject of the film Ford v Ferrari, achieved a 1-2-3 finish back in 1966.
Squeezing Into The Tiny Cabin
With everything awesome about the GT, then, why did Cena sell it in the first place? Well, it turns out John Cena is a pretty large man and he just didn't fit into the GT comfortably. This should surprise absolutely no one, though eagle-eyed fans may be wondering why he's held onto a Heritage-generation GT, then? Perhaps the design similarities between the early-2000s GT and the original, which could fit the famously tall driver Dan Gurney thanks to the "Gurney Bubble" mean that it's got more space.
Cena sold the car, reportedly earning some serious dough in the process—and that's exactly what Ford was hoping to prevent with the inclusion of a 24-month "no-flip" clause in the owner's contract for the new GT. So, Ford sued Cena for $75,000 in damages plus a claim on his profits, and also sued the dealer that sold him the car for good measure. Cena sued back, and the lawyers still win.
Cena had received the GT in October of 2017 and sold it by November 30th to New Autos, a used-car dealership in California. That's a fair amount less than the two years stipulated in the ownership contract, though a small legal detail here is that Cena tried to pin the blame on the dealership, saying that while the 24-month clause was present on the order confirmation, it wasn't included on the final purchase order.
Cena and Ford eventually settled the lawsuit, with the proceeds going to charity. So maybe the lawyers weren't the only winners here, after all. Meanwhile, the latest reports are that Ford's suit with its own dealer is still ongoing.
Sold And Sold And Sold Again
What about the car itself, though? As it so happens, Cena's GT seems to have some kind of curse. In January of this year, it popped up for sale again at the Mecum Auctions Kissimmee event, after being driven less than 10 miles by its fourth owner, which brought its odometer reading to only 635 miles in total.
Wait, fourth owner? That's right, the car was first bought by a farmer in 2017, who sold it at a Russo and Steele auction at Monterey's Car Week in 2018. The winner of that auction then sold it a few months later for $1.32 million at a Mecum auction in Dallas. The car hasn't popped up in the public eye again, however, so hopefully, the new owner is actually driving it as Ford intended.
Sources: Mecum Auctions, USA Today, Motor1, Ford Media Center, and YouTube.