The owner of this red Ferrari 458 Italia has become the 11th victim of the new supercar’s mysterious jinx after it caught fire in China.
This dramatic video shows plumes of black smoke emanating from the £170,000 supercar as it sits on the side of a winding hill road.
It is the fourth Ferrari 458 Italia to burst into flames in just six weeks while one other model was gutted during a blaze at Heathrow Airport.
It’s been a tumultuous start for the Ferrari 458 which has been lauded by critics but suffered at the hands of its owners with six reported crashes and five fire-related incidents – a total of 11 in just three months and five in the past 11 days.
The first crash occurred in Poland on May 20 when the driver – thought to be in his 20s – swerved to avoid a bus, veering into a Volkswagen family saloon and suffering frontal damage.
In July a customised 458 which featured a £65,000 Dolce and Gabbana interior was wrecked in a warehouse blaze at Heathrow Airport after being flown in from Saudi Arabia.
The owner of the Heathrow Ferrari, 21-year-old Dhiaa al-Essa, was flying the car to Britain for his annual summer holiday where he drives across Europe.
Dhiaa, who’d only owned the supercar for two weeks, said: “It is an unlucky car. I drove it in Riyadh for one day and by the second day I had taken it back to the dealer because of heating problems.
“Once I had it back there were more heating problems but it is 50 degrees in Saudi Arabia.”
The youngster has opted against purchasing a new 458 because he has the new £300,000 Ferrari 599 GTO on order.
A Ferrari spokesperson said: “We are taking it very seriously and investigating each incident but we have no comment to make at this time.”
Timeline of Ferrari 458 Incidents:
Wreck 1: May 20, Poland – Red 458 involved in collision with VW Bora
Wreck 2: June 1, Spain – Red 458 spotted on the back of a tow truck
Wreck 3: June, Czech Republic – Red 458 crashes on wet race track
Wreck 4: July 8, Paris – Black 458 catches fire with passerby putting blaze out with extinguisher
Wreck 5: July 9, London – Yellow bespoke 458 model transported from Saudi Arabia to London burns to bits in Heathrow warehouse fire
Wreck 6: July 14, Switzerland – Red 458’s engine catches fire on a mountain pass
Wreck 7: August 9, Italy – One day old red 458 crashes into tree outside Ferrari factory in Maranello
Wreck 8: August 11, England – Black 458 hit roadside barrier during wet weather in Buckinghamshire
Wreck 9: August 18, California – Red 458 catches fire in California
Wreck 10: August 21, Czech Republic – Six hour old car with 200 miles on the clock ran into ditch
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