The Story of a Man who Bought the Rights to the Auto Avio Construzioni Name Only to be Sued by Ferrari

As we’ve already mentioned in our tribute to Enzo Ferrari, the founder of one of the most iconic brands in the world initially worked for Alfa Romeo. As the story has it, in 1939 he left the Milanese carmaker, but part of the agreement was that he could not manufacture any vehicles under his name for four years – so he used the Auto Avio Construzioni brand instead.
The years passed by and following the end of WWII, Enzo Ferrari finally founded his own brand and produced its first car, the 125. The rest, as they say, is history – or so we thought until Laurent Miller sent Carscoop an email describing his story that has to do with the Auto Avio Construzioni brand name and his legal quarrel with Ferrari.
Muller's involvement began in 2004 when he claims to have bought the right to the Auto Avio Construzioni trademark with plans to build a bespoke Ferrari F430 fitted with a V12 engine instead of the regular model's V8 powerplant.





In May 2008, Muller gave an interview to French magazine Sport Auto revealing details about his company's project. However, Ferrari immediately stepped in and filed a lawsuit against him, putting a stop to the any projects related to its models until the issue was resolved.
Muller told Carscoop that he tried to reach an agreement with the Italian company but said Ferrari "wouldn’t even speak" to him as the automaker insisted it had the sole rights to the Auto Avio Costruzioni name since it was Enzo Ferrari’s property.





Notably, this isn't the first time we've heard about Ferrari's legal team picking a fight. In 2008, Ferrari made headlines when it threatened to take legal actions against a UK man that wanted to turn his 360 Modena into a stretch limousine.
But back to Muller, after Ferrari blocked his plans, he decided to make use of the Auto Avio Construzioni trademark to create a one-off Alfa Romeo 159 he bought from the collapsed Greek car market.
Among other modifications, the Auto Avio Construzioni team upgraded the sport sedan's 1.8-liter turbocharged inline four boosting output from 200HP and 340Nm to 240HP and 370 Nm, while also painting the body in a two-tone finish.

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