A wealthy property tycoon lost his £130,000 Lamborghini Gallardo supercar after a night out because he was too drunk to remember where he had parked it.
Glenn Knowles, 35, was accused of fraud when the car disappeared and has not been found since, even though it was fitted with a satellite tracking device.
Mr Knowles appeared at Guildford Crown Court with the Lamborghini's co-owner, Richard Mant.
Both were cleared of fraud when the jury accepted Mr Knowles' claim that he had been so drunk he could not recollect where he had left the Italian sports car.
When he realised the car was missing, Mr Knowles tried to cover his embarrassment by lying to his friend Mr Mant and the police, saying he didn't know what had happened to the car.
Knowles only later admitted he'd taken the car from his friend's house when the police showed him video images of the car being driven from Mr Mant's home in Epsom towards Gillingham, Kent where Mr Knowles' parents live.
After drinking heavily that night, Mr Knowles and Mr Mant then reported the car stolen and informed their insurance company of the car's theft.
Mr Knowles, who earns £160,000 per year from his property empire, said both he and Mr Mant had "no motive to commit fraud" and that they had intended to keep the Lamborghini.
The two men have shared several high performance cars since their early 20s, including a Mercedes convertible that Mr Knowles had also previously forgotten where it was parked after a night out. The Mercedes was subsequently found parked behind a nightclub in Kingston, Surrey.
Summing up, Judge Neil Stewart said: "As time went on, Mr Knowles found it harder and harder to confess and took the view that either way the car was stolen, but he said he realises it was the wrong thing to do."
