Will.i.am -- My Publicist is LYING About My Ugly Car!

8:20 AM PT -- Eight minutes after we published this story, we received the following email from Will's publicist:

"Hi --

When I asked [Will's] assistant yesterday morning she thought this had been resolved but was incorrect, hence I passed on incorrect information to you - apologies for this.

Will ask manager this morning about it.

Sallie"

At least she owned up to the mistake -- and we gotta respect that.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark ... and according to Will.i.am ... it's because his publicist is a LIAR!!!

Will is still FUMING about his ultra-rare, super-expensive, incredibly-hideous custom car ... claiming his $700,000 ride is still missing ... despite what his publicist is telling the media.

We broke the story ... Will claimed his car was "stolen" after a party in Hollywood this week ... insisting he left it with the valet at Bardot nightclub but when he went to get it back, the car was nowhere to be found.

The next day, we reached out to Will's publicist, Sallie Olmsted, and asked about the car ... she wrote back insisting, "Everything is fine, he has his car."

Hours later, Will went on Twitter and COMPLETELY REFUTED his publicist's claim ... saying "my car is still m.i.a."

Confused by the contradicting statements, we reached out to Will's rep ... who told us, "I wasn't on site at the time, but all is fine now."

Again ... someone is lying ... because just a few hours ago, Will tweeted again and totally contradicted his publicist ... saying, "According [to] my GARAGE it hasn't been found."