THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
The Lamborghini, the drug dealer and the disputed $76,000 cash job Tony Wall reveals how the rebuild of a $400,000 supercar started with a 170kmh joyride and ended in a toolbox full of dollar notes.
Chris Mosley wanted his Lamborghini to spit flames and roar like a beast. Chris Timmerman was excited to work on a beautiful piece of machinery.
But they fell out – Mosley accusing Timmerman of poor workmanship and joyriding in his supercar; Timmerman threatening to sue Mosley for unpaid bills and defamation.
Mosley is a car dealer from Auckland who bought the 2017 model Lamborghini Huracan Avio earlier this year through his company, DNSNZ Imports.
He’d been turning his life around after serving four years in prison for dealing methamphetamine, Ecstasy and carrying a pistol.
‘‘I did some dumb things when I was 22 . . . I’m a completely different person,’’ he says.
Dutchman Timmerman came to New Zealand around 2009 and opened a tuning business in Taupo called Power Torque, specialising in high-performance European cars. ‘‘For me it’s a passion.’’
The pair met in June when Mosley responded to a Power Torque ad for a twin turbo system for Lamborghinis, which hugely increases horse power.
Timmerman told Mosley the cost was $56,000, plus install.
‘‘Order it I’m in 100%,’’ Mosley said by text message.
He added: ‘‘Is there any way you can make the exhaust louder and spit flames?’’
Timmerman was thrilled: it would be the first time a Lamborghini Huracan had been converted to twin turbo in New Zealand.
The pair have wildly differing versions of what happened next. Mosley claims he paid Timmerman a cash deposit of $40,000 but he has no record of it.
Asked for details of how the payment was made, he said he’d have to speak to his lawyer. He says he has paid Power Torque in full.
Timmerman says he never received a deposit. He was happy to receive payment after the work was done, he says, as his customers are not usually the type of people to ‘‘f... me around’’.
The Lamborghini was transported to Taupo in August.
‘‘I jumped in and pushed the start button and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree . . . it had a million faults.’’
Mosley admitted he’d been doing donuts.
According to Timmerman, such a fitout would normally take up to two months, but since Mosley wanted it done quickly he worked long hours and completed it in just over three weeks.
He also lowered the suspension as per Mosley’s instructions.
He says he drew up an invoice for $76,000, which included the twin turbo fit-out and suspension work and gave it to Mosley when he arrived in Taupo on August 26.
Mosley, who claims never to have seen the invoice, paid $17,500 in cash.
‘‘He walked in with a toolbox . . . he opened it up and he had a big money scale to weigh it,’’ Timmerman says.
Mosley says he often deals in cash, as his customers pay that way.
‘‘My accounts are solid, I’ve declared that money, it’s all legally earned.’’
Timmerman’s partner counted the money and said it was $100 short.
It later transpired they had miscounted and Mosley had paid the right amount the first time. Timmerman apologised and paid back the extra $100.
Mosley says this doesn’t make sense. ‘‘Why would he refund me $100 if I owed him 60 grand?’’
Timmerman says he was trying to keep things tidy – he was still expecting the outstanding balance of around $58,000 to be transferred to his bank account.
They took the car for a spin and Mosley was ‘‘rather impressed’’, Timmerman says.
‘‘With a twin turbo kit, it runs zero to 100 in two and a half seconds. He had his girlfriend with him – they jumped in the car and they just took off like a rocket to the moon.’’
Mosley later said in an email to Timmerman: ‘‘The car is an absolute beast and I am very happy with the sound and the power gains. I feel like the workmanship is a very high quality.’’
But he wasn’t happy with the suspension and when he checked the GPS data he found the Lamborghini had done another 600km.
The data also showed that the car had been driven at speeds in excess of 170kmh.
Timmerman says he had to drive the car to Rotorua to run tests on a dynamometer, which accounted for the mileage.
‘‘On the way back we were on one of the back roads . . . we may have gone up to 170kmh. It’s a little bit naughty but it was 9 o’clock at night.’’
Mosley says if he’d known Timmerman had to take the Lamborghini to Rotorua he would have insisted it go on a tow truck.
Amid further disputes over the suspension and horsepower, communication between the pair broke down.
Mosley took to Facebook, making disparaging comments about Timmerman and his business.
Timmerman says he’s lost more than $200,000 worth of work as a result and has had to lay off staff.
His lawyer has sent a letter to Mosley demanding payment and warning of defamation action.
Mosley has the Lamborghini for sale on Trade Me for $479,000, saying the car was ‘‘built by the experts at Power Torque NZ’’.
He says he studied business management in prison and worked hard to turn his life around – the image of him as a former drug dealer flaunting his supercar is incorrect.
‘‘My daily drive is a 2003 VW Polo.’’