Adam Levine claims car dealer sold him fake 1971 Maserati

Adam Levine has filed a lawsuit against a classic car dealer for allegedly selling him a fake version of a rare 1971 Maserati worth $1 million.

The Maroon 5 frontman traded two of his Ferraris for the 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyder from prolific car dealer Rick Cole — only to later discover the high-end vehicle wasn’t the real deal, according to the federal suit filed in California last week.

The 43-year-old pop star’s suit says Maserati only made 25 Ghibli Spyders with the 4.9-liter engine, “making such a car … extremely desirable and valuable in the current classic car market.”

The “This Love” singer traded his 1972 Ferrari 365 and 1968 Ferrari 365 — worth $950,000 combined — with Cole in exchange for the supposedly rare Maserati and $100,000 on Jan. 11, 2021, the court papers say.

The terms of the deal had been proposed by Cole — who’s sold cars to celebrities like Jay Leno and the late Frank Sinatra — the month prior, the filing states.

Maserati Ghibli 4.9 liter Spyder
Levine believed he was getting a 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyder – that Maserati only made 25 of.
Gallery Aaldering

Levine traded two of his Ferraris for the 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyder.
Levine traded two of his Ferraris for the 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyder.
Gooding & Company


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But when the “Moves Like Jagger” crooner tried to market the limited-edition automobile to Autosport Designs, he learned the car dealer had already sold a ride with the same vehicle identification number as the one Levine got from Cole, the suit claims.

In fact, the Maserati with that VIN had been sold several years prior to British luxury car collector Clive Joy and was “under the care of legendary race car driver Christian Traber,” the filing alleges.

“Subsequent inspection and investigation revealed that the vehicle is not authentic,” the court documents allege.

“Cole egregiously never disclosed any of this … withholding this information in order to make substantial monies on the sale,” the suit charges.


Adam Levine
The singer says he got the car from Rick Cole in 2021 only to discover that it was a fake when he tried to resell it.
Getty Images for Beloved Benefit

Since the identity of the Maserati was now clouded, its value was “far less than that paid by” his trust, called the Adam Levine Living Trust, the filing says.

The suit says Cole knew about the questionable identity of the car and “took active steps to fraudulently falsify the vehicle” in order to sell it at an “over-inflated price.”

Cole allegedly even took “numerous steps” to try to hide that the car had the same VIN number as another Maserati — and attempted to stop the auto from being resold because he “obviously feared that if [Levine’s trust] marketed the vehicle, it would eventually learn the truth concerning its lack of authenticity and corresponding decrease in market value.”


Rick Cole
Prolific classic car dealer Rick Cole knew about the true identity of the car and tried to hide it from Levine, the suit claims.
rickcole.com

The court papers note that even if the car is an original Ghibli Spyder, it’s not the same vehicle as the VIN it’s stamped with. Or the car may be another type of Maserati — the Ghibli Coupe — converted into a Ghibli Spyder, the suit claims.

Cole has refused to reverse the deal or pay Levine the purchase price of $850,000 — which the musician’s trust is seeking to recoup with the lawsuit.

Cole didn’t return a request for comment Thursday.