Adam Levine Says a Classic Car Dealer Sold Him a Fake Maserati

In late 2020, Adam Levine traded two Ferraris to classic car dealer Rick Cole in exchange for what he believed to be one of the only 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyders ever made. Two years later, the Maroon 5 singer is suing Cole, alleging that the vehicle he received is a fake—and that the car dealer was reportedly “well aware” of its inauthenticity when the deal was made.

The lawsuit was filed on Friday in Los Angeles by the Adam Levine Living Trust, and it alleges that either Cole or members of his organization knowingly faked identifying details on the vehicle sold to Levine. Only 25 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyders were ever manufactured, and the singer traded a 1968 Ferrari and a 1972 Ferrari, along with $100,000 in cash, to Cole for the vehicle he believed to be one of them. The total value of Levine’s offerings was set at $950,000.

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Per documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Levine’s lawsuit explains that when he later tried to resell the Maserati, he discovered the vehicle identification number Cole had given him actually belonged to a different car, owned by British car collector Clive Joy for several years. Levine and his team further found that the car Cole had sold him had reportedly had its authenticity questioned before and was pulled from an auction in 2015 over concerns about its status.

The lawsuit alleges not just that the vehicle is inauthentic but also that concerted attempts were made to falsify the identity of the vehicle following the auction incident, including reportedly stamping new numbers on the chassis and engine.

“After the questioning of the authenticity of the vehicle at [the 2015 auction], someone tried to make the vehicle appear authentic by reproducing or stamping a new chassis plate to make the writing seem more like that used by Maserati at the time, in an obvious attempt to convince a potential buyer,” the lawsuit reads. “Upon information and belief, it was Cole and/or his agents who made these changes.”

Cole is a classic car dealer who prides himself on a long list of celebrity clients like Levine, per his website. The singer’s lawsuit is accusing Cole of negligent misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment and breach of contract and is seeking to either rescind the sale of the vehicle or have Cole pay damages of at least $850,000 to Levine.

“It is now readily apparent that Cole was well aware that the vehicle is not the actual [Maserati], and that the vehicle has a substantial cloud over its identity, authenticity, and provenance, crippling its market value to a figure far less than that paid by the trust,” Levine’s lawsuit claims, adding that the dealer allegedly “repeatedly discouraged” the resale of the vehicle.

“[Cole] obviously feared that if the Trust marketed the Vehicle, it would eventually learn the truth,” lawyers for the Adam Levine Living Trust wrote in the suit.

The lawsuit does not purport to know the true identity of the vehicle Cole sold to Levine but suggests it may have been an original Ghibli Spyder or a converted Ghibli Coupe with a replaced chassis plate. The lawsuit notes that Levine is “not in the classic car business at all” and took Cole at his word that the rare vehicle was authentic.

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