Radford Motors, the corporate based by English automotive TV character Ant Anstead and Method 1 driver Jenson Button, promised to construct 12 road-going examples of its Lotus-based Pikes Peak racer, the Kind 62-2, for $1 million a pop. As an alternative, the corporate has filed Chapter 11 chapter and clients are coming after it for automobiles and refunds they are saying they by no means acquired.
Carscoops stories on the scenario involving Radford and its clients. The corporate is dealing with a number of lawsuits from clients each giant and small, however all of them have one factor in frequent: they plunked down sizable deposits, anticipating to get a Kind 62-2, however by no means acquired the automobiles. One go well with filed this summer season includes a surgeon and a Lamborghini dealership out of Florida who paid Radford over $1 million for a Kind 62-2 Monitor Version.
One such lawsuit, filed in July 2024, includes Florida surgeon Scott Katzman and Lamborghini Palm Seaside. The posh automobile dealership claims it paid $300,000 for a street-legal Lotus-Radford Kind 62-2 and despatched a further $750,000 on behalf of Katzman for a track-only Kind 62-2 Pikes Peak mannequin again in August 2023. That’s over one million {dollars} despatched Radford’s means, with not a single automobile delivered in return.
The go well with goes on to say that Radford constantly modified and delayed the supply date for the Kind 62-2. Finally, the corporate not directly mentioned the automobile was by no means going to be delivered by providing what’s described as a “compensation schedule” for the deposit. Nothing ever got here of it, and by the point the go well with was filed in July neither Katzman nor the dealership had seen the automobile or the cash.
One other go well with filed by a buyer named Timothy Tasker describes how he gave Radford a $101,000 deposit again in 2022. Tasker in the end backed out as a consequence of what’s described as a scarcity of progress by Radford on the Kind 62-2. He by no means acquired his deposit again.
One other potential buyer can be suing Radford. Timothy Tasker supplied Radford with a $101,000 deposit for a Kind 62-2 in Might 2022, and whereas assembly with Anstead, in addition to co-founder Jenson Button, Tasker says he was advised the primary deliveries would start in late 2022 and proceed all through 2023. Nevertheless, Tasker determined he wished his a refund in October 2023 as a consequence of “a scarcity of progress.”
Tasker alleges that Radford “understood” his issues and mentioned he can be supplied with a full refund. Nevertheless, the agency has since left his calls and emails unanswered and he’s nonetheless but to obtain his deposit again.
These fits are along with one other go well with towards Anstead and Radford co-founder Daniel Bednarski by their former enterprise accomplice Pastor Velasco. In accordance with the go well with, Velasco says he’s owed $2 million. One other enterprise accomplice, Roger N. Behlr Jr., can be suing, claiming that “Anstead and co-founder Daniel Bednarski have mismanaged firm funds.”
Regardless of the drama, Anstead continues to be dedicated to Radford and bringing the Kind 62-2 to market. In an announcement, Anstead appears to gloss over the corporate’s troubles by making it appear as if that is one thing all startups undergo.
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