Man Awarded Over $892k From Shop That Built “Dangerously Inadequate” Hot Rod

I don’t think it’s any stretch of the imagination to say that most long-time car fanatics who also have social media have probably seen some sort of drama unfold as it relates to the work of a custom shop. Of course, in just about any line of work, they are going to be situations where people don’t see eye to eye. It just so happens that in the world of an aftermarket modification, this can be a pretty frequent undertaking and when people get upset, they love to air out that dirty laundry on Facebook.

This time, though, thanks to Aussie news outlet, A Current Affair, we check in with the story that is most likely going to trump pretty much every other custom shop story that you’ve ever heard.

The tale follows a man by the name of Mick Lear. Lear says that he had always dreamed of owning a supercharged hot rod so when he got to the age where he had the money to do it, he decided to go all in. Where the story gets kind of wild, though, is when Lear says that he’s embarrassed to say that he paid a sum of $440,000 to get the work done to his Ford Mainline Ute.

As if that wasn’t painful enough to stomach, things get even worse.

As it turns out, the enthusiast decided that he wanted to go to the world-renowned Australians Summernats with his top-tier build. At about 95% completion, the Ford owner says that the car should’ve been safe enough to complete the journey. However, the trip ended with a mechanical failure that kicked off a 2-year battle to get the car fixed.

Fast forward and at this point, the Ford owner has taken Oz Rods, the shop responsible for the build, to court. He has even won a settlement that totals a sum of just over $892,000 which includes the cost of the build, interest, and legal fees. If he’ll ever sees that money, though, is a shop for another day.

Below, we get the full rundown of the story that outlines this roller coaster ride of a situation.