The ‘Born Mechanic’ host’s car company first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2024 after being accused of taking deposits from customers but failing to deliver vehicles
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Ant Anstead‘s supercar company, Radford Motors, has officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy following a court hearing on Thursday, May 8.
The order issued by Delaware’s bankruptcy court and obtained by PEOPLE officially converts the company from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which it has been in since October 2024, to Chapter 7 in order to “grant relief” amid its ongoing legal issues.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically calls for the “liquidation” of a company, according to the United States Courts, and can often result in a company’s dissolution. However, it is unclear whether Radford is officially closing its operations as a result of the new filing.
Additionally, a complaint filed against Radford on April 4 and obtained by PEOPLE alleges that the company continued to occupy its headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. despite their lease having been terminated.
The complaint is the landlord’s attempt to initiate the eviction process with the court’s permission.
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Radford first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 22, 2024 amid Anstead facing lawsuits alleging fraud and misrepresentation, per documents obtained by PEOPLE at the time.
A civil complaint was filed against Anstead and one of his co-founders, Daniel Bednarski, by their business partner, Pastor (Pat) Velasco, on March 8, 2024 in Orange County Superior Court.
Velasco claimed he was owed $2 million in the filing, and several months later, another complaint filed by co-owner, Roger N. Behle Jr., alleged Anstead and Bednarski mismanaged the company’s finances.
One week after filing for Chapter 11, Radford spoke out about the multiple lawsuits from several clients who claim they never received the luxury custom cars they ordered after paying large deposits to the company.
A representative for Radford told PEOPLE at the time that they had received court approval for financing to fund operations, which “will allow the [the company to] work towards completing vehicles in process” as they restructure.
The representative added that “any and all claims will be addressed as part of the bankruptcy case,” seemingly in reference to the lawsuits filed against Anstead alleging that the company accepted deposits ranging from $100,000 to $750,000, but never delivered the cars or refunded the clients.
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On Oct. 24, 2024, Anstead shared an exclusive statement with PEOPLE amid the company’s bankruptcy in which he confirmed that he remained “fully committed” to Radford despite its current “challenges.”
“My role and dedication to Radford’s success continue unchanged,” he said, in part, at the time.
In April 2023, Anstead opened up to PEOPLE about the high-stakes project ahead of the release of his docuseries, Radford Reborn, which also starred one of his Radford Motors co-owners, Formula One champ Jenson Button.
“This is personally a huge risk for me,” Anstead said at the time. “We have seven people, and we privately funded this. We are doing it. We’re risking everything.”
