informant had alerted cops that the silver 1957/58 Pininfarina Series 1 Cabriolet - which bore the unique vehicle identification number 0799GT - had been reported stolen in Spain in 1993.

The case of a Wall Street scion's suspect sports car is revving up again.

In 2008, Connecticut State Police went to the Sharon estate of Paul (Barney) Hallingby to seize a rare vintage Ferrari registered to him.

An informant had alerted cops that the silver 1957/58 Pininfarina Series 1 Cabriolet - which bore the unique vehicle identification number 0799GT - had been reported stolen in Spain in 1993.

At the time, Nutmeg State law enforcement officials reportedly said the Ferrari, which entered the U.S. via New Jersey, had been involved in "multiple paper sales and transactions" before Hallingby - the car-collecting son of late investment banker Paul Hallingby Jr. - bought it for $550,000 in 2000.

Hallingby, 64, who also lives on the upper East Side, was never charged with a crime, and in fall 2009, the Ferrari was returned to him after the Connecticut state's attorney for Litchfield County decided not to prosecute.

In a deposition, the detective who investigated the case, Richard Van Tine, testified that the state's attorney told him "He believed there was probable cause to arrest but . . . the budget being what it is, he didn't want to expend state resources prosecuting a property crime."

The story still has gas, however. Now the lawyer for two publications devoted to Ferrari collectors wants to take a close look under the hood of Hallingby's purchase in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Hallingby sued the publishers of Ferrari Market Letter and Cavallino magazine, claiming they defamed him in 2008 when they published ads placed by the attorney for the original Swiss owner of the vehicle that declared the vehicle "Stolen."

Hallingby, who denies any theft, contends the ads led to his legal troubles, besmirched his name among Ferrari collectors and made his car, which could fetch in excess of $2 million today, "unsalable."

The publishers' attorney Howard J. Kaplan responds that his clients "did what they always do, publish important information concerning a rare Ferrari," in the form of an advertisement. Placed by the car's claimed owner.

Kaplan, a partner in the firm Arkin Kaplan Rice, called Hallingby's suit a "baseless" attempt "to bully my clients into publishing a retraction."

He adds: "We believe the evidence at trial will unquestionably show that this Ferrari was indeed stolen" and "the issue will be whether Hallingby knew."

A brief filed by Kaplan cites evidence that the Ferrari "was listed on Interpol's list of stolen vehicles" when Hallingby bought it, and that he "knew that a Swiss national had a claim on the title of the car."

Kaplan also asserts in the brief that the evidence shows "Hallingby did not register the car for seven years" after buying it, and "used license plates registered to another of his cars" when he showed it.

Hallingby's attorney Deborah Drooz did not respond to calls seeking comment.