This photo of the 1956 Ford Fairlane was submitted as evidence in the federal lawsuit against Devlin Rod & Customs. It was taken shortly before the car was totaled in a crash, according to the lawsuit. A Devlin employee was driving the car when it crashed.

A Wichita hot rod shop being sued for at least $700,000 admits “100% fault” for wrecking a customized 1956 Ford Fairlane.

But the shop and the car owner still disagree on a number of facts and legal issues.

Here’s just one point of contention: Although a shop employee wrecked the car, the business wasn’t reckless, the shop says in a court document filed earlier this month.

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Hot rod owner Michael LaZear is suing Devlin Rod & Customs, owner Timothy Devlin and employee Ryan James. The lawsuit is scheduled for trial on Aug. 1 in Kansas City, Kansas.

It was no ordinary car, according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court. As part of a “10-year build,” the owner had spent about $400,000 on the high-powered, customized 1956 Ford Fairlane. It had a body reshaped by hand.

“Witnesses described the Fairlane as a piece of art,” the court document says. The expenditures included almost $100,000 paid to Devlin Rod & Customs to finish the project.

In July, The Eagle first wrote about the lawsuit, noting that LaZear was seeking at least $700,000.

A Feb. 6 pretrial order summarizes and outlines the case so far. It details some facts, including that the defendants admit that James negligently drove the car with an illegal tag at the time of the accident on Oct. 20, 2015, on South Greenwich Road.

“The defendants also admit 100% fault,” the order says.

Still, the defendants deny “acting in a wanton, willful or reckless manner,” deny that Devlin told LaZear that he had “‘millions in insurance’ to cover his vehicle” and deny that there was an agreement that the car not be driven and only be moved only by trailer. The shop says LaZear told Devlin to “do what he had to do” to test the hot rod.

The shop has a counterclaim for $18,984.51 in unpaid work it says it did.

LaZear contends in the order that Devlin chose James to be the test driver although “James had never before driven a car with 1,400 horsepower and was unaware of any special precautions that must be taken when driving a car with that amount of power.” James had several speeding tickets and had been in multiple accidents, it says. “Devlin did nothing to look into James’ driving record,” it adds.

According to LaZear’s timeline, on Sept. 28, 2015, before taking the car on its first test drive, “Devlin told James to take a license plate off one of Devlin’s father’s cars so it would appear the Fairlane was licensed in order to avoid detection by law enforcement.” LaZear claims he didn’t give permission for the shop to use the tag or to drive the car.

On Oct. 20, LaZear contends, Devlin told James to drive the car to another shop, 9 miles away, for tuning. On the return drive to the Devlin shop, James pulled onto the paved road “and immediately gunned the accelerator, causing the tires to spin and smoke,” witnesses said. The hot rod went out of control, rolled several times and ended up a total loss, according to LaZear’s timeline.

After the crash, Devlin said he “only had $220,000 in applicable insurance coverage,” LaZear contends.

The shop argues that the “proper measure of damages ... is fair market value” and that LaZear’s opinion from an expert that it would cost between $500,000 and $700,000 to recreate the custom car should not be admissible in court.

Tim Potter: 316-268-6684, @timpotter59