By Shawn Henry 
A horrific explosion inside Ferrari Quebec is now turning into a massive legal fight involving one of the world’s most recognizable luxury automakers, a multimillionaire Ferrari owner, and allegations that employees ignored obvious danger before a Montreal father was nearly burned alive.
The incident happened nearly two years ago, but newly obtained surveillance footage is dragging the story back into public view in a way that is impossible to ignore. The video reportedly captures the explosion itself, the chaos immediately afterward, and the response from emergency crews inside the dealership.
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At the center of it all is Richard Papazian, a husband and father of two whose life changed permanently after stepping inside the luxury dealership on August 7, 2024.
Papazian suffered second and third degree burns over more than 56 percent of his body after a Ferrari exploded inside the building. He was rushed to the CHUM burn center in critical condition and placed into a medically induced coma for four weeks. The damage did not stop there. He underwent multiple surgeries, several failed skin grafts, and dialysis treatment after his kidney function deteriorated.
Here’s the part that matters.
Papazian is now suing Ferrari Quebec, Ferrari North America, Ferrari’s headquarters in Italy, and multiple dealership employees and executives for $20.8 million. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of gross negligence, recklessness, and willful misconduct surrounding the explosion.
The allegations in the lawsuit paint a deeply troubling picture of what supposedly happened inside the dealership that day.
According to the legal filing, Papazian was visiting Ferrari Quebec during the summer when a salesman allegedly offered to bring him upstairs to see a Ferrari owned by Quebec real estate mogul Luc Poirier. The vehicle involved was Poirier’s 2004 Ferrari 360, which had reportedly been brought in for cosmetic repairs.
Poirier is not just another Ferrari customer. His collection reportedly includes dozens of Ferraris along with Lamborghinis, McLarens, Porsches, and Ducatis. Ferrari remains his preferred brand, with 39 models in his collection spanning from 1967 through 2023.
But the lawsuit claims the Ferrari sitting inside the dealership was far from safe.
According to Papazian’s allegations, dealership staff repeatedly attempted to start the car while fuel was leaking onto the floor. The fuel and vapors allegedly ignited, causing a violent explosion that engulfed him in flames.
This is where the story turns.
After waking from his coma, Papazian learned the Ferrari’s fuel rail and injectors had reportedly been removed before the explosion occurred. The lawsuit claims critical fuel-handling components had been taken off the car, effectively turning it into what the filing describes as a ticking time bomb.
The lawsuit also alleges the keys were left inside the vehicle and the battery had not been disconnected. According to the allegations, disconnecting the battery could have prevented the explosion entirely.
That detail matters because the lawsuit claims Poirier himself did not authorize the removal of the fuel rail and injectors. He reportedly learned about the explosion through an anonymous phone call rather than directly from the dealership.
For car enthusiasts, this is the kind of allegation that immediately changes the conversation. Ferraris are not ordinary commuter cars sitting in quick-service garages. These are high-dollar performance machines handled by specialized dealerships that market themselves around precision, expertise, and exclusivity.
That is exactly why the lawsuit carries such serious weight.
The legal filing goes beyond the explosion itself. Papazian also alleges Ferrari Quebec owner Gad Bitton issued what the lawsuit describes as a gag order to employees after the incident, effectively silencing staff.
Bitton is president and CEO of Holand Automotive Group, the luxury retailer that owns Ferrari Quebec and operates dealerships in multiple countries. The lawsuit alleges the lack of media coverage following such a catastrophic explosion was suspicious given the severity of the injuries involved.
And honestly, that is difficult to ignore.
A man was critically burned inside a Ferrari dealership. Surveillance footage allegedly captured the explosion. Emergency responders rushed to the scene. Yet Papazian says there was virtually no public attention surrounding the incident at the time.
The lawsuit directly connects that silence to efforts aimed at preserving the dealership’s image.
Ferrari Quebec has not publicly addressed the allegations in detail. After media reporting earlier this year, the dealership issued a statement through a public relations firm saying it would not comment because of the ongoing legal process. The statement also defended Bitton’s character and professional reputation.
Meanwhile, another layer of controversy surfaced involving the Montreal police.
CTV News reportedly obtained a heavily redacted police report tied to the incident before later receiving a less-redacted version from another source. That second version allegedly revealed that a media statement about the explosion had been prepared internally but was never actually released.
That’s where things change.
Questions now extend beyond the dealership itself and into how the incident was handled publicly afterward. Montreal police declined interview requests and said they could not comment on matters tied to ongoing civil litigation or internal media communication decisions.
The police statement also said they could not discuss investigative considerations or operational assessments connected to the incident.
For Papazian, the fallout has stretched far beyond physical injuries and lawsuits.
He says Formula 1 weekend in Montreal was once a major family tradition tied to Ferrari passion and racing culture. Now, according to his comments, that interest has completely disappeared after the explosion.
And there is still another unresolved issue hanging over everything.
Papazian says he is still waiting to recover the $20,000 deposit he placed on the Ferrari he originally intended to buy before the explosion changed his life.
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The bigger problem here is not just one lawsuit or one horrific accident inside a luxury dealership. It is what this case threatens to expose about accountability when image, money, and elite automotive branding collide behind closed doors.
Ferrari sells more than cars. The brand sells trust, prestige, engineering excellence, and exclusivity. Allegations involving removed fuel components, repeated start attempts around leaking gasoline, and claims employees were later silenced strike directly at that image.
Now the footage is public, the lawsuit is moving forward, and a story that allegedly stayed quiet for nearly two years is suddenly impossible for the automotive world to ignore.
Source
Image via CTV News/YouTube
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