Within the first few months of any new supercar launch there are bound to be a couple of prangs and mishaps documented on the web, but in the case of the Ferrari 458 Italia there have already been 11 incidents that have resulted in the car being totalled.
The most concerning aspect of these latest misfortunes have been the four vehicles that have been consumed by what look like mysterious engine fires.
Ferrari has announced that it will investigate the incidents in question, stating that it “takes any incident involving one of its vehicles very seriously”.
“The company is currently investigating the particular incidents in which vehicles have apparently been involved in a vehicle fire, and it is currently treating these as separate incidents,” the statement continued.
“Until these investigations are complete, Ferrari is unable to provide any further comment.”
The first incident occurred in Paris on July 8, when a 459 driver noticed one of his car’s rear panels ablaze and was aided in extinguishing said fire by a passer-by with a fire extinguisher. The next fire took place the following day when a car bound for London from Saudi Arabia burned in storage at London’s Heathrow Airport, followed by another 458 succumbing to an engine fire on a mountain pass in Switzerland. The latest 458 fire occurred in China. The picture of the red example ablaze was taken by bystanders on what looked like another drive over a mountain pass.
With focused, high-performance cars such as the 458 Italia the odd fender-bender in the first couple of weeks after the launch is to be expected as drivers try to become accustomed to, or overly blasé with, their new cars but the fact that the 11 unfortunate examples of the F430’s replacement has been on the roads barely 3 months does raise many concerns.
