The Stolen Ferrari 375 Plus: A Legal Battle Spanning Decades
Read the full story on Modern Car Collector
Few cars in history have endured a journey as tumultuous as the Ferrari 375 Plus once owned by Karl Kleve. Designed by Pininfarina in 1954 for the World Sports Car Championship, only five of these iconic race cars were ever built. Yet, one of them—a charred chassis purchased by Kleve in 1958—spent nearly 30 years deteriorating in an open lot in Cincinnati before vanishing in the late 1980s. What followed was a saga of theft, deception, lawsuits, and an eventual record-breaking auction.
Kleve, a collector with an eye for rare cars, bought the damaged Ferrari for $2,500. But in the late 1980s, the vehicle disappeared from his property. It resurfaced across the Atlantic, eventually landing in the hands of Belgian race car driver and Ferrari collector Jacques Swaters. Swaters, believing he had rightfully acquired the car, spent years restoring it to its former glory.
When Kleve discovered his stolen Ferrari on display at Ferrari's Maranello museum in Italy, he launched a legal battle to reclaim his prized possession. In 1999, a disputed settlement was reached in which Swaters reportedly paid Kleve $625,000 for the car. However, Kleve claimed his agent had made the deal without his approval, sparking further litigation.
Following Kleve's death in 2003, his daughters—Katrina English and Karyl Kleve—continued to fight for the car. Meanwhile, a series of dubious legal maneuvers took place, with individuals such as Joseph Ford and Christopher Gardner inserting themselves into the case. Ford, later accused of fraud, managed to extract a significant sum from the Ferrari's eventual sale.
A crucial ruling came in 2013 when an English court determined that Florence Swaters, daughter of Jacques Swaters, held the title to the car before it went to auction. The decision paved the way for the Ferrari to be sold at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it fetched a staggering £10.7 million (approximately $16.3 million), with the final ownership going to Les Wexner, the billionaire owner of Victoria's Secret.
Despite the sale, legal battles persisted. English and Kleve claimed that if they had been properly represented, they would have received over $8 million from the sale. Instead, Kleve's estate received a fraction of that amount, while Ford walked away with more than $2.4 million.
Today, the Ferrari 375 Plus sits in Wexner's collection in Columbus, Ohio—just over 100 miles from where it sat abandoned for decades. From a stolen wreck to a multi-million-dollar legal dispute, the car's journey is a testament to how a rare Ferrari can spark decades of controversy, deception, and high-stakes courtroom drama.
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