Dealer Gives 911 GT3 RS 4.0 to Wrong Guy, Judge Awards 50k to Right Guy

By Adam Pockross - January 20, 2016

2011 porsche 911 gt3 rs4

Chalk one up for the little guy. Well, the little guy who can afford a $190,000 Porsche.

In a landmark case in the U.K., classic car repair shop owner Kevin Huges was awarded £35k pounds, nearly $50k USD, when a dealership gave away the 911 GT3 RS 4.0 that Hughes had put a deposit upon.

Back in 2011, Hughes gave a £10k deposit to Porsche Centre Bolton to ensure that he’d be at the head of the queue for the car, one of less than 30 shipped to the U.K.

But when it came time for delivery, Hughes was told the Bolton store didn’t receive any RS4s. Sorry.

However, Hughes found out later that wasn’t the case. The car had actually been sold by Bolton to another customer.

So Hughes sued. And he won, because according to a guy in a wig, it was “as plain as a pikestaff” that Hughes had entered into a binding contract with Bolton.

Hughes was awarded £35k pounds, the estimated amount of what the RS4 is worth to a collector today minus what it was valued at then, £135,000 pounds (roughly $190k). Bolton’s parent company, Pendragon Sabre Ltd, aka the most British-sounding company ever, also had to pay Hughes’ legal bills. Ouch.