Jay Leno is being sued by a dead man.
Over a car!
Leno, who’s a known rare car collector, bought a 1931 Duesenberg at a NY auction back in 2005.
But, now, the estate of the late John W. Straus, the heir to Macy’s, is suing Leno. The estate claims that the car was purchased illegally at a sham auction.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in a Manhattan court and claims that the Duesenberg and a 1930 Rolls Royce were sold during a time when Straus was ill. Another buyer took home the Rolls Royce.
According to the court papers, it was claimed that Straus paid everything he owed to store the two cars, which were kept in a garage for over 50 years.
However, the garage owners claimed they were due money and auctioned the cars off in May 2005. The lawsuit claims they believe the auction was a sham done to sell the cars while Straus was sick.
How come the estate isn’t suing the people that sold Leno the car instead???
The suit claims that Leno “knew that the purported auction was conducted in violation” of state law but bought the Duesenberg anyway for only $180,000.
They say the car was actually worth over $1.2 million!
Even more interesting is the fact that the lawsuit claims Leno knew about the car for years and kept trying to buy it from Straus, but he wasn’t willing to sell it.
A quote from a 2007 book about car collecting, titled The Hemi in the Barn, was used in the lawsuit. It claims that Leno wanted the car so badly he tried to discourage others from buying it by spreading fake rumors that the car couldn’t even be moved from the garage where it had been parked for so long.
Straus died this past May at the age of 88.
As for Leno’s people, they had no comment.
Shady. Shady.
What do U think of the lawsuit?
[Image via Buzz Foto.]