We recently reported on the status of a lawsuit involving the Briggs Cunningham Corvette, which is ongoing (December 2013, p. 40 and January 2014, p. 42). Domenico M. Idoni, one of the plaintiffs in that case, is now the plaintiff in another lawsuit involving another Corvette, the “Real McCoy.” That’s either bad luck or quite an appetite for litigation! The story is taken from the parties’ court filings. The Real McCoy is a 1956 Chevrolet Corvette SR prototype that Chevrolet built to race. John Fitch ran it in the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing 1st in class and 9th […]
We recently reported on the status of a lawsuit involving the Briggs Cunningham Corvette, which is ongoing (December 2013, p. 40 and January 2014, p. 42). Domenico M. Idoni, one of the plaintiffs in that case, is now the plaintiff in another lawsuit involving another Corvette, the “Real McCoy.” That’s either bad luck or quite an appetite for litigation!
The story is taken from the parties’ court filings.
The Real McCoy is a 1956 Chevrolet Corvette SR prototype that Chevrolet built to race. John Fitch ran it in the 1956 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing 1st in class and 9th overall. That victory cemented the Corvette’s position as a high-performance car worthy of racing — and encouraged Chevrolet to continue building the model.
The Real McCoy was owned and restored by John Baldwin, sold to Harry Yeaggy in 2004, and sold again to Chuck Ungurean in 2011. Ungurean recently decided to sell it at auction, and it was featured at the January 25, 2014, Mecum auction in Kissimmee, FL.
According to his complaint, in 1997, Idoni purchased two ZF transmissions, engines, gas tanks, wheels, carburetors, tires, manifolds, brakes and other prototype parts that were created for the car by Chevrolet in 1955/6. The parts came into the possession of Baldwin (how is unexplained), who wrongfully incorporated them into the Real McCoy before selling it to Yeaggy.
On December 16, 2013, Idoni met with Ungurean and his counsel to explain the situation and demand the return of his parts. Ungurean refused, claiming, among other things, that Idoni’s action was barred by the statute of limitations. Just before the auction, Idoni filed suit in U.S. District Court in Orlando, FL, to stop the sale and to order that his parts be returned to him. For unknown reasons, Idoni failed to bring Ungurean into court in time to stop the sale, and the auction proceeded without interruption.
Ungurean claims that Idoni, who is well known in the Corvette hobby because of his extensive collection of historic Corvette documents and his involvement in other litigation (the Briggs Cunningham Corvette case), told others about his claims prior to the auction.
When the auction started, bidding proceeded slowly. A couple of bidders who had earlier expressed interest in the car decided not to bid. Hoping to spur bidding, Mecum urged Ungurean to drop his $3 million reserve and agreed they would buy the car for $2.3 million if a higher bid was not received. No bids were forthcoming, and Mecum declared the car sold at $2.3 million. Ungurean went back home to Ohio, and Mecum moved the car to one of its storage facilities outside the state of Florida.
When it learned of the lawsuit, Mecum declined to move forward with the purchase and returned the car to Ungurean. It remains stored in Ohio, pending resolution of the lawsuit.
Motion to dismiss
Ungurean has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that the court lacks jurisdiction over the case because the car is no longer in Florida.
Federal court jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship between the parties and a controversy exceeding $75,000. Those requirements are met, as Idoni and Ungurean are residents of Maryland and Ohio, respectively, and Idoni claims the value of the parts exceeds $75,000.
However, as neither Idoni nor Ungurean are residents of Florida, the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court in Florida is based solely upon the presence of the Real McCoy in Florida. The car was there when the lawsuit was filed, but it left the state before Ungurean was served or otherwise made aware of the lawsuit.
Of course, a defendant in such a case cannot defeat jurisdiction by simply moving the car out of state, but Ungurean claims that happened in the ordinary course of business before anyone knew about the lawsuit.
It is hard to predict what the court will do with this motion. A dismissal would not end the matter, but would only require that Idoni refile the lawsuit in the proper jurisdiction, most likely Ohio. Courts are generally reluctant to make people jump through such hoops.
Another result could be that the lawsuit is not dismissed but the venue, or the place of trial, is moved to Ohio, where the car is now located.
Identification of the parts
Idoni’s complaint is accompanied by a copy of his purchase contract. The contract states that Idoni is purchasing a 1956 Corvette and a number of unspecified parts in the seller’s possession for $150,000. The parts are not identified in any way, other than that they are stored in a specified garage and in two trunks stored at another specified location.
We can expect that Ungurean will question whether the parts Idoni claims to own are actually the parts he purchased. That is a pretty obvious question, so we can only expect that Idoni is prepared to prove through other evidence that the Real McCoy parts are actually the ones he purchased under this contract.
Statute of limitations
As a general proposition under U.S. law, the owner of stolen property remains its owner and can defeat the claims of an innocent purchaser. This is because U.S. law follows the principle that a thief cannot pass good title. Since the legitimate owner’s title is not defeated, there is generally no applicable statute of limitations, and the owner can recover the property when it is discovered — even many years after the loss.
This case presents an interesting twist on that principle. Ungurean claims that Idoni told him that he had seen the Real McCoy in 2005 when it was owned by Yeaggy and that he then believed that some of his parts had been incorporated into the car. If that is true, then the statute of limitations could have begun to run at that time, and could have run out before he filed his lawsuit in 2014.
While that makes sense as a legal argument, there are several problems.
Note that Ungurean is choosing his words carefully here. “Some” of the parts is not the same as all of them, so the statute of limitations might apply only to some of the parts. “Believed” is not the same as “knew.” To start the statute running, Idoni would have had to either know his parts were in the car or have sufficient knowledge that he should have realized they were.
Of course, all this is based upon what Ungurean claims Idoni told him, so we shouldn’t be surprised if Idoni denies saying any of that. All of those problems mean that this issue will not lead to a quick resolution of the lawsuit — it will be a factual issue for the jury to decide at the end of a very expensive trial.
Where is Baldwin?
The relationship between Idoni and Baldwin is certainly a key issue here.
Ungurean claims that Idoni told him that he borrowed the money to buy the parts from Baldwin, who wrongfully took possession of them and used them in the car.
We don’t yet know what Baldwin will say about that. If Idoni voluntarily gave possession of the parts to Baldwin, and if Baldwin is deemed to be a dealer, then Baldwin would have passed good title to the parts to Yeaggy — a sale by a dealer is the notable exception that cuts off the rights of the legitimate owner to recover the stolen property.
If Idoni prevails, Ungurean would pass the buck to Yeaggy, who would in turn pass it back to Baldwin. Fortunately in this case, there are only a few steps back to the original point of dispute, and everyone could be brought into the case quite easily.
That would seem to be the easiest approach. Since it all falls back to Baldwin, bringing him and Yeaggy into the case would force Baldwin to carry the heaviest part of the litigation load.
Authenticity issues
Unfortunately, the allegations in this case create uncertainty about the authenticity of the Real McCoy. Idoni’s complaint suggests that Baldwin had a second Corvette body and might have installed it on the Real McCoy chassis, which would make it a less-valuable rebody. The parts Idoni claims to own include engines and transmissions, among other things. If they are now installed in the Real McCoy, rather than the original parts from 1956, further authenticity issues are raised. No doubt, that uncertainty will have an adverse effect on value unless and until matters are cleared up.
There is unquestionably more to come here. Stay tuned. ♦
John Draneas is an attorney in Oregon. His comments are general in nature and are not intended to substitute for consultation with an attorney. He can be reached through www.draneaslaw.com.