The owner of this Ferrari 458 Speciale is on the verge of depression. His yellow supercar was engulfed by flames while he was driving it on a highway in Los Angeles. The vehicle is now on its way to the scrap yard.
Ten-year-old Ferrari, almost never driven, caught fire the day his owner decided to take it on a drive to the canyons. Apparently, it was a bad idea to push over the limits a car that has spent almost its entire life in a garage.
The 458 Speciale caught fire while on the move. The driver had time to pull over and call 911. Firefighters arrived at the scene soon, but there wasn’t really much that they could do. Half of the car was already burned to a crisp. That is where the 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine was sitting.
Before it got engulfed by flames, it was capable of pumping out 597 horsepower (605 metric horsepower) and 398 pound-feet (540 Newton meters) of torque. Sent to the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, they could make the 458 Speciale flash from 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, hit 124 mph (200 kph) in 9.5 seconds, and 186 mph (300 kph) in 29.2 seconds. Now, it is not going anywhere.
It was also capable of running the quarter mile in 11 seconds, while the needle of the speedometer would only stop at 206 mph (331 kph). Now, its top speed is the one of the truck that will pick up what is left of the car and transport it to the scrap yard.
Photo: karsbyjaf | Instagram
According to the one who originally posted the videos from the incident soon after the fire took place, the car had only 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) on the clock. For a ten-year-old supercar, that is the definition of a garage queen.
Ferrari only built 499 458 Speciale examples. So, right now, that's minus one.
There was something wrong with the Ferrari 458: it must have been "jinxed"
Back in 2010, Ferrari North Europe admitted that there was something wrong with the 458 series after five of the early examples caught fire. The incidents made the media of that time claim that the car was "jinxed."
Back then, a Ferrari spokesperson explained to the British publication Autocar that, when driven to high exhaust temperatures, in hot ambient temperatures, the adhesive used in the wheel arch assemblies can overheat.
It hasn't been that hot in California these past few days, with temperatures barely reaching 74 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius).
The heat that appears in the rear wheel housing shields may move around. "In extreme cases, the glue can begin to smoke and catch fire," the Ferrari spokesperson said 14 years ago.
However, Ferrari recalled the existing 458s to fix the issue and replaced the cars that were damaged because of the issue. There is no information on what caused this Ferrari to burn in California.
But one thing is for sure: it will never set wheels on the road again. The front end, though, seems intact. So that is surely going to make many Ferrari 458 Speciale owners, who have crashed their cars, happy to get their hands on some components.
The day of the unlucky Ferraris
This was not the only Ferrari totaled that day. A Ferrari employee from Germany had one single mission to accomplish: to get the super-rare and expensive F40 in one piece to a car show that took place 11 miles (18 kilometers) away from the dealership.
However, something happened along the way, and the F40 never made it to the car show. That was because the 24-year-old driver lost control in a tunnel and slammed into the wall just minutes after he departed. So, the police had to pick up the hood, front quarter panels, bumper, and other components from the tarmac.
That is was a $3.2 million super-rare, super-exclusive Ferrari.
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