John Cena Says His Worst Car Purchase Was a Fake Lamborghini That Took Nearly 20 Years to FixJohn Cena has owned a Ford GT, drives a Honda Civic Type R as a daily, and once got sued by Ford for selling that GT too soon. His car judgment, in other words, has a mixed track record. Nothing in his automotive history, though, comes close to the replica Lamborghini Diablo he bought in 2003 and spent two full decades trying to make functional.Cena told the story to Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay in August 2024, saying: "I didn't want to spring for a Lamborghini, so I bought a fake one." The logic was… fair? A kit car builder was offering Diablo VT Roadster replicas fitted with BMW V12 engines – something that sounds reasonable until you actually get the car. Cena was in his early WWE years at the time, the money was there but not limitless, and a car that looked the part for a fraction of the real thing's $273,000 MSRP seemed like a sensible shortcut.The Car Arrived Two Years Late and Immediately BrokeThe seller tried to stiff him out of the deal entirely, which required Cena to call in some favors from people he describes as knowing "how to find things." He got a title sorted, eventually got the car, and received it in 2005 – two years after placing the order. What showed up wasn't roadworthy. "The motor is held together with the timing of two Chevy V6s, so everything's confused, nothing runs, the car is not roadworthy," Cena told Sharpe. It wouldn't go into gear. The powertrain was a mechanical contradiction.AdvertisementAdvertisementHe sent it to a shop in 2005. Then another shop. Then another. Ten different mechanics across nearly two decades took a crack at it, and it wasn't until approximately late summer 2024 that he finally received a working set of keys. Yahoo Autos reported that repair costs had eventually ballooned to approximately $409,000 – enough to buy one and a half actual Lamborghinis from the factory, all spent on a vehicle that was never a genuine Lamborghini in the first place.After the restoration was finally completed, Cena listed the car through Naples Motorsports on Bring a Trailer. The replica, modeled on the Diablo VT Roadster and wearing a metallic blue finish with Lamborghini-capped alloy wheels, apparently looks convincing at a glance, per reporting from Robb Report. "I will tell you, it looks great," Cena said of the finished car.It sold for $146,000 later the same year. Despite the financial hit, Cena has taken the experience in stride, admitting to The Autopian, "I have lost so much money on cars," and the whole ordeal now serves as a real-world lesson in the hidden costs of kit car ownership. The gap between what a replica promises and what it delivers has ended many projects far less patiently than this one. Most people don't spend 21 years finding out.