Level 5 Motorsports’ Scott Tucker and others involved in his payday lending scheme were fined $1.266 billion last October by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive practices. Tucker’s got to pay the feds off somehow, so everything seized from his race team is going to auction.
The Wisconsin-based Level 5 Motorsports team was funded largely by the ill-gotten gains of Tucker’s payday lending business, which charged illegal interest rates of up to 700 percent to customers using misleading contracts. Level 5 was notorious for appearing to have a blank check, showing up to IMSA races with a paddock complex that rivaled some of the international LMP1 teams, and building a D Sports Racer for SCCA club racing that was so ridiculously, insanely overbuilt for the class that it was faster than professionally-ran LMP2 cars of the same era.
Tucker’s assets, including Level 5's cars and equipment, were ordered to be forfeited in early 2016, so now that the feds have settled on a fine, it’s time to put it all up for auction. Auctions America has the goods, which include everything from equipment, spares and tools to race cars themselves, including several Ferraris, Porsches and prototype racers. The auction includes 11 cars and 350 lots in total, all offered for no reserve.
Among the cars is the No. 555 2014 Ferrari 458, which won the United Sports Car Championship’s GT Daytona class. Another Ferrari, a 2006 430 GT2, only completed five shakedown laps ever, per Racer. There’s also a 2001 turbocharged, all-wheel drive 996 Porsche 911 built for SCCA racing that was estimated to cost $800,000 to develop. Five prototypes are in the auction, but they’re being sold as rollers that you’d need to source your own engine for separately. There’s also even a few pricey Cervélo bicycles in the lot, if human-powered vehicles are your thing.
With new indictments made in December for money laundering and wire fraud, this sale of Level 5's assets is nowhere near the end of Tucker’s trouble. It’s still neat to peruse all the incredible stuff they were using, though.
Browse the listings here, and tell us: what’s the most insane thing you can find going up for sale?
[H/T Kidsthesedays!]