EUSTIS, Fla. – An auto dealer that specializes in hot rods and classic cars is under criminal investigation and facing more than a dozen lawsuits as former customers claim they were defrauded by the company, News 6 has learned.
FSD Hot Rod Ranch bought and sold vintage vehicles until it abruptly closed last month. FSD stands for “Father, Son, Daughter,” according to an archived copy of the company’s now-defunct website.
Owners of classic cars who arranged for the dealer to sell their vehicles were never paid, multiple lawsuits against the company allege, while customers who bought cars from the dealer claim they never received titles for their purchased vehicles.
Federal investigators have opened an investigation into potential criminal activity that may include fraud and financial crimes, according to the Florida agency that licenses motor vehicle dealers.
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The Eustis Police Department confirmed it is also conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into the auto dealer.
Representatives of FSD Hot Rod Ranch and the company’s attorney did not respond to multiple emails and a voicemail message from News 6 seeking comment.
In court filings, the company has denied that it defrauded any vehicle owners or engaged in deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The classic car dealer was featured on an episode of “Trending Today” that aired on Fox Business in 2020.
“This is the most important business of my life,” owner Stephen Phelps said on the TV program.
Phelps is a retired health care company executive and Honda dealership owner who founded FSD Hot Rod Ranch with his two adult children, according to the company’s website.
“Shame on you,” said Debra Myers, who has been trying for months to obtain the title of a classic car purchased from Phelps’s company. “It looks like I’ve been taken advantage of, and I don’t like that.”
Dealer has failed to produce vehicle’s title, woman claims
Myers arrived home in April to find a replica 1931 Ford Model A Phaeton parked in her driveway.
The $26,000 street rod was a retirement gift from her fiancé, Mark Beal.
“I was so surprised,” said Myers. “She is beautiful. Her name is Clara. We named all of our cars. Her name is Clara.”
Myers said she and Beal spent much of April cruising around Ocala together and taking Clara to classic car shows.
“She’s a wonderful car. She was fun to drive,” said Myers.
But two months after buying the vehicle from FSD Hot Rod Ranch, Beal became gravely ill and died.
After her fiancé's unexpected death, Myers said she received a phone call from their bank demanding the vehicle’s title as collateral for the couple’s auto loan.
According to Myers, the bank had attempted to get the vehicle’s title directly from FSD Hot Rod Ranch but the dealer reportedly did not return the bank’s phone calls.
Myers said she called Phelps and was led to believe he would take care of the problem.
“He implied that he had the title,” Myers said.
But more than two months later, Myers said FSD Hot Rod Ranch still had not turned over the car’s title to her or the bank.
Without the title, Myers cannot legally register the vehicle or replace the car’s dealer-issued temporary license plate, which Myers said she later discovered was never valid.
“I can’t drive it. And I can’t sell it. But I am responsible for the loan,” said Myers, who continues to make $425 monthly payments on the car.
Car buyers and sellers file lawsuits against dealer
Fifteen lawsuits have been filed against FSD Hot Rod Ranch, Phelps and other company employees in Lake County Circuit Court since May, records show. Two of those cases were later dismissed by the plaintiffs, but the others remain open.
Some of the lawsuits were filed by car buyers who, like Myers, claim the dealer never produced titles for their purchased vehicles.
One buyer, Vincent Miller, said he paid more than $25,000 for a 1997 Chevrolet Camero but FSD Hot Rod Ranch failed to deliver the vehicle to Miller’s home in Wisconsin.
Miller later traveled to Florida and picked up the car, but the dealer never turned over the title, the lawsuit alleges.
Another buyer, Edna Slade, claims she traded in a 1937 Ford sedan worth $31,000 and paid an additional $10,000 to purchase a 1972 Chevy C10 truck from FSD Hot Rod Ranch.
The dealer texted Slade a photograph that purportedly showed the Chevy’s title, according to the lawsuit, but never sent the actual document to Slade.
Slade later returned the 1972 Chevy and repossessed her 1937 Ford but is still owed $10,000 by the dealer, the lawsuit alleges.
“When they sold these vehicles, they knew they didn’t have the title,” said N. James Turner, an Orlando attorney who represents 10 plaintiffs including Miller and Slade.
Besides car buyers, Turner’s clients include owners of classic cars who signed contracts with FSD Hot Rod Ranch to sell their vintage vehicles on consignment.
Under a “delayed payment agreement,” the owner retained the title until FSD Hot Rod Ranch sold their vehicle, court records show.
If FSD Hot Rod Ranch failed to sell a vehicle within 90 days, the dealer promised to pay the owner an additional “bonus” ranging from $15-$60 per day until it sold, the agreement stated.
After receiving full payment from FSD Hot Rod Ranch, the owner was required to transfer the title to the buyer “ASAP,” according to copies of the agreements attached to the lawsuits.
Multiple car owners are now accusing FSD Hot Rod Ranch of failing to issue payments after their vehicles sold or withholding the “bonus” payments if it took more than 90 days for the sale to occur.
Most of those owners have retained their vehicles’ titles, the lawsuits indicate, so buyers who may have purchased the vehicles from FSD Hot Rod Ranch do not yet have the documents.
One of Turner’s clients, Troy Kimball, arranged for FSD Hot Rod Ranch to sell his 1934 Chevy Outlaw for $40,000, court records show.
Kimball, who lives in Maine, shipped the vintage car to Eustis in July 2022, the lawsuit claims.
When the vehicle did not sell within 90 days, Kimball received a message from FSD Hot Rod Ranch assuring him that he would receive a $30-per-day bonus payment along with a $500 hotel gift certificate, according to a copy of the letter filed as part of Kimball’s lawsuit.
“Like I said on the phone, we have expanded very aggressively in the last 90 days,” Phelps wrote in the March 16 letter. “Last month we sold over 20 cars and are very profitable, but due to a lot of our cars being financed, cash flow has been slower than anticipated.”
According to the lawsuit, the auto dealer later sent Kimball photographs of a $44,990 check and a FedEx label addressed to Kimball.
That led Kimball to believe “the check was in the mail,” according to the lawsuit.
But Kimball claims the payment for his 1934 Outlaw has never arrived.
“Clearly it is a scheme to defraud people out of their vehicles,” said Turner.
In a written response to Kimball’s lawsuit, an attorney representing the dealer denied that Phelps intended to deceive Kimball with the photograph of the check and denied the dealership defrauded any vehicle owners.
Brett Pace, who is also represented by Turner, arranged for FSD Hot Rod Ranch to sell his 1958 Chevy Apache and 1972 GMC half-ton truck, a lawsuit alleges.
“There goes my babies,” Pace said as he recorded video of the two vehicles being loaded into a moving van outside his Utah home in August 2022.
According to Pace’s lawsuit, the dealer has never paid him the agreed price of $28,000 for the 1972 GMC truck nor any “bonus” payments of $30-per-day that began on December 6, 2022.
FSD Hot Rod Ranch eventually paid Pace $53,000 for his 1958 Apache but still owes him an additional $2,400 in “bonus” payments, according to the lawsuit.
The dealer has not yet responded to Pace’s lawsuit in court.
Bradley Everage sued FSD Hot Rod Ranch in July after the dealer allegedly failed to pay him $43,000 for a 1956 Ford F100 panel truck that he shipped to Eustis from Indiana in May.
Less than two months after Everage’s lawsuit was filed, FSD Hot Rod Ranch wired him the full payment, according to court papers submitted by the dealer’s attorney. The company denied violating Florida laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive practices.
Authorities launch criminal investigations into auto dealer
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has received 58 consumer complaints about FSD Hot Rod Ranch, most of which have been filed since June.
According to that state agency, federal authorities have opened an investigation into potential criminal activity that might include fraud and financial crimes.
The Eustis Police Department is also investigating the dealer.
“This is an active investigation, and I can’t comment on the details,” Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri told News 6.
FSD Hot Rod Ranch representatives and their attorney did not respond to an inquiry from News 6 about those criminal investigations.
Although the auto dealer’s website indicates the company is now closed, Turner expects more lawsuits will be filed.
“The next chapter in my pursuit of FSD is to find the money and to get compensation for my clients,” the attorney said.
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