The Only Lamborghini Aventador Huber ERA in the World Destroyed in Spontaneous Fire

Viola Ophelia is the first and, as of now, the only Lamborghini Aventador Huber ERA in the world. It’s an Aventador kitted by Dubai-coach builder Huber, the first of 21 planned units, unveiled last summer at an event at Rowneybury House in Hertfordshire. Its owner is Ciro Ciampi, the self-titled car nut that founded Petrolheadonism.

Viola Ophelia “died” last weekend on a motorway in Bedford, England, during what was supposed to be a short drive for Ciro and daughter Tia to grab some iced coffee. The supercar, which proudly wore the “UFO 8ULL” license plate, had spent the entire day in the sun in scorching temperatures, and both the fire department and Ciro believe this may have caused the fire.

The bottom line is that, on the drive back home, Ciro smelled smoke. Seconds later, he also saw smoke coming out from the engine bay in his rearview mirror, so he quickly maneuvered to car out of traffic. As he did so, he instructed his daughter to hand him the fire safety stick and then to get out and run as soon as he brought the car to a halt. He rushed over to the trunk, popped it open, threw the fire safety stick inside, and then proceeded to call the police and the fire department.

As he waited for first-responders, he filmed as the fire engulfed the car’s entire rear section. “It’s heartbreaking,” he says at one point, almost choking on tears. In an update video, he explains that the decision to film the fire wasn’t that he wanted clicks or publicity but as a warning to others of what can happen.

Viola Ophelia, named this way for the unique purple paintjob, was more than a car to Ciro; that much comes across clearly from his videos. As he puts it, in the year he’s had it, they did more than 10,000 miles (16,094 km) together at events all over the world, from car meetings to charity functions and countless TV appearances. Viola Ophelia was a star in its own right, and that’s really not an exaggeration: Ciro says it was a car designed to his personal tastes but meant for everyone else to enjoy.

The only good news here is that both Ciro and Tia were able to emerge unharmed from this traumatic incident. There’s also the possibility that Viola Ophelia will be brought back to life, rising up from the ashes like a carbon-fibered V12-powered Phoenix because Ciro keeps saying that he refuses to let it go.