Bros before horses, but not before cash. That seems to be the case with this vintage car restorer from Dromana, a suburb south of Melbourne, Australia. The mechanic is accused of selling a one-of-six Ferrari GT 250 Coupe a close friend left in his garage for him to keep safe. He apparently made sure no harm would happen to the classic Prancing Horse; the problem is he also sold the vehicle while at it.
Well, until there’s a jury calling out on these accusations, we’ll offer the man the presumption of innocence. But let us consider the guy indeed sold his best friend’s classic, how bad is that, right? Here’s what happened.
Meet Sandro Mark Terzini, a 46-year-0ld mechanic from Aussie-land, who owns an auto shop where vintage beauties on four wheels are getting the proper care. Terzini may be an auto lover, but he took his care for cars a bit too far with this one. The man appeared before court this morning and was charged with theft and deception over the alleged illegal sale of a Ferrari 1959/1960 GT 250 Coupe Series II right-hand drive. We’re talking about a vehicle estimated at 465,000 Australian Dollars ($338,000 at the current exchange rate).
In a police summary quoted by Herald Sun, the accused – who ran the auto shop in Bentleigh – stored the car for a close friend, which he had known for 20 years. The owner of the car needed some help because the man’s house and garage had been destroyed in the 2009 bushfires. Instead of keeping the automobile safe, however, he ended up selling it in July 2013 to an exotic car trader for AUS $465,000.
When the rightful owner of the rare Ferrari came back in town, one year later, he discovered the car was missing. The worst part is that the Prancing Horse had been further sold, with values rising to about AUS$1 million ($730,000). Terzini was already accused of three charges, back in March, including stealing a motor car, dishonestly obtaining property and taking cash.