A court has ordered a father and son to pay for a supercar they purchased and which was crashed on the day of purchase, before the transfer paperwork had been filed. 

The case was filed in 2010 by Paul Camenzuli, demanding payment for the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 he had sold to Duncan Delia and his son Charles.

The car had been delivered to the purchasers’ house and parked in their garage in Qrendi. Charles Delia took the car for a drive on the same day and crashed it, causing extensive damage. 

The first payment installment was supposed to have been made later that day but the Delias refused to pay for the car, arguing that they had not bought it but had only taken it for a test drive. 

The court ruled that, in the case of cars, just like any other movables, the sale was concluded once there was an agreement on the item and the price. Furthermore, it was clear that the drive by Duncan Delia was not a test drive.  

Mr Delia would not have taken certain risks during the drive had the car not been his. Indeed, this sort of driving should have taken place on a racetrack and not a road in Mqabba.

The court found for Mr Camenzuli and ordered the defendants to pay €78,000, for the car.

Mr Camenzuli was assisted by lawyer Jan-Karl Farrugia.