Porsche restoration company accused of breach of contract as it faces million dollar lawsuit

A restoration and commission sales company specializing in Porsche who has been in the business for over 40 years is in trouble because he is not doing his business right. NBC San Diego Reports The company is facing millions of dollars in lawsuits for failing to complete work for which it was paid.

For over 40 years, customers have trusted CPR classics in Fallbrook, California, to restore and sell their Porsches. Recently, the company seems to have decided to throw those 40 years of goodwill overboard. Take the situation of Hans Claassen of Montrose, Colorado. In 2022, Claassen hired CPR to sell his 1970 Porsche 911 on consignment after his wife was diagnosed with dementia; the car was a gift from her. They agreed to sell it for $135,000 with a 10 percent commission. A buyer was found, but then the lies began.

“…he was happy when he heard that CPR Classic had found a buyer a few months later. He said Andrea Doherty, the owner of the company, told him the news and asked him to send the vehicle's title. After he did that, however, she told him that the buyer had backed out of the purchase. Claassen says he became worried as weeks turned into months.

“Because they don't tell me anything. They don't keep me informed of what's going on,” he said.

Excuses followed, leading Claassen to seek help from a local senior citizen program, whose volunteers pressured Doherty until she agreed to send Claassen “$10,000 as part of a monthly payment plan.” After receiving only a single payment, Claassen decided to contact NBC, which, after some research, discovered that the company is facing numerous lawsuits in San Diego County totaling millions of dollars.

Our team has read through every single complaint and according to our calculations, CPR is accused of owing its customers $11,745,106.

The lawsuits tell very similar stories from sellers and buyers – sellers claiming they never received the money owed to them and buyers claiming they paid for the vehicle but never received it. We've read that most of them wired six-figure amounts in full.

One lawsuit shows how CPR took advantage of a customer on both sides. The customer brought his 1960 Porsche 356 Roadster in for restoration. CPR sold the car – which the customer says he had no right to do – for $160,000 to another person who also claims he never got the car or his money back. There are also several other cases where CPR failed to provide ownership records to buyers of cars it delivered. Doherty appears to be shirking any responsibility by agreeing to an interview and then dodging and ultimately not answering NBC's inquiries. NBC also contacted the FBI, which could not confirm or deny any investigation.

Sadly, Claassen, who also suffered the death of his wife earlier this month, told NBC he is losing hope that he will ever see any of the money he is owed. “I've gotten used to the idea that I may never see a penny again.”