Lamborghini Accuses Dealer Of Selling Supercars To ‘Drug Dealers And Pimps’

Luxury automakers have long wrestled with how to keep their most coveted vehicles in the hands of genuine enthusiasts rather than quick-profit resellers. Now, Lamborghini finds itself in a legal dispute that shows just how complicated that can be.

The Italian automaker has accused Gold Coast Exotic Imports, a dealership in Illinois, of breaching its contract by selling dozens of vehicles to brokers and resellers, rather than directly to retail buyers, according to a lawsuit reviewed by the Chicago Sun Times. While flipping high-end cars is nothing new, Lamborghini appears to have reached a breaking point.

Read: Lamborghini Accuses Dealer Of Making Millions By Selling To Flippers

The case has been active since 2024, but may be nearing resolution through a potential out-of-court settlement. According to Lamborghini, its agreement with Gold Coast only allows sales to individual retail customers or other authorized dealers.

In one example, the dealership told Lamborghini it had sold vehicles to the head of a Minnesota chiropractic clinic and a former Chicago professional athlete. In reality, the cars were allegedly sold to middlemen with no intention of keeping them.

Questionable Buyers and Transactions

In another instance, a Lamborghini was reportedly sold to someone who had “previously pleaded guilty in a criminal fraud case that involved selling luxury cars to drug dealers and pimps as a means of laundering money.”

Lamborghini says it has found 32 transactions from 2023 alone when Gold Coast Exotic Imports sold vehicles to non-retail customers. Since 2019, the automaker claims to have paid the dealership more than $4 million in incentive bonuses. It also alleges that the dealer demanded “off-the-books kickbacks from customers amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars… to agree to sell exclusive limited-edition vehicle models to these customers.”

A Legal Battle Over Money and Motives

Gold Coast Exotic Imports denied the allegations but has been unsuccessful in its attempts to get the case tossed out of court. The dealership argues that Lamborghini has withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars for showroom improvements, failed to reimburse it for marketing expenses, and claims Lamborghini wants to oust its president, 81-year-old Joseph Perillo Sr.

Speaking with the Chicago Sun Times, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said the two sides were discussing a possible settlement. A lawyer for the dealer added that “the parties are working together collaboratively to resolve all claims, including claims pending before the Illinois Motor Vehicle Review Board.”

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