Fake supercar website scammed Brits for years
Key Points
- The High Court wound up supercar hire website Classic Parade Ltd on 14 July following an Insolvency Service investigation
- Customers made at least 48 Action Fraud complaints alleging losses of £220,675, including bookings for a wedding and a terminally ill relative
- The company cancelled bookings shortly before hire dates, promised refunds it never paid, and threatened customers over negative reviews
- More than £1.4 million passed through its accounts unexplained, with £166,893 paid to the director personally
- The website falsely claimed 20 years of trading and a Knightsbridge office despite incorporating in March 2023
The High Court has shut down Classic Parade Ltd, a supercar hire website that took at least £220,675 from British customers while channelling more than £1.4 million through bank accounts its Director refused to explain.
The company claimed to operate from an office in Knightsbridge, offering Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other supercars for hire through its website. An investigation by the Insolvency Service found no genuine presence at the address, which was a virtual office the company had vacated roughly two years earlier.
Customers made at least 48 complaints to Action Fraud, with alleged losses totalling £220,675. Complainants included a customer who booked a Mercedes G63 AMG for his wedding day and another who arranged a luxury hire as a gift for a terminally ill family member.
Fake website and false claims
Classic Parade’s website described the firm as the UK’s “number one chauffeuring and supercar hire service” and claimed it was celebrating 20 years of trading. Companies House records show it incorporated in March 2023.
The company also boosted its own legitimacy online. A press release distributed through GlobeNewswire in March 2023 claimed the business had operated under family ownership for two decades and had secured financial backing from Qatari investors to expand across Europe.
Its website advertised hundreds of vehicles, including a Lamborghini Sian at £6,000 per day, alongside its own press release distribution service for supercar sellers.
In reality, investigators found that Classic Parade took upfront hire charges and security deposits, then cancelled bookings shortly before the hire date, citing mechanical faults, engine management lights, insurance issues or security checks on payments. The company promised refunds but never paid them.
Investigators identified at least 14 customers who paid for services the company never delivered. Customers attempting to recover their money registered twelve County Court Judgments totalling £66,225 against the company between September 2023 and October 2024.
The company also turned on customers who complained publicly. Investigators uncovered evidence of Classic Parade threatening legal action against people who posted negative reviews online, and in one case, the Director threatened to post damaging reviews of a customer’s own business unless the customer removed a negative review.
£1.4 million in unexplained transactions
More than £1.4 million passed through Classic Parade’s bank accounts, but the director provided no information to explain the transactions and did not attend an interview with the Insolvency Service.
The company directed some customers to pay third-party accounts, including one in the name of “Classic Parade Competitions”, and in some cases to pay the Director’s personal account rather than the company itself.
Bank records showed payments of £166,893 to the director personally, a further £121,847 to a person the Insolvency Service understands is his partner, and £28,154 in apparent personal spending at retailers including Harrods, Gucci and Prada.
The Director supplied no evidence that any of these payments served business purposes.
Classic Parade filed no accounts or confirmation statements at Companies House, and one of its bank accounts closed in February 2025.
Joanna Caswell, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said the company presented itself as a prestigious supercar hire business but the investigation found a very different picture.
“Customers who had saved for special occasions, including a wedding and a gift for a terminally ill family member, were left out of pocket and without the experience they had paid for,” Caswell said.
The High Court wound up Classic Parade Ltd on 14 July, and the Official Receiver has taken over as liquidator.
