CPR Classic, a longstanding specialist in Porsche restoration and consignment sales based in Fallbrook, CA, is currently embroiled in numerous lawsuits, with claims amounting to $11.7 million, casting a shadow over its 40-year legacy in the automotive restoration industry.
The majority of the lawsuits originate from clients who allege that they have not received payments for cars sold through CPR Classic, or buyers who claim they paid for but never received their vehicles. One lawsuit accuses the company of illegally selling a 1960 356 Roadster, which was supposedly in for restoration, for $160,000 without the owner's consent.
Hans Claassen, a former client from Montrose, CO, who had to sell his cherished silver Porsche 911 to support his wife’s dementia care, has not received the full payment promised to him by CPR Classic. “Seeing the car go, realizing this is it, there was sadness,” Claassen recounted the emotional farewell to his beloved car, which he never saw again.
Despite initial communications from Andrea Doherty, owner of CPR Classic, claiming that a buyer had been found, the deal fell through, and subsequent updates ceased, leaving Claassen and others in distress.
Mark MacHale, a volunteer who assisted Claassen, expressed his disappointment, "Well the lies just started to pack up and the excuses.”
Claassen did not file a lawsuit, but he reached out to NBC 7 Responds, which investigated CPR. The news outlet found similar stories among other clients, leading to a deeper examination of CPR Classic's business practices. The response from Doherty has been minimal, with her communications ceasing after initial contacts with the media.
The company’s financial and legal troubles have escalated to the point of eviction notices being posted at their premises. Doherty declined to speak to NBC 7 Responds.
Local authorities, including the DMV and possibly the FBI, although unconfirmed, are reportedly looking into the allegations.
