Steve McQueen’s Family Sues Ferrari for Trademark Violation

Attempt to celebrate 70 years of Ferrari backfires thanks to, of all things, a brown California T.

To commemorate the brand’s 70th anniversary, Ferrari came up with a rather brilliant marketing ploy. They decided to apply 70 historic color schemes to each of their five models. Thus emerged a number of cool and interesting examples. Including those that paid tribute to Michael Schumacher’s F2003 GA and Sir Stirling Moss‘ 250GT SWB. Those cars were dubbed, appropriately, “The Schumacher” and “The Stirling.” No big deal, right? Well, apparently it was, for one particular tribute car.

Turns out, late actor Steve McQueen once owned (of all things) a brown Lusso. And coincidentally, Ferrari had just introduced the GTC4Lusso, which succeeded the FF. So why not paint one brown and call it “The McQueen,” right? Well, they didn’t do that. But they did paint a California T that particular shade, affixed the actor’s name to it, and displayed it and the other tribute cars at the 2016 Paris Motor Show.

There was just one tiny problem. Ferrari had discussed the plan with McQueen’s heirs, but hadn’t yet received permission to use his name. According to Courthouse News, Chad McQueen visited Ferrari’s factory in 2011 to discuss the possibility of a McQueen special edition “provided he and his family would maintain approval rights and involvement in the project.”

McQueen then stated that the family was “shocked when they learned, in 2017, that Ferrari had, without notice or authorization, begun marketing and selling a special edition car that they entitled ‘The McQueen,’ and that Ferrari marketed through use of Steve McQueen’s persona.” Oops.

In response to this uproar, Ferrari promptly changed the name of the car to The Actor. But they continued to use McQueen’s name in their marketing materials. Thus, they’ve sued the prancing horse, demanding $2 million in damages for each violation of the registered trademark.

All of which seems to answer that age old question, “what’s in a name?” Apparently, it’s a lot of dough.

Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.