John Cena broke an important rule with his 2017 Ford GT
John Cena rarely finds himself in hot water, so when such event does occur, everyone seems to be pay attention.
Well, one of the rare occasions the wrestler-turned-actor found himself in a spot of bother was over cars.
The WWE star is a big car junkie, having built up quite the collection over the years.
Come 2021, the actor was said to have several cars in his lineup, despite upsetting automobile giant Ford back in the day.
His resume is pretty impressive too, with Cena having luxury cars like a 2009 Chevy Corvette ZRI, a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird and his infamous ‘Corvette InCenaRator’, according to GQ.
The car that got Cena into quite a bit of trouble however was the 2017 Ford GT.
The Ricky Stanicky actor purchased the car upon the year of its release, which was reportedly priced at over $450,000 at the time.
Ford only produced a few hundred of the supercars each year, so lucky owners of the GT have to follow strict rules.
It’s said that the Ford GT owners were ‘hand-picked customers’ and are chosen through an application process.
One of the rules you have to follow as one of the special customers is that you can’t resell the vehicle for at least two years after purchase, but Cena sold his just a few months after buying it.
Clearly wasn’t a fan.
As Cena sold the car so soon, he violated the sales agreement and Ford wasn’t particularly pleased about it.
Making things worse, the wrestler reportedly made a profit from the sale and soon had a lawsuit on his hands.
The suit stated, as per a 2017 Forbes article, that Cena ‘unfairly made a large profit from the unauthorized resale flip of the vehicle, and Ford has suffered additional damages and losses, including, but not limited to, loss of brand value, ambassador activity and customer goodwill due to the improper sale’.
The car manufacturer proceeded to sue Cena for $500,000.
By the following year, Ford and Cena settled the suit out of court.
They agreed on a monetary settlement – the amount of which wasn’t disclosed – outside of an official court setting.
The money wasn’t going straight into Ford’s pocket, however, but to a ‘worthy charity’ instead.
Cena also issued an apology as he said in a statement: “I love the Ford GT and apologise to Ford, and encourage others who own the car to respect the contract.
“I am pleased we could resolve this matter outside of court, and that a worthy charity will benefit from one of the most iconic cars in the world.”