Developer Lee J. Maher wants his Ferrari F430 back. And the money he paid toward a Lamborghini Murcielago and McLaren Mercedes SLR.
He's suing MetroWest developer Kevin Azzouz to get them.
Maher, a developer of Baldwin Park, also wants $1 million back that he says he invested in two of Azzouz's companies, according to a lawsuit filed recently in state Circuit Court in Orlando.
Maher claims in the lawsuit that in May, he partnered with Azzouz for a time-share car company called Concierge Transportation LLC.
The plan was to buy a fleet of high-end luxury cars and sell memberships to a plan that would allow a certain amount of driving time -- similar to a time-share of a beach cottage.
Toward that project, Maher transferred 50 percent ownership of his Ferrari to Azzouz and also gave him about $329,650 toward buying two other luxury cars --- the Lamborghini and Mercedes.
The suit contends that instead of creating an operating company, Azzouz and his associates have been driving the cars around town. It says the company exists on paper only.
In addition, Maher's suit says Maher gave Azzouz $500,000 toward creating a restaurant called the Page Six Club, but Azzouz has yet to create a restaurant.
In a brief conversation, Azzouz called the allegations untrue. He offered to elaborate later.
"This is absolutely false," Azzouz said, adding that he thinks Maher is trying to get out of the deal to resolve unrelated financial issues.
Neither Maher nor his attorney, Griffith J. Winthrop, could be reached for comment Monday.
The idea for a high-end car-rental business isn't unique. Similar businesses, such as New York's Gotham Dream Cars, exist in large cities across the country. According to Gotham's Web site, it costs $1,750 to rent a Ferrari F430 for one day, or $8,800 for a week. The company also has a facility in Miami. That same car has a base price of about $192,000 but can top $260,000.
Maher is a co-founder of the Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc., which in 2002 bested about a dozen competitors to develop most of the commercial center at Baldwin Park.